15 Habits That Will Make You Smarter

1. Brainstorm 10 Ideas Every Day

Portrait of a young woman sitting at home with pen and paper
Image source: www.psychologies.co.uk

This one’s fun! (And it could land you a patent and a billion dollars. But I digress…) Thinking creatively, you activate the part of your brain that works when you are not concentrating, similar to daydreaming. It also causes collaboration with the area of your brain that serves as governor. (Not governor, an elected U.S. official. Governor as in a device you put on a car to limit its speed.) In the book, Make Your Brain Smarter: Increase Your Brain’s Creativity, Energy, and Focus, the authors say that causing two regions to work together strengthens the brain, and activating a specific region demands greater blood flow to that area. This improves the health of your thinking machine. Dedicate a notebook and start jotting down ideas. If you need a prompt, start each day with the words, “What if…” (If one of your ideas earns you a billion bucks, I want a cut.)