5 Ways to Keep Your Mind Sharp (and Maybe Learn a New Skill)

Sudoku

Whether you’re looking to stave off memory loss, or you just want to improve the health of your brain, then you need to stay mentally stimulated. Learning new things, playing complex puzzles and even playing games may be all you need to help keep your mind sharp. This article will discuss a few ways on how to keep yourself mentally stimulated.

Try Sudoku and Crosswords

Your parents may have mastered the crossword. It’s not a bad idea to learn from their skills. Crosswords and Sudoku can be great ways to help keep your mind sharp. They offer up a puzzle that involves your memory, counting and strategic planning. The best thing about these puzzles is that they can easily be found in both paper and app-form. No matter if you’re off the grid or bored on a bus with Wi-Fi, you can mentally challenge yourself with these games.

Learn A New Language

Perhaps you had to take a second language in high school. How much of it do you remember now? While you may have been forced to take the class as a child, you should still consider learning a new language as an adult. Learning languages is an incredible way to keep your mind sharp. It requires you to improve your focus and memory. Luckily, there are a ton of different apps, such as Duolingo, that offer language building. Or you could always choose to drop yourself off in a foreign country and learn from the source yourself.

Read More

When was the last time you were able to read a book for your own enjoyment? The process of reading, remembering details of the plot and characters and being actively engaged with the book are all great ways to keep your mind sharp. The more you read, the sharper your mind becomes. Books are easier to pick up than ever. You can stop by the traditional book store or you can even find plenty of free books in eBook form on the internet. For those who truly want to challenge their reading skills, you might want to pause on your fiction reading and try reading some scientific journals instead.

Learn How To Bake

Baking can keep your mind sharp? There’s a lot more science that goes into baking than one might think. You have to ensure that you’re using the correct measurements, that you’re keeping track of time in terms of how long something has been in the oven and you need to know how to create minute details. You shouldn’t just bake a cake. You should make a masterpiece. Honing your baking skills will not only sharpen your mind but also give everyone in your household a tasty treat. You might even find you have a brand new skill.

Take New Classes

You may feel as though you’re a bit old to return to school but that’s never the case. So long as you keep learning new things, then your mind will always be stimulated and sharp. You don’t even have to sign up for a heavy-duty class like chemistry or biology either. Why not begin with history? That genre alone requires you to critically think about historical events and memorize timelines and significant figures in history. You’ll also find that you’ll have to write papers. Being able to explain yourself effectively through the written word is a mental exercise in itself. For those who prefer creativity, then take an art class. You’re still just as mentally stimulated learning how to draw as you are elsewhere.