Everybody wants to boost their brain power so that they can be ahead of their peers and competitors in the corporate world. When you begin to feel sluggish, uncreative and not able to focus on your thoughts then most people do feel that they need help.
Most of the time, as you climb up the corporate ladder you begin to notice that the positions do become lesser and the people who are vying for the top job do have more or less the same kind of experience and skill sets. However in my opinion, what does separate the one from getting to the coveted post is how emotionally strong and fit he/she is.
I am a big believer of the fact that how strong one is emotionally will go a long way in you being successful and if you are someone who is looking at massive professional growth then listen to me carefully. I am sharing with you one tip through this blog article and I will guarantee you that if you keep at this for at the least 3-4 weeks, you will see massive growth in the area which matters the most which is boosting your mental strength.
Even though I have spoken about regular meditation, exercise and eating healthy in other blog posts of mine, what I am specifically talking about is something which I have been practicing from decades and won’t be surprised at all if you knew all about this but never moved in this direction. So you must be wondering come on Satish “What the hell are you talking about?” Hold your horses. I am talking about nothing more than just plain writing.
Yes I am talking specifically about writing things down on paper, which according to latest scientific research strengthens your brain much more than any other single medically or technologically driven activity. Read on to be more than convinced before you roll around your eyes.
You Connect Better
When you write down the points or note down important summary of the conversation, I will guarantee you that you are showing the other person who is sitting opposite you that he/she is important. Now the person across you can be your manager or your subordinate, what matters is that you are building a connection with them which will go a long way going forward. This according to me does give you as an individual the ability to become more creative and focused with the other person.
There is enough research to prove that taking down notes with a pen or a pencil makes one more connected and creative. However what did catch my attention is that according to UCLA psychologist writing in hand involves a process of reflection and manipulation which eventually leads to better understanding and memory encoding.
Now this is gold because if you are someone who always carry your mobile or iPad to take down notes then it’s time to shift gear. I have personally been doing this one habit of writing down points on a paper from decades.
You can always find me writing down my thoughts and taking notes if I am middle of something. Try this one approach and you will be doing much better in the things which does matter the most to you going forward.
You Access The Creative Part Of The Brain
This always happens to me and I was wondering if I was the only person who got better ideas when I put the pen to a paper or was it something to do with others also. I did come across many creative people across the world who believe in first creating the draft on a sheet of paper and subsequently transferring it to a computer. The same goes with me too. I always note down the gist on a sheet of paper before I begin to transfer the contents to my computer.
I remember reading in one of the research papers that the part of the brain which plays a big role in being creative is accessed more when we use our hand to write with a pen. So I am not surprised with this finding at all because it always does work for me and I do not see any reason as to why it should not for you.
This article Nancy Olson focuses on more benefits of the writing habit on our brain.
You Develop More Focus
Lack of focus is a common challenge I do come across in executives and entrepreneurs. Now, you can’t blame someone who is connected to a computer which in turn is connected to the internet and with a click of a finger you can get into a rabbit hole of the World Wide Web.
I have personally worked with many clients over the years who did have this one challenge of not being able to focus on the job. Yes, all kinds of apps to lock the sites or the internet is something which does work only for a few days.
However when I do recommend them to work on their plan for the day or create a framework for an important presentation on a sheet of paper or a note pad, things begin to change for the good. I remember working with a Sr Manager who was heading the Asia Pacific region for sales to just focus on the first 30 minutes of her day in planning the day and making a rough sketch of important events to help her gain focus and develop clarity.
She stills practice this one habit before she switches on her laptop for the day and only after getting a rough plan does she begin her day. It has worked for her magically and I am not surprised at all. So if you are someone who has not been able to focus, think creatively or just want to improve your clarity of thoughts, I strongly recommend you to just invest in a basic pen or pencil and put your words and thoughts on a paper. You will just about surprise yourself in no time and will also vouch on this one habit as much as I do.
Originally published at satishrao.in