Blow Your Own Mind talks about ways to give your brain a surprise to keep it on its toes. It isn’t enough to do things every day that require good thinking. You need to do different things once in awhile.
Some examples are:
- Enter your house/apartment with your eyes closed. You can use tactile feedback to find your keys and open your door and follow your nose to the kitchen.
- Take a different route to work.
- Shop at a different market than you usually do.
- Turn pictures and clocks upside-down.
- Brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand.
Basically, when you find yourself comfortable with a pattern, do something jarringly different! I try to read a lot, so I could read an entire book or magazine upside-down or sideways. I could walk backwards while getting ready for work one day (I guess I’d have to be extra careful with the stairs). Maybe one day I might try to turn my computer monitor upside down and try to work at it. Basically, if I can use my senses in novel ways, my brain will get a workout.
At work I have a few motivational words and phrases posted up at my desk, but after awhile they lose their novelty. So I turned them upside-down or at a 45 degree angle. Now my eye is forced to stop and interpret what I am seeing. Some people I know are participating in National Novel Writing Month (thanks, Cableshaft!), which is a huge change for people who don’t write much. Simple but jarring changes like these can help keep your brain alive.