There are limits to what you can achieve. And there are limits to how well you can do it. It used to be that you could stay ahead. Now you need to do your best to keep up.
The fantastic thing is that you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to enhance your brain for higher productivity. It’s all about finding specific methods that work for you. Below are five methods that will allow you to tap into your brain and improve your efficiency in everything you do.
1. Stay Inspired
Staying inspired probably isn’t always top of mind when it comes to productivity, however, it has everything to do with productivity.
If you’re not motivated to get your work done, then it’s harder to do much of anything. You can solve that by figuring out what inspires you ̶ such as art, playing an instrument, or listening to a motivational speaker.
Is your motivation lacking? Focus your attention on how the task at hand will help you achieve your goals and dreams.
If you’re happy, then your brain will be too, because when you stay motivated the dopamine in your brain spikes and overtime, the brain continues to feed off this motivation.
Get dopamine flowing by staying inspired, setting goals, recording accomplishments and rewarding yourself for following through.
2. Increase Your Focus Through Meditation
Meditation has been proven to change your brain structure. In fact, brain scans of experienced meditators show structural and functional changes. Let’s cover them a bit.
Firstly, meditation increases grey matter density in the brain stem. This means that you get more neurons tucked together in the same space. And that’s good. Intel has been doing the same with transistors on a CPU dice. With CPUs, this accounts for greater performance. Or lower energy consumption. To you, this means better personal efficiency and higher output. In effect, you get to be more productive.
Secondly, meditation directly affects cerebral flood flow. What this means is that meditation can improve oxygenation and nourishment in several areas of the brain. In effect, it becomes easier to sustain attention and redirect focus. A side-effect of this has to do with managing your feelings. And dealing with emotions, especially at work, is very useful.
Lastly, there are corollary benefits which help you be more productive. Meditators benefit from the effects of meditation for a lot longer than the meditation session lasts. It’s a great way to keep the brain toned in front of stress. Furthermore, you can use meditation to deal with several brain illnesses. The benefits stack, the more you practice, the better you get. Even as little as two weeks of practice can affect your overall performance.
In a broader sense, meditation is a general-purpose tool for rewiring your brain. This, we explained before. You won’t be able to change the wires around. But you will add countless benefits that will help you be more productive. Lastly, meditation is free, practical, and pleasant.
3. Exercise More Often
If you’ve ever experienced what some call “brain fog,” then you know how frustrating it is to try to work through it. That’s why you should be exercising regularly to improve productivity and banish brain fog once and for all.
Workplace studies reveal that a ‘sit less, move more’ interventions significantly improves workers’ ability to accomplish more throughout the day.
Scientifically speaking, working out on a consistent basis increases brain function, because exercise helps your brain safeguard thinking and memory skills. When you’re trying to focus, both these skills are vital.
And, it improves and maintains your memory and concentration.
4. Write It Out
No, you don’t have to be an expert at writing to improve your brain function. However, taking the time to write tells your brain what’s important.
This is because working your memory helps you decipher your thoughts, remember things in the future and it motivates you to be more creative.
UCLA did a brain imaging study on how putting thoughts into words can help the brain better process feelings of anger, sadness and pain.
It also revealed that when you write things down, you reduce the activity where your brain processes emotions. This place is known as the amygdala, and it controls any emotional responses you feel.
A few ways that you can write include starting a blog, writing in a bullet journal, using a planner, getting a diary, writing a story and taking notes during podcasts or online classes.
Remember, you don’t have to be a Pulitzer prize winner to write. Taking a couple of minutes each day to articulate your thoughts can improve your brain.
5. Laughter is Good for the Soul (And the Brain)
Like the production of dopamine, endorphins are released when you are happy. Just as exercise helps you get more work done, so does laughter.
When you release endorphins through laughter, your brain stays healthy. Being happy and laughing regulates your mood and improves your brain health. It can also help improve your career.
An assistant professor at Harvard Business School did a series of studies on the benefits of humor in the workplace. The study found that when a worker makes a joke, it not only makes them look competent and confident, but over time, it can help improve their career.
When you laugh, you’re more productive and open to learning more, both professionally and personally.
6. Train your brain through lifelong learning
You might think you won’t have enough time to learn something new. Truth is, you can always find a few hours a week for something fun. Especially if it helps you be more productive. And it rewires your brain for improved cognition.
Anything from juggling to a new language will do. Or learning a new instrument, for that matter. According to Music Oomph, there are many benefits of playing a musical instrument. Reading a whole book over the weekend could also do the trick. And if you think you don’t have the time for all this, try an expert trainer.
Nowadays, you can find workshops for everything. Or you can have your entire team attend a training. Anything that takes you out of the comfort zone. Or perhaps puts you on the spot. From learning how to act on stage to public speaking.
Maybe you could hire a graduate student to teach you something they’re doing at school. It’s cheap and effective and can help you be more productive.
Most of all, you can tackle a whole range of topics. Some might have a direct impact in your work life. Others may simply be your own curiosities. For example, you could learn how to code for task automation. It might even help you be more productive. Similarly, you could start learning Japanese. Or a lot about transactional analysis as therapy. The sky’s the limit. From live training to company training to online courses, you can do anything.
And that’s precisely the point. Whatever you choose will rewire your brain. And this will in effect improve your cognition. Finally, you will be more productive.
