Advice for building my Brain please

Question

I have noticed that I find it hard to finish my thoughts and words in a sentence. I graduated college about 4 years ago. I have only read 2 books since then, reading has always been a difficult habit to achieve. I want to get my brain up to speed again, but I am not sure how. Besides enrolling in school again, does anyone have any suggestions? I notice that my thinking process or remembering things is not the same as before. I do go on my phone a lot, and I know this contributes in some way to my predicament.

Sesheta Mwanza · Answer

Hello!

My master's degree is in education, and I currently work as a Learning and Development Specialist, so hopefully I can answer your question.

What you expressed is very common for people who have been out of school for a while. Believe it or not, skills like reading, writing, and memorizing are a lot like lifting weights: you need to start slowly and do it consistently in order to make progress. To build your reading stamina, you should start by reading short texts for limited periods of time (e.g. set a timer for 5 minutes and read a relatively easy magazine article). Once you get used to reading for 5 minutes at a time, you can start increasing the time and the level of difficulty of the texts that you read. You can also increase your mental acuity by memorizing poems; once again, start with short, simple poems and then increase the difficulty of what you memorize.

This incremental approach also works for writing: you can Google 'quick writing prompts' and find short statements that you can use for literary inspiration. Afterwards, you can put on a timer for 5 minutes and write everything that comes to your mind. The key is to keep writing the whole time! When time is up, you can edit what you wrote; use a thesaurus to find erudite replacements for more commonplace words.

Furthermore, starting a new hobby can also improve your ability to learn in different settings. For instance, you can start taking music lessons or playing tennis. This can help you overcome the fear of making mistakes, which is a big barrier to learning.

Lastly, don't overlook the importance of a good night's sleep, which is a key factor in our ability to retain information! For more information about the importance of sleep, I highly suggest reading the work of Dr. Matthew Walker who conducts sleep research at the University of California at Berkley.

I hope this helps!

Michele Highley · Answer

Strengthening your brain is so incredibly important. Here are some of the things I do. I listen to audiobooks on audibles, I read technical documents that interest me. I have joined Junior League to funnel my philanthropic needs and expand mentoring possibilities. Doing this has offered me so many opportunities for growth between leadership opportunities, webinars, training & social options. I have also connected with other agencies like Women in Louisville, Leadership Louisville, Women in technology and others. Each of these offer opportunities to network with others not just to socialize but to learn... to teach and to share.  I hope you find what your looking for.

Venus Izadi · Answer

Everyone is different, and I hope you find your own trick. I can share my own experience:
I started to go for a walk every morning, and listen to Audiobooks. Sometimes I listen to summerzied version of books from Blinkist. 
In general, for me, defining some daily habits helped a lot. I started to feel more energised, more ready to see my vision, and take stronger steps towards my goal. Everytime I feel low energy, I just review my daily habits.

Advice for building my Brain please

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