1.
Solve puzzles and
brainteasers.
2.
Cultivate ambidexterity.
Use your non-dominant hand to brush your teeth, comb your hair or use the mouse.
Write with both hands simultaneously. Switch hands for knife and fork.
3.
Embrace ambiguity. Learn to
enjoy things like paradoxes and optical illusions.
4.
Learn mind mapping.
5.
Block one or more senses.
Eat blindfolded, wear earplugs, shower with your eyes closed.
6.
Develop comparative
tasting. Learn to properly taste wine, chocolate, beer, cheese or anything
else.
7.
Find intersections between
seemingly unrelated topics.
8.
Learn to use different
keyboard layouts. Try Colemak or Dvorak for a full mind twist!
9.
Find novel uses for common
objects. How many different uses can you find for a nail? 10? 100?
10.
Reverse your assumptions.
11.
Learn creativity
techniques.
12.
Go beyond the first,
‘right’ answer.
13.
Transpose reality. Ask
“What if?” questions.
14.
SCAMPER!
15.
Turn pictures or the desktop
wallpaper upside down.
16.
Become a critical thinker.
Learn to spot common fallacies.
17.
Learn logic. Solve logic
puzzles.
18.
Get familiar with the
scientific method.
19.
Draw. Doodle. You don’t
need to be an artist.
20.
Think positive.
21.
Engage in arts — sculpt,
paint, play music — or any other artistic endeavor.
22.
Learn to juggle.
23.
Eat ‘brain foods’.
24.
Be slightly hungry.
25.
Exercise!
26.
Sit up straight.
27.
Drink lots of water.
28.
Deep-breathe.
29.
Laugh!
30.
Vary activities. Get a
hobby.
31.
Sleep well.
32.
Power nap.
33.
Listen to music.
34.
Conquer procrastination.
35.
Go technology-less.
36.
Look for brain resources in
the web.
37.
Change clothes. Go
barefoot.
38.
Master self-talk.
39.
Simplify!
40.
Play chess or other board
games. Play via Internet (particularly interesting is to play an ongoing game
by e-mail).
41.
Play ‘brain’ games. Sudoku,
crossword puzzles or countless others.
42.
Be childish!
43.
Play video games.
44.
Be humorous! Write or
create a joke.
45.
Create a List of 100.
46.
Have an Idea Quota.
47.
Capture every idea. Keep an
idea bank.
48.
Incubate ideas. Let ideas
percolate. Return to them at regular intervals.
49.
Engage in ‘theme
observation’. Try to spot the color red as many times as possible in a day.
Find cars of a particular make. Invent a theme and focus on it.
50.
Keep a journal.
51.
Learn a foreign language.
52.
Eat at different restaurants
– ethnic restaurants specially.
53.
Learn how to program a
computer.
54.
Spell long words backwards.
!gnignellahC
55.
Change your environment.
Change the placement of objects or furniture — or go somewhere else.
56.
Write! Write a story,
poetry, start a blog.
57.
Learn sign language.
58.
Learn a musical instrument.
59.
Visit a museum.
60.
Study how the brain works.
61.
Learn to speed-read.
62.
Find out your learning
style.
63.
Dump the calendar!
64.
Try to mentally estimate
the passage of time.
65.
“Guesstimate”. Are there
more leaves in the Amazon rainforest or neuron connections in your brain?
(answer).
66.
Make friends with math.
Fight ‘innumeracy’.
67.
Build a Memory Palace.
68.
Learn a peg system for
memory.
69.
Have sex! (sorry, no links
for this one! )
70.
Memorize people’s names.
71.
Meditate. Cultivate
mindfulness and an empty mind.
72.
Watch movies from different
genres.
73.
Turn off the TV.
74.
Improve your concentration.
75.
Get in touch with nature.
76.
Do mental math.
77.
Have a half-speed day.
78.
Change the speed of certain
activities. Go either super-slow or super-fast deliberately.
79.
Do one thing at a time.
80.
Be aware of cognitive
biases.
81.
Put yourself in someone
else’s shoes. How would different people think or solve your problems? How
would a fool tackle it?
82.
Adopt an attitude of
contemplation.
83.
Take time for solitude and
relaxation.
84.
Commit yourself to lifelong
learning.
85.
Travel abroad. Learn about
different lifestyles.
86.
Adopt a genius. (Leonardo
is excellent company!)
87.
Have a network of
supportive friends.
88.
Get competitive.
89.
Don’t stick with only
like-minded people. Have people around that disagree with you.
90.
Brainstorm!
91.
Change your perspective.
Short/long-term, individual/collective.
92.
Go to the root of the
problems.
93.
Collect quotes.
94.
Change the media you’re
working on. Use paper instead of the computer; voice recording instead of
writing.
95.
Read the classics.
96.
Develop your reading skill.
Reading effectively is a skill. Master it.
97.
Summarize books.
98.
Develop self-awareness.
99.
Say your problems out loud.
100. Describe one experience in
painstaking detail.
101. Learn Braille. You can
start learning the floor numbers while going up or down the elevator.
102. Buy a piece of art that
disturbs you. Stimulate your senses in thought-provoking ways.
103. Try different perfumes and
scents.
104. Mix your senses. How much
does the color pink weigh? How does lavender scent sound?
105. Debate! Defend an argument.
Try taking the opposite side, too.
106. Use time boxing.
107. Allocate time for brain
development.
108. Have your own mental
sanctuary.
109. Be curious!
110. Challenge yourself.
111. Develop your visualization
skills. Use it at least 5 minutes a day.
112. Take notes of your dreams.
Keep a notebook by your bedside and record your dreams first thing in the morning or as you wake up from them.
113. Learn to lucid dream.
114. Keep a lexicon of
interesting words. Invent your own words.
115. Find metaphors. Connect
abstract and specific concepts.
116. Manage stress.
117. Get random input. Write
about a random word in a magazine. Read random sites using StumbleUpon or
Wikipedia.
118. Take different routes each
day. Change the streets you follow to work, jog or go back home.
119. Install a different operating
system on your computer.
120. Improve your vocabulary.
121. Deliver more than what’s
expected.
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