New Year – new beginnings and apart of using speed reading to know more here are 31 tips collected by Newsweek and backed up by scientific research. Most of them you probably know by now but some might surprise you. Summary of all the top tips to get smarter in 2012 and here’s the link to further explanation if you need it.
1) Play Words With Friends
2) Eat Turmeric
3) Take Tae Kwon Do – or anything physical: dancing, tennis, etc
4) Get News from Al Jazeera – can make you more open-minded
5) Toss your smartphone – at least for a weekend
6) Sleep. A Lot. – especially when you’re learning a lot
7) Download the TED app – the best library of talks on almost everything
8. Go to a Literary Festival – research suggests that reading novels will make you smarter
9) Build a ‘Memory Palace’
10) Learn a Language – Michel Thomas tapes are excellent start for beginner Spanish, German, Italian, French
11) Eat Dark chocolate – of course! yummy
12) Join a Knitting Circle – surprise here
13) Wipe the Smile Off Your Face – we suggest smiling to get into a good state (endorphin effect) but frowning apparently makes you more analytical and sceptical
14) Play Violent Video Games – not sure here, there must be better and more peaceful way – who sponsored this study
15) Follow these people on Twitter: Economic genius Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel), online show host Jad Abumrad (@JadAbumrad) and author Colson Whitehead (@colsonwhitehead).
16) Eat Yogurt (probiotics)
17) Install SuperMemo (a flash card program)
18) See a Shakespeare Play – engages your brain more actively than most texts. Check the summaries of all Shakespeare plays
19) Refine Your Thinking
20) Hydrate – drink more H2O
21) Check out iTunes U
22) Visit your local Art Museum
23) Play a musical instrument – I wonder if Garage Band counts
24) Write by Hand – this one is very interesting since we type so much. Other studies suggest that by committing in writing to a goal/task we increase the chances of accomplishing that goal/task. The second best way is to tell somebody about your commitement.
25) The Pomodoro Technique – this mysteriously sounding technique is just a simple management technique of working in 25 minutes sessions (in speed reading we suggest 20 minute working sessions because basically you can and Parkinson’s law states that the task expands to the time available)
26) Zone Out
27) Drink Coffee – to boost short-time memory and keep depression at bay
28) Delay Gratification – key habit of successful people and builds executive functioning
29) Become an Expert
30) Write Reviews Online
31) Get Out of Town
We personally would add three more tips (3R – or three qualities if you like) that will ensure you become smarter this year and beyond:
1) Reflection – reflect on the day’s learnings (what you’ve learned which builds your knowledge and what you should unlearn to build your wisdom, according to Lao Tzu) – keeping a daily journal or diary will help with these – according to the tip 24 ideally written by hand
2) Relationship – everything from quantum bits to learning a new language to encounters on the street depends on the mastery of this
3) Resilience – one study suggests that the act of listing your many identities (father, mother, surfer, British, Buddhist, driver, speed reader, etc) will build your resilience.