Seven Cures for The Sluggish Mind

Does your brain ever feel as though it’s been numbered? As though you couldn’t think of a creative idea or understand the wording of an insurance policy if your life depended on it?

Here are seven ways to increase your thinking power:

Exercise to boost your brain power.

Everyone knows that the cure for a sluggish body is exercise and nutritious food, but people don’t realize how much food and physical activity affect brain power.

For one thing, exercise releases chemicals that keep the brain in top form. You’ve heard of the “runner’s high” that comes from peptides released during exercise. Numerous studies have shown that a program of regular exercise improves intelligence, speed of performance, learning and brain function.

Physical inactivity is mind-numbing. If you ever been confined to the bed for a period of time, you know that it turns your brain to mush.

Feed your brain.

Your brain is very susceptible to blood sugar ups and downs. The brain uses two-thirds of the body’s glucose, but it can only store a very small amount. Therefore, it needs a steady supply.

To keep your brain going during the day, eat several small protein snacks rather than three big meals. Never skip breakfast. Your brain is hungriest at night during rapid-eye-movement sleep.

If you tend to get sleepy and lose your mental sharpness after lunch, eat a high protein meal (meat, eggs, nuts and cheese) rather than a starchy and sweet meal (white bread, pasta, corn and potatoes). Save the starches for nighttime.

Hold your ears.

The noise of everyday life jars our brains, adds to our mental stress and damages y thinking power. Office noises that slips over partitions and through hollow doors is damaging to concentration, attention span, work quality, memory and mood.

You can block out noise with earplugs, a fan, a radio set between stations, a mechanical “white noise” generator or soft music. Music can also help some people learn and absorb information.

If noise is really a problem for you, you can install a tight-fitting, solid-wood door, heavy glass in your windows, a second layer of drywall and a wood floor on top of the existing floor.

Let the sunlight in.

Offices with windows can sap brain power. Researchers say that our bodies need to be exposed to full-spectrum light, not just what lamps give off. If you don’t have windows, take occasional breaks to walk outside and eat lunch outside, too. (Office air, cooled or heated and shared with co-workers, is another brain-sapping culprit. Fresh air will do wonders for you.)

Work with your lighting system to find what is most inspiring for you. Florescent lights are a brain drain for some people. Try turning them off and bringing in a lamp or two from home instead.

Learn you body rhythms.

The easiest way to throw your mind and your body off track is to sleep irregular hours. Everyone must maintain a regular bedtime, sleep soundly at night and sleep as much as your body needs. Most people need between six and nine hours a night.

For sounder sleeping, lay off caffeine, cigarettes and alcohol in the evening. Snack on starchy or sweet foods at night (apples, cereal, corn). Avoid loud TV and fast music before you go to bed.

Most people have certain times of the day when their brain power is at its peak. You may be barely able to remember your name at 8am, but you’re sharp as a whip at 10am or 7pm. Save your most intellectual tasks for your peak hours. If you have a flexible boss, you may even want to adjust your work schedule.

Relax!

Stress, or the “need to succeed,” can sabotage your powers of memory and concentration. Have you ever bumbled around during a job interview, blanked on the name of the company president just as you were introducing him to your spouse, or experienced stage fright or writer’s block?

When you’re trying to say, do or write the perfect thing, your mind rebels. A stressed out mind that in thinking of ten things at once can’t preform either.

Try relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, muscle-relaxing exercises, meditation, yoga or massage.

Cut out caffeine, alcohol and nicotine.

These drugs, especially caffeine and nicotine, serve as quick pick-me-ups for many people, but the drop after the drug wears off is a lot further and longer than the lift they give. If you’re addicted to caffeine or nicotine, you’ll feel sluggish, anxious, headachy and even dizzy when you’re forced to do without it.