Conditioning for Mental Sharpness

1.  Filter and Focus. The brain's efficiency decreases with information overload. All information and decisions are not equally important. Don't try to remember things you don't need to remember. You don't need to remember your neighbor's phone number anymore - it's in your phone.  Successful leaders actively focus on important decisions and give less attention to unimportant issues.  Write down the "facts" in a presentation or meeting, and try to remember the overall ideas instead.

As you age, your ability to remember details is reduced, but your ability to reason improves. The frontal lobe of your brain, the "executive assistant" of the brain, is the last to develop. Typically, it isn't fully developed until a person is 25 years old--probably not a surprise for parents of young adults. Take advantage of that refined part of your brain and rely on your reasoning skills over memory.

2. Zoom Out - Zoom In (Integrated Reasoning). Brain fitness in the workplace is a process, not a one-time achievement. Improving brain function and efficiency requires toggling back and forth between big picture and details.

Zoom out - Identify the big picture project

Zoom in - Acquire new knowledge and necessary details to complete the project

Zoom out - Strategically update the project plan given new data

3. Innovative Thinking. Seek to push the envelope in novel thinking and problem solving. Innovation involves generating multiple solutions to a problem, assessing issues from various perspectives, and integrating thoughts to come up with new ideas. Innovation is crucial for organizations that want to stay competitive in today's global economy. Take breaks from challenging issues. Some of our best ideas come when least expected, such as during sleep or exercise.

Healthy Brain Habits

--Pursue passions and develop a strong sense of purpose.

--Physical exercise and healthy diet. Plenty of sleep, eating well and exercise are more important to brain health than doing Sudoku or crossword puzzles - although those don't hurt so don't stop doing them.  Adults who exercise at least 3 times a week are much less likely to develop dementia. Generally, if it's good for your heart, it's good for your brain.

--Nurture meaningful relationships and establish strong social connection. Good News Girlz is a great way to maintain social connections and meet new people.

--Block time to do projects and avoid multi-tasking.  It helps you be more efficient and increases overall performance of tasks.

--Above all, keep learning new things. It's the process of learning that builds synapses and brain health.

What to Avoid - Hindrances to Optimal Brain Performance

--Sleep deprivation. Getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night on a regular basis enhances the brain's ability to learn and retain new information, improves the brain's efficiency throughout the day, increases attentiveness and decreases fatigue-related emotional overreaction.

--Multi-tasking. Probably the worst thing you can do, and the thing we all do the most. Multi-tasking reduces productivity. It makes one more susceptible to infectious diseases (bet you didn't know that!). It has also been shown that a high percentage of car crashes occur when a driver is distracted or multi-tasking.

--Stress. Prolonged stress is associated with increased levels of cortisol. Stress can impact the same part of the brain as Alzheimer's disease, with the consequence of impairing memory function.

--Concussion. If this happens, it probably couldn't be avoided, but obtaining immediate medical help is crucial.

--Depression. Staying socially connected and having a strong group of friends helps avoid depression. Also, having a sense of purpose and actively pursuing interests keeps those black thoughts at bay.

--Some medications and sleep aids. Always consult a physician when considering medications or sleep aids.

--General anesthesia. Sometimes, this can't be avoided. If you have to have surgery, you have to go under. But, when faced with a voluntary operation requiring general anesthesia, consider all options. Anesthesia can accelerate brain deterioration if done too often.

--Failure to seek help if noticing difficulties.  The sooner a problem is caught, the better chance of stopping the deterioration.

For more information, go to http://www.brainhealth.utdallas.edu.  Thanks to Jennifer Zientz and Sarah Monning at the UTD Center for Brain Health.