Keep Your Mind Sharp: 15 Tips to Stay Mentally Fit

The idea of aging is scary.

With diseases on the rise, it’s important to be mindful of how you plan to keep your mental health in check. If you want to keep your mind sharp, try these 15 tips to stay mentally fit.

As we get older, we may start to worry about the effects that age will have on our minds and bodies. It’s a valid concern, especially if you’ve had other family members suffer from illnesses such as Alzheimer’s or Dementia.

But it’s important not to focus too much on what might happen in the future; instead, make a plan for yourself now so you can keep your mind sharp as you age!

Here are 15 tips to stay mentally fit.

Get uncomfortable to stay mentally fit

Keeping our brains active is one key to keeping them healthy as we age. Studies show that many adults become comfortable with mastering certain skills or topics, but embracing discomfort helps us stay sharp and interested in new things even if they’re challenging.

Engage with children

It’s true: kids say the darndest things! But when we interact with younger people and listen to them, they’re actually helping us stay sharp. Researchers have found that adults who are more engaged with children score higher on mental ability tests.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle

Eating right and exercising are two habits that can help keep your brain sharp as you age. The brain is a power house that needs nutrient rich foods to function properly. Foods rich in Omega 3, 6, and 9 are great for optimal improving memory and subsequently bettering moods.

Stop multi-tasking

Staying focused on one task at a time helps you avoid mistakes and stay organized. Multi-tasking may seem efficient, but it actually slows down your brain’s processing speeds by as much as 40%.

There is also a lot of room for error and potential for injury when you are spread about trying to amante various tasks. You can get burned out quicker and or lose focus entirely.

TIP: Take breaks during the day to keep yourself sharp! According to scientists who study productivity, taking frequent short breaks throughout the workday can help us find new solutions faster than if we worked continuously for hours without any downtime.

It also allows our brains enough time away from focusing too hard on difficult problems so they have some time to relax and come back refreshed with a new perspective on how to solve them.

Read out loud

Reading your email, books or documents out loud helps you process information more effectively. Using sound energy will amplify your focus and attention, because you won’t only use internal stimuli to process information but also external supporting stimuli.

Play games that challenge the mind

It’s important to play games with mental tasks like solving puzzles and playing chess because these are proven ways of keeping our brains sharp as we age.

Take on some DIY projects around the house every once in a while

You don’t need to head back to school for an engineering degree! Simple things like fixing appliances can help keep your brain stay active by challenging it without being too difficult. Maybe you want to repurpose a side table or your wooden dining table could use a varnish refresh.

If you’re not sure where to start, check out YouTube videos that walk you through simple repairs before attempting them yourself! Keeping up with home repair doesn’t have to be hard. Check out some DIY hacks, that would also be great to use around the house.

Travel

Traveling not only opens your mind to new ideas and places, it also provides a mental workout. Researchers have found that people who travel internationally once every two years score higher on standardized tests than those who don’t leave their country or even state as often!

Traveling forces you to grow beyond your comfort zones to try something different, and drastically change up a stagnant routine. For example, waking up at an earlier hour, having an unusually healthy breakfast, and basking in the sun at the beach.

All this activity will keep your mind working, instead of on auto pilot that it may be used to day in and day out.

Relaxation exercises

Too much stress is never good for the brain, so giving yourself regular relaxation time can help you stay calm and boost creativity in your work, at home and throughout life’s adventures.

Exercises like yoga and meditation give us opportunities to break out of our usual routines while still being productive; we get benefits from both activities without losing progress toward any specific goal because they’re done intermittently rather than constantly over time (like many other habits).

Yoga is also said to elongate the DNA telomeres, which are the ends of the genetic coding in our cells. Over time, the ends of the telomeres wear out and can possibly negatively affect our gene expression. Yoga boosts positive gene expression.

Try to learn a new language

This one may be for the more ambitious. New languages help us stay sharp because they constantly challenge our brains with different words, pronunciations and grammatical rules.

Try getting a book that has visual interpretations for an easier learning curve. The DK books series is highly recommended.

Don’t forget about your brain!

What we eat, how much sleep we get and even what dreams we have can affect the health of our brains as well. So make sure you take care of yourself by exercising regularly, eating right and getting enough rest so that you’re ready for whatever life throws at you next year or decades down the line!

Sleep is probably the most vital routine to any healthy regimen. Find your ideal number, whether it is 8 hours of sleep, or 7 hours; if it keeps you energized and feeling great throughout the day make sure to prioritize it.

Start a new hobby

Find something you’ve always wanted to try, and go for it! It could be anything from painting or photography, to learning a language. Keep your mind active by taking on a new challenge that will keep you engaged with the world around you.

Take care of yourself

The better shape you’re in now, the easier it’ll be for your brain to remain healthy as well! As we get older, our brains shrink just like every other part of our bodies; this is completely normal and does not mean there’s anything wrong with us.

However, regular exercise can help reduce how much damage occurs over time so start working out, make it a priority. Thirty minutes of walking a day should be sufficient and even if you are not up to it, your dog needs to go out! If it’s not your dog, it’s your body.

Don’t try to do everything at once:

We all feel like we have more than enough on our plates, but trying to accomplish too much in one day can leave us feeling overwhelmed.

When things get really busy it’s easy to lose track and stay focused. Make a list, note your deadlines, make time for big tasks, block out time for other tasks, and most importantly make time for your family and friends.

Eat whole nutritious food stuff

The foods you put in your body affect how well the brain works so make sure to eat healthy snacks rather than junk food whenever possible! Nuts and raisins are great healthy snack alternatives.

As with many other parts of life, it’s important to be mindful about what you consume because small habits add up quickly; eating healthy today will help keep your mind sharp later. Brain and blood circulation foods like beets, fish, walnuts, cayenne pepper and others can greatly affect your mental capacities.

Your mind is a muscle and just like any other aspect of your body, it needs to be exercised.

If you want to keep your cognitive abilities sharp as you age,

Follow these 15 tips that will help you stay mentally fit and maintain the mental agility necessary for success in today’s world.

What are some ways you exercise your brain?