The only way you can dramatically increase your brain's processing capability is to use more of it on a daily basis.
For example, dump your digital devices, so that you can:
- do mental arithmetic;
- let your fingers do your walking in dictionary or reference search;
- trust your instincts on road navigation;
- have face-to-face communication with folks;
- write handwritten notes;
- carry a memory jotpad, so as to leave your mind uncluttered;
- go for a walk in the neigbourhood, and just soak in all the multisensory impressions;
Since as much as 90% of what we learned in a life-time always come to us via visual cues, we should constantly enhance our perceptual sensitivity to the enviornment, according to information scientists.
So, more than 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci was absolutely right when he said, use all our senses, especially our sense of sight.
Drawing on my own experience, our brain's processing capability is often governed by how far we can stretch our power of imagination.
Constantly strategise and think through your problems, by seeing ahead, seeing beyond, seeing from above, seeing from behind, seeing sideways, seeing beneath, seeing within and seeing through.
Act like a child, but don't be childish. More precisely, adopt a child's mindset of a beginner.
Make unlikely connections, especially from disparate spheres of activity, not matter how weird they may be. Use them as jump of points.
When looking at a problem or challenge or issue at hand, explore beyond the positives and the negatives, like what's interesting here.
When you arrive at a seemingly endpoint, intentionally ask: what else is there? what's missing here? where's the gap? what is NOT yet happening?
Play with crazy questions: what would Sherlock Holmes see and/or do? what about Iron Man? Mike Wazowski (Monsters)? Hiro Hamada (Big Hero 6)? Ralph (Wreck-it-Ralph)? Po (Kung Fu Panda? Skipper or Kowalski (Madagascar)?
Play, explore and experiment, with analogies: Personal/Direct/Symbolic/
Learn how to imagine possibilities by copycatting, piggybacking, hitchhiking and leapfrogging on other people's ideas.
Break patterned routines, so as to be able to see something different or think something different or do something different; more precisely, to see the world afresh and anew.
Play with all kinds of scenarios in the head - best-case, realistic-case, and worst-case.
Don't be afraid to play, explore and experiment with unorthodox methods to imagine more possibilities: image streaming; constructive daydreaming; creative visualisation; deliberate doodling (with nondominant hand); vision boards (cut and paste collagework); mandalas.
All these strategic and tactical iniiatives are designed to make your brain nimble and agile, thus making it more responsive and adaptable to learning and acquiring new things.
For example, dump your digital devices, so that you can:
- do mental arithmetic;
- let your fingers do your walking in dictionary or reference search;
- trust your instincts on road navigation;
- have face-to-face communication with folks;
- write handwritten notes;
- carry a memory jotpad, so as to leave your mind uncluttered;
- go for a walk in the neigbourhood, and just soak in all the multisensory impressions;
Since as much as 90% of what we learned in a life-time always come to us via visual cues, we should constantly enhance our perceptual sensitivity to the enviornment, according to information scientists.
So, more than 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci was absolutely right when he said, use all our senses, especially our sense of sight.
Drawing on my own experience, our brain's processing capability is often governed by how far we can stretch our power of imagination.
Constantly strategise and think through your problems, by seeing ahead, seeing beyond, seeing from above, seeing from behind, seeing sideways, seeing beneath, seeing within and seeing through.
Act like a child, but don't be childish. More precisely, adopt a child's mindset of a beginner.
Make unlikely connections, especially from disparate spheres of activity, not matter how weird they may be. Use them as jump of points.
When looking at a problem or challenge or issue at hand, explore beyond the positives and the negatives, like what's interesting here.
When you arrive at a seemingly endpoint, intentionally ask: what else is there? what's missing here? where's the gap? what is NOT yet happening?
Play with crazy questions: what would Sherlock Holmes see and/or do? what about Iron Man? Mike Wazowski (Monsters)? Hiro Hamada (Big Hero 6)? Ralph (Wreck-it-Ralph)? Po (Kung Fu Panda? Skipper or Kowalski (Madagascar)?
Play, explore and experiment, with analogies: Personal/Direct/Symbolic/
Learn how to imagine possibilities by copycatting, piggybacking, hitchhiking and leapfrogging on other people's ideas.
Break patterned routines, so as to be able to see something different or think something different or do something different; more precisely, to see the world afresh and anew.
Play with all kinds of scenarios in the head - best-case, realistic-case, and worst-case.
Don't be afraid to play, explore and experiment with unorthodox methods to imagine more possibilities: image streaming; constructive daydreaming; creative visualisation; deliberate doodling (with nondominant hand); vision boards (cut and paste collagework); mandalas.
All these strategic and tactical iniiatives are designed to make your brain nimble and agile, thus making it more responsive and adaptable to learning and acquiring new things.
