12 Things To Do Every Day To Be Smarter

Image by Will Tarpey (Unsplashed)

Being smart is so much more than getting all A’s for your subjects. A smart person also means someone who can stand up for themselves, have their own opinions and are enthusiastic about gaining new useful information every day. If you start adopting smart habits from today, you will feel much better as a person, others will find you more attractive too. Here are some things you can do every day to be smarter.

1. Read for 10 minutes a day.

Reading is never an overrated activity especially when it comes to gaining knowledge. Instead of scrolling through social media during your free time, how about try reading something new, whether it be a book or an article online. There are no limitations to what you read, as long as you are doing it and adding new information in your head.

2. Take time to reflect on your day.

As we get older, we become more forgetful, but a way to slow down this process is to have some time to reflect on your day. Just take 5 to 10 minutes each day to sit down in a quiet place, say your bedroom, and think about what happened during the day. What mistakes had you done? What knowledge did you gain from talking to others? It will be less likely for you to forget about things, and at the same time remember things that you actually learned.

3. Brainstorm new ideas.

A few of the smartest people who have ever lived all have something in common: they are creative. With creativity, you will be able to invent new things or improve the things that are currently in your life. Of course, not everyone is born creative, but by brainstorming ideas every day, you are training your brain to think out of the box. Such action will train your brain to think critically in the long run.

4. Try new things.

Everyone loves being in their comfort zone, but to make yourself smarter and be a better person, you need to step out of it and try things that you’ve never done before. If you’re too afraid to learn to play the violin, you never know if you might be missing a great opportunity in your life. Learning new things will not only help you gain new knowledge, but it also trains your brain to adapt to new situations.

5. Reduce social media time.

Scrolling through social media is probably the most time-wasting thing to do. There is a lot of false information there, and all you are seeing is just people telling about their lives that wouldn’t even benefit you at all. A way to reduce social media time is to focus on something else during your free time when you are on your phone on your computer. Don’t make it a habit to go straight to the apps or websites.

6. Talk to smart people.

Choosing the right kind of people to talk to is important. If you prefer talking to people who gossip about everything, then your brain will be filled with junks about other people, and worst of all it wouldn’t benefit your life. Know the right kind of person to hang around. Smart people are those that do not talk about useless stuff, instead, they talk about informative things that will make you more knowledgeable.

7. Ask questions.

Do you realize that the students who usually ask questions in classes are the smartest people? Although they can be annoying, they have a reason for doing it. They want to gain more knowledge that they know is useful to themselves. But you shouldn’t start asking random questions to people just to be smart. The key is to ask questions that you yourself are interested in knowing more, not something you ask just for fun.

8. Challenge your brain.

To challenge your thinking is one of the ways to step out of your comfort zone. By challenging it means to work on brain-stimulating games or puzzles, such as crosswords, Sudoku, or any other similar games that challenge your brain to think in a different way. Although they are “games” they are actually useful tools to make you think critically.

9. Learn to say no.

Smart people are not afraid to stand up for themselves, during the right time, of course. It is not all just about being right, but rather knowing where your ground is and not let others step all over you. Smart people will fight for what they know is right, and not be coward and stand by the side, letting people do or say the wrong things.

10. Learn something new every day.

Every day we gain new information, be it good or bad. But, if you learn something new every day intentionally, then it will be worth your time learning. That doesn’t mean you need to read a book a day just to gain knowledge. It could be something small as well, say if you are learning a new language, you could learn just 3 phrases a day, as long as you are learning something useful.

11. Exercise.

Exercising does not only benefit your body, it does wonders for your brain as well. This is why often times after people workout, they feel happier and more refreshed. Aside from getting a clearer mind, if you are working out using exercises that require attention to coordinate, you are also making your brain think and try to focus on the exercise. It is extremely useful to strengthen your brain.

12. Eat healthy food.

“It’s what’s on the inside that matters”, this quote is applicable for this situation. What you feed yourself is extremely important. Healthy body, healthy mind. If you are feeding yourself food that is good to your body, your mind will be more refreshing and your thinking will be clearer. However, if you are constantly feeding junk to your body, you will feel more tired, sluggish, and your brain wouldn’t be functioning well.

These are the 12 tips for you to do every day that will train you to be a smarter person. It might seem impossible, but nothing happens overnight. If you are patient and committed, in time you will become a whole new, better person!