Start Small, See Big Changes: Train Your Brain at Home
People don't like change when it comes to changing their own lifestyle habits.
— Jonathan Balcombe
When you learn a new skill, solve a complex puzzle, or memorize a long list of items, your brain actively builds new neural connections. This constant activity via brain exercises can make your mind more flexible and resilient, helping you cope with everyday tasks and improving your well-being in the long run.
Why a Strong Brain is So Important
A sharp mind helps you remember names and important dates, solve problems quickly, and stay calm and focused when you're busy. After a while, you'll be able to look back and see how your basic habits that you didn't pay attention to before have changed for the better.
Better Memory: This can help you remember where you put your keys or what you need to buy at the store
Sharper Focus: When you can focus well, you can complete tasks without getting distracted by your phone or other noise around you.
Faster Thinking: This helps you make decisions quickly and solve unexpected problems
Improved Logic and Reasoning: It allows you to think step-by-step and understand complex situations
For example, Mind Elevate tracks your progress, identifies your strengths and weaknesses, and then provides you with a unique set of games to help you improve where you need it most. It's like having a personal trainer for your brain, offering daily challenging but always fun workouts.
Memory Booster
Such games here use visual and auditory information to test your short-term and working memory.
Game Examples:
Sequence Recall: A sequence of shapes or sounds is displayed on the screen, and you must repeat the sequence exactly, and each time you succeed, the sequence becomes longer and more complex.
Pair Match: You will be shown a grid of cards with different images, the cards turn over, and you must memorize their location in order to find suitable pairs as quickly as possible.
How it helps you: Practicing these games strengthens the part of your brain that is responsible for memorizing temporal information. And by the way, this is the same part of your brain that you use when you're trying to memorize a phone number or a list of instructions.
Logic Master
Such exercises use puzzles that require you to think carefully and use logical thinking skills.
Game Examples:
Sudoku Puzzles: You are given a grid with numbers, and you must fill in the empty squares so that each row, column and block contains all the numbers from one to nine, without repeating.
Spatial thinking: You are shown a three-dimensional shape, and you must mentally rotate it to find the right appropriate shape from a group of options.
How does this help you: It trains your brain to see patterns and find solutions and develops your analytical abilities and the ability to think ahead. These skills are very useful for solving tasks such as planning a trip or understanding a new process at work.
Focus Challenge
In our busy world, it's easy to get distracted, so if you find signs of ADHD and you're already rushing to a specialist, try to increase your concentration yourself first.
Game Examples:
Quick Tap: Colored circles appear on the screen, and you must tap only the one with the correct color as quickly as possible. This game is made more difficult by adding more colors and speeding up the appearance of circles.
Word Search: You are given a grid of letters and you have to find certain words hidden inside and the task is to ignore all the other letters and find the right words before the time runs out.
How it helps you: These games force your brain to filter out unnecessary information and concentrate on one task. Regular activities will help you stay focused while talking or reading a book.
Speed Math
As an adult, you often think that you've missed out on a lot of fundamental knowledge from school and that's why you're developing in only one area. Mathematics is difficult for many people, but with practice it can become easier.
Game Examples:
Quick Calculations: Simple math problems (like 13+7 or ) appear on the screen, and you have to answer them correctly in a very short amount of time.
Number Chains: You are given a number and a series of operations to perform on it (for example, "add 5, then multiply by 2, then subtract 3"). You must solve the final number in your head quickly.
How it helps you: This is useful in many everyday situations, such as checking change, calculating tips at a restaurant, or finding the best deal when shopping.
Language Explorer
Watching interviews with bloggers or celebrities, you could see that their speech is well-choreographed, the choice of words is always accurate and pleasant to listen to. But few people realize that this is a lot of work on themselves and months or even years of training
Game Examples:
Word Association: You are given a word, and you have to choose another related word from a list of options. For example, if the word is "sun," you can choose "hot" or "day."
Spelling Bee:The word is spoken out loud, and you have to pronounce it correctly, and the longer and more complex the words, the greater the difficulty.
How it helps you: The games presented in this section will make you think about words and how they relate. This will help you express your thoughts more clearly when you speak or write and increase your vocabulary.
Using Mind Elevate in Your Daily Life: Lifehacks
Skill | Everyday Situation | Lifehack to Apply the Skill |
Memory Booster | Remembering a shopping list | Instead of writing everything down, look at your list for 30 seconds and try to create a mental picture or story of all the items. For example, imagine that a large carton of milk is riding a bicycle, and a loaf of bread is wearing a hat. This method, called memory palace, uses vivid mental images that help you remember the right items when you are in the store. |
Logic Master | Trying to organize a busy schedule | When you have a lot to do, don't just make a list, but treat all the tasks as a puzzle. Find the optimal order of their execution. For example, if you need to go to the post office or grocery store, think about which one is closer to your home and which one will save you time. It is a form of spatial thinking and planning. |
Focus Challenge | Being distracted by your phone during work or study | Before you start the task, play one of the concentration games for a few minutes. This will warm up your brain and tell it how to prepare for the challenge. Then, when you get to work, it will be much easier for you to abstract from distractions and focus on the task in front of you. |
Speed Math | Quickly calculating a discount at a store | If something costs $15 with a 20% discount, don't use a calculator. Think about it: "How much is 10% of 15? That's $1.50. Thus, 20% is twice as much, that is, 3 dollars. So, the new price is $15 minus $3, which is $12." This exercise will help you develop your math skills and save money. |
Language Explorer | Trying to remember a new word you just learned | When you learn a new word, don't just read its definition, but try to use it immediately in a sentence. You can say a sentence out loud or write it down. The more often you use a new word, the more likely you are to remember it. The brain learns information best when actively using it, not just when passively reading it. |
Many apps also provide a system for tracking your progress and you can see how you are improving over time and in which areas you are becoming stronger. The apps will show you graphs and numbers that will show exactly how much your speed, memory, and concentration have improved.
To make brain training a habit, it's very useful to set aside just a few minutes each day. Here are some tips on how to do it.
Start small: start with one or two games and play for only five minutes, but you can increase the time when you feel more comfortable.
Make it a routine: try to play at the same time every day, for example, you can play in the morning over a cup of coffee or on your way to work.
Find a suitable place: choose a quiet place where no one will disturb you, this will help you focus on the game and get the most out of the activity.
Brain training is a long-term way to keep your brain active, flexible, and healthy, and it's important to find the right approach where you have all the necessary tools to make this journey fun and exciting.