Give Your Brain a Boost
When you think of what assets your business has, several things may come to mind. If you’re the financial type, you might immediately go to your balance sheet and look at what you have in the bank. If you’re more subjective you might look at your staff and the talents they bring to the table. Both of these are good ways to judge your assets, but there’s one important factor that might get overlooked— you!
That’s right, you’re the most important asset your business has, and your brain is the most important asset you have. Since one of the goals of business is to maximize assets, it only makes sense to find ways to improve that wonderful brain of yours. With that idea in mind, here are a few proven ways to do exactly that.
Elevate. Available on both the Apple and Google play stores, this app has already been downloaded over 15 million times, and has won Apple’s App of the Year award. It a type of cognitive training tool that helps build your analytical and communication skills. How? Well, by playing games. These aren’t your garden variety games though. Instead they’re mental exercises intended to increase your reading comprehension, vocabulary and logical analysis skills among other things. One user compared it to taking your brain to the gym. You can customize your games to focus on the skills you want to improve, and even compare your score to others so you know how you’re doing.
Lumosity. This app advertises itself as “brain training created by scientists and game designers.” Like Elevate, you’ll basically be playing games, but these games are designed to challenge you and to help you grow. You’ll improve your cognition, math and language skills and have fun along the way. Lumosity works with scientists to make sure your learning is based on the latest theories. The games test your reflexes, your memory and your attention span, while improving your flexibility and problem solving skills.
While these may be the most widely used apps, don’t just stop there. Look for everyday ways to put your brain to work. Try doing things with your off-hand to increase your coordination and force your brain to adapt. Seek out new experiences and situations. Learn a new skill or take up a creative hobby like painting. Pick a letter of the alphabet and try to think of as many movie stars as you can whose names begin with that letter.
The idea behind all of these suggestions is simple: put your brain to work. Your mind is best weapon you have against all the challenges the day will throw at you. Use these apps and other exercises to make sure it will not only survive, but thrive.