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!

New Semester Resolution

With each New Year comes New Year’s resolutions.  Millions of people commit to stopping old unhealthy habits, starting new productive and healthy habits, or finally starting a project or working toward a goal.  Realistically, people can set goals for themselves at any time; there is certainly no need to wait for a new year.  I will concede, however, that psychologically, a new year suggests a new beginning, and making a resolution seems to make good sense.  The beauty of being a college student is that each semester brings a new beginning. This new beginning offers ripe opportunity to reflect on your strengths, to think about the areas where you might need a little work, and to put a plan in place – a New Semester Resolution!

First, consider some of the skills that lead to academic success.  Time management, study skills, utilization of student support services, work/life/school balance, completion of assignments, writing and reading skills, class attendance and participation, and communication with instructors and other students are a few that come to mind. 

 Next, identify the skills you would like to improve.  Perhaps you found yourself starting to tackle assignments later than you would have liked (okay, I’ll come out and say it – perhaps you procrastinated). 

 Evaluate the system you had in place last semester. Perhaps you tried to use Google calendar to manage your time and keep track of your assignments.  Why didn’t the system work? Maybe you kept forgetting to enter assignments onto the calendar.  

Next, consider your options and make a plan. You might look at your syllabus and enter all semester assignments onto the Google calendar immediately after your first class.  You might decide to review your assignments daily and generate to-do lists.  Or, you might decide either a time management app on your phone or the CCV planner is a better time management option for you.  

The key to making a successful resolution is not only to make a meaningful goal, but also to evaluate what has and hasn’t worked and why, and then to put a deliberate plan in place.  Then, and this is the biggie – you must stick with the plan.  You will also want to evaluate your new plan and make adjustments as the semester progresses.  Here are some guiding questions for making New Semester Resolutions:

* Which skill area would you like to improve?

      * What systems or routines did you have in place in the past?

* What about these systems or routines has worked well?  Be sure to consider the who, the where, the when, and the how often.

* Do you have any habits that interfere with the systems or routines you have tried to establish?  Be sure to consider the who, the where, the when, and the how often. What is your plan to address these detracting habits?

*What about these systems or routines has not worked?  Be sure to consider the who, the where, the when, and the how often.

*What new system or routine will you implement?  Do you need to be aware of any habits or tendencies you have that may hinder the success of your new plan?  Be sure to consider the who, the where, the when, and the how often.

* When will you evaluate your new plan?  How will you know it is working?

 My New Semester Resolution is to dedicate daily time to reading important materials, and I’m happy to share that I have my plan in place.  What do you resolve to accomplish this semester?

MLK Day: A Call to Have Impact

"Everybody can be great because everybody can serve."

                                                                              ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let’s be honest –it is sometimes easy to feel like we don’t have a voice or we can’t impact or help fix the woes of the world.  I’m a realist.  I know that I am not going to single-handedly end world hunger tomorrow (even though that would be incredibly cool), but I do know that I can help hungry families in my community.  Perhaps I won’t wake up and end global warming, but I could work to raise awareness about the causes and consequences of global warming.  I could even contact a legislator and advocate for stronger environmental legislation or circulate a petition to support an environmental bill.  We all have the ability to impact other individuals, strengthen our communities, create solutions to social problems, and shed light on social injustices. I know this and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. certainly knew this.

Monday, January 21, 2013, marks the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday (MLK Day).  Dr. King spent his life serving others.  He fought for the rights and justices of all people, and he inspired hundreds of thousands of people to stand with him in the Civil Rights Movement.  In recognition of Dr. King’s legacy, Congress designated MLK Day as a day of service – a day for Americans to volunteer and come together to solve problems.  A day to make a difference.

Many of us aren’t able to volunteer on MLK Day – and that’s okay.  The spirit of MLK Day invites us to volunteer in our communities on any day.  If you are wondering how you can squeeze volunteering into your schedule or why you should squeeze volunteering into your schedule, you should not feel guilty.  It’s okay to ask, “What’s in it for me?” because the answer is – a lot is in it for you.

In addition to making a positive impact and helping others, volunteering brings personal, professional and social benefits.  According to the United Way, volunteering can help you:

• Make important networking contacts
• Learn or develop skills
• Teach your skills to others
• Enhance your resume
• Gain work experience
• Build self-esteem and self-confidence
• Improve your health
• Meet new people
• Feel needed and valued
• Communicate to others that you are ambitious, enthusiastic and care about the community
• Express gratitude for help you may have received in the past from an organization
• Make a difference in someone's life

To find volunteer opportunities that interest you or to learn more about the many benefits of volunteering, you can check out the following websites:

• MLK Day of Service
• idealist
• Do Something
• The Socially Conscious Blog

If you have gotten some service on, please share your experience with us.  Where'd you go?  What'd you do?  How did the experience impact you and others?