polishing the brain neurons

next week i'll start my classes. never thought that i would listen to lectures again after i've completed my degree. well, that's the requirement for postgrads in upm. we have to complete certain credit hours of coursework besides performing research to grad. i've registered three subjects with total of 9 credit hours (i chose for the minimun requirement =p) which consist of immunobiology, biotechnology of malaria and health research methods & biostatistics. three days of the week will be packed with classes. huh. well, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. i have to believe in that (^^,)

so, it's time to boost my brain power. i've listed below few tips that have been claimed can boost the neurons. check them out!

• Solve puzzles and brainteasers.
• Cultivate ambidexterity. Use your non-dominant hand to brush your teeth, comb your hair or use the mouse. Write with both hands simultaneously. Switch hands for knife and fork - jangan makan dengan tangan kiri pulak!
  
• Embrace ambiguity. Learn to enjoy things like paradoxes and optical illusions.
  
• Learn mind mapping.
• Block one or more senses. Eat blindfolded, wear earplugs, shower with your eyes closed.
• Develop comparative tasting. Learn to properly taste chocolate, cheese or anything else.
  
• Find intersections between seemingly unrelated topics.
• Learn to use different keyboard layouts. Try Colemak or Dvorak for a full mind twist!
• Find novel uses for common objects. How many different uses can you find for a nail? 10? 100?
• Reverse your assumptions.
• Learn creativity techniques.
• Go beyond the first, ‘right’ answer.
• Transpose reality. Ask “What if?” questions.
  
• Turn pictures or the desktop wallpaper upside down.
• Become a critical thinker. Learn to spot common fallacies.
• Learn logic. Solve logic puzzles.
• Get familiar with the scientific method.
• Draw. Doodle. You don’t need to be an artist.
• Think positive.
  
• Engage in arts — sculpt, paint, play music — or any other artistic endeavor.
• Learn to juggle.
• Eat ‘brain foods’.
• Be slightly hungry.
• Exercise!
  
• Sit up straight.
• Drink lots of water.
  
• Deep-breathe.
  
• Laugh!
• Vary activities. Get a hobby.
• Sleep well.
  
• Listen to music.
• Go technology-less.
• Look for brain resources in the web.
  
• Go barefoot.
• Master self-talk.
  
• Simplify!
• Play chess or other board games. Play via Internet (particularly interesting is to play an ongoing game by e-mail).
  
• Play ‘brain’ games. Sudoku, crossword puzzles or countless others.
  
• Play video games.
• Be humorous! Write or create a joke.
  
• Create a List of 100.
• Have an Idea Quota.
• Capture every idea. Keep an idea bank.
• Incubate ideas. Let ideas percolate. Return to them at regular intervals.
  
• Engage in ‘theme observation’. Try to spot the color red as many times as possible in a day. Find cars of a particular make. Invent a theme and focus on it.
• Keep a journal.
• Learn a foreign language.
• Eat at different restaurants – ethnic restaurants specially.
• Learn how to program a computer.
• Spell long words backwards. !gnignellahC
• Change your environment. Change the placement of objects or furniture — or go somewhere else.
• Write! Write a story, poetry, start a blog.
• Learn sign language.
• Learn a musical instrument.
• Visit a museum.
• Study how the brain works.
  
• Learn to speed-read.
• Find out your learning style.
  
• Dump the calendar!Try to mentally estimate the passage of time.
• “Guesstimate”. Are there more leaves in the Amazon rainforest or neuron connections in your brain? (answer).
• Make friends with math. Fight ‘innumeracy’.
• Memorize people’s names.
  
• Meditate.Cultivate mindfulness and an empty mind.
• Watch movies from different genres.
  
• Turn off the TV.
  
• Improve your concentration.
• Get in touch with nature.
• Do mental math.
• Have a half-speed day.Change the speed of certain activities. Go either super-slow or super-fast deliberately.
• Do one thing at a time.
  
• Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. How would different people think or solve your problems? How would a fool tackle it?
• Take time for solitude and relaxation.
• Commit yourself to lifelong learning.
• Travel abroad. Learn about different lifestyles.
  
• Have a network of supportive friends.
• Get competitive.
• Don’t stick with only like-minded people. Have people around that disagree with you.
• Brainstorm!
• Change your perspective. Short/long-term, individual/collective.
  
• Go to the root of the problems.
• Collect quotes.
• Change the media you’re working on. Use paper instead of the computer; voice recording instead of writing.
  
• Read the classics.Develop your reading skill. Reading effectively is a skill. Master it.
• Summarize books.
• Develop self-awareness.
  
• Say your problems out loud.
• Describe one experience in painstaking detail.
  
• Try different perfumes and scents.Mix your senses. How much does the color pink weigh? How does lavender scent sound?
• Debate! Defend an argument.Try taking the opposite side, too.
• Allocate time for brain development.
• Be curious!Challenge yourself.
• Develop your visualization skills. Use it at least 5 minutes a day.
• Take notes of your dreams. Keep a notebook by your bedside and record your dreams first thing in the morning or as you wake up from them.
• Keep a lexicon of interesting words. Invent your own words.
  
• Find metaphors. Connect abstract and specific concepts.
• Manage stress.
• Get random input. Write about a random word in a magazine. Read random sites using StumbleUpon or Wikipedia.
• Take different routes each day. Change the streets you follow to work, jog or go back home.
• Install a different operating system on your computer.
• Improve your vocabulary.
  
• Deliver more than what’s expected.

not all is relevant to me. few may work. what do you say? =)

p/s: recite the Holy Quran everyday. let your qalb remembers Him each sec