Maximizing Brain Power

You may have heard of Steven Covey’s best-selling book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, but have you heard of Sharp Brain’s Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains? In his August 22, 2007, blog post, Alvaro Fernandez suggests 10 habits we should practice to maximize our brain power:

The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains

By: Alvaro Fernandez

Let’s review some good lifestyle options we can fol­low to main­tain, and improve, our vibrant brains..

1. Learn what is the “It” in “Use It or Lose It”. A basic under­stand­ing will serve you well to appre­ci­ate your brain’s beauty as a liv­ing and constantly-developing dense for­est with bil­lions of neu­rons and synapses.
2. Take care of your nutri­tion. Did you know that the brain only weighs 2% of body mass but con­sumes over 20% of the oxy­gen and nutri­ents we intake? As a gen­eral rule, you don’t need expen­sive ultra-sophisticated nutri­tional sup­ple­ments, just make sure you don’t stuff your­self with the “bad stuff”.
3. Remem­ber that the brain is part of the body. Things that exer­cise your body can also help sharpen your brain: phys­i­cal exer­cise enhances neurogenesis.
4. Prac­tice pos­i­tive, future-oriented thoughts until they become your default mind­set and you look for­ward to every new day in a con­struc­tive way. Stress and anx­i­ety, no mat­ter whether induced by exter­nal events or by your own thoughts, actu­ally kills neu­rons and pre­vent the cre­ation of new ones. You can think of chronic stress as the oppo­site of exer­cise: it pre­vents the cre­ation of new neurons.
5. Thrive on Learn­ing and Men­tal Chal­lenges. The point of hav­ing a brain is pre­cisely to learn and to adapt to chal­leng­ing new envi­ron­ments. Once new neu­rons appear in your brain, where they stay in your brain and how long they sur­vive depends on how you use them. “Use It or Lose It” does not mean “do cross­word puz­zle num­ber 1,234,567″. It means, “chal­lenge your brain often with fun­da­men­tally new activities”.
6. We are (as far as we know) the only self-directed organ­isms in this planet. Aim high. Once you grad­u­ate from col­lege, keep learn­ing. The brain keeps devel­op­ing, no mat­ter your age, and it reflects what you do with it.

Rate Your Study Space

CCV-Bennington students hitting the books

by Alisha Leu

Student Services Intern, Community College of Vermont 

With a big test on the horizon, it’s about time that you buckle down, crack open those books and start studying. Now you must answer the big question that has been stumping students for years, “Where should I study?” Studying is a very personal process, and every student uses a slightly different method.

I’ll admit, as a student, I have used several different locations: a quiet corner of my bedroom, my dining room table, the public library, and even a busy public park. In my experience, the key is being able to minimize distractions.

The problem is that distractions are everywhere and minimizing them is challenging, but here are two tips. First, create a schedule that carves out specific study times. This allows you to rid yourself of any guilt you may feel when you take time away from your life to study. Second, turn off your social media. While Facebooking (yes, I do think Facebook can now be used as a verb) and texting friends and family are  both fun and easy ways to stay connected, these activities will not help you reach your academic goals.  Study time should be time focused on learning course content and completing assignments. 

With your distractions minimized, you can find that perfect study place. I like to test spaces in advance by doing my homework there. This helps me learn what spaces work best, which ensures that when I do sit down during my scheduled study time (with no social media distractions) I know for sure that my valuable time is not being wasted!

Using these tips will help you succeed at getting that ‘A’ on your next test, but ultimately, you must do what works best for you. Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” So if you are using one location to study in and you aren’t getting the results you want, try something new for the next exam.  

Where are the hot study spots in Vermont?  Where are you studying?

                                                                                                      

Celebrate and Replicate Success

As you begin this new semester, take a few minutes to think about what you did successfully last semester.  If you completed all of your reading assignments, acknowledge the job well done and think about the habits you formed that helped with your success.  Did you read at a specific time?  In a specific place?  If you earn high test grades, consider your studying process.   Did you review your notes daily?  Make notecards? Study with classmates?  Visit the learning center?  Ask your instructor how he recommends you study for his course? What structures did you put in place that supported your success?  Recognizing the habits or routines that worked and considering why they worked is important so you can replicate your success. 

 If this is your first semester taking classes at CCV, consider your strengths.  If you are an excellent organizer, think about how you might translate those skills to the classroom.  How do you plan to organize your notes and papers?  What time management system will you use?  How will you know your systems are working?

Celebrate your successes and acknowledge your strengths and know that you have the skills to be a successful student.  Now go on and rock this spring semester!