PUMP UP YOUR BRAIN POWER

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PUMP UP YOUR BRAIN POWERTake brain breaks:

The

brain accounts for about 2 percent of your weight but requires around

20 percent of your body’s oxygen. No wonder working at a desk all day

can be so exhausting. Frequent breaks are an energizing fix; a new

study from Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge compared computer

workers who took time-outs (performing simple stretches) every hour

with those who took them every 15 or 30 minutes. Those who worked in

15-minute blocks with " microbreaks " as brief as 30 seconds were the

speediest and most accurate, and had significantly fewer body aches.

" The longer you work, the longer it takes to recuperate, " says study

author Fereydoun Aghazadeh, Ph.D. " When you work for shorter periods

and take short breaks, you don’t have time to get tired, " he says.Be a single-tasker:When

you focus on one thing instead of several, you usually get more done in

less time, according to researchers at the University of Michigan at

Ann Arbor. Plus, their study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology:

‘Human Perception and performance’ found the percentage of errors

doubled when participants tried to do two things at once. " Multitasking

uses a large number of regions in the brain simultaneously, " says

co-author David, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology. " To cope with the

challenges, your brain consumes more energy resources like glucose. " In

addition, doubling up on activities can create a vicious cycle. You do

too much, tire out, get even less done, making you more stressed and

unfocussed – you get the picture.Burn a personal soundtrack:Whether

you play the Titanic theme before a big meeting or crank up your

collection when you’re stuck in crushing traffic, listening to your

favourite music can get you jazzed, says Jon Gordon, author of ‘Become

an Energy Addict.’ Go ahead; let the music move you!Play with your joystick:Video

games are more than just mind candy. Using them may give you the same

eyes-wide-open results as a walk around the block. A small study from

Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City found that when people

played Ms. PacMan for 30 minutes, their heart and metabolic rates

increasing much as they would with low intensity exercise. Plus,

whenever you do something that stirs up excited feelings, your body

rewards you by releasing hormones that increase blood sugar levels,

which can give you energy, according to research at the University of

Alberta in Edmonton.Sleep from six to eight hours:A

recent study suggests that key repair work may happen in the brain

between the sixth and eighth hours of sleep. The researchers believe

that during this time, bursts of electrical activity trigger waves of

calcium to enter certain brain cells. " These calcium waves instruct

neurons to recognize their connections with each other and generate new

ones, " says lead researcher Mathew Walker, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School on Boston. The result: You wake

up feeling fresher and thinking better.Gain an Emotional Edge, Connect with those who count:When

you’re busy and feeling beat, it is natural to want to make life a

hermit. But nights our with your friends or a miss-it-and-you-cry phone

call with your sister can buoy your energy by providing emotional

support. In fact, scientists at Griffith University in Nathan,

Australia, found they could predict energy levels of nurses who did

night shift work by how much social support they got.Head off a fight:Those

first few minutes at home after work can be a potential powder keg,

says Thomas Bradbury, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University

of California at Los Angeles. In fact, late afternoon and early evening

are prime times for arguments. We’re tired, we’re hungry, our patience

is shot. And really, there’s nothing much more exhausting than battling

over whose turn it is to make dinner! Instead, refuel on your way home,

says Gordon. Eating a little snake will up your blood sugar, giving you

extra stamina to transition from work to home.Clear your clutter:Cleaning

out a drawer, purging your purse or organising your desk or closets

will give you a little jump-start. While there’s not much science

behind the theory, there is a wealth of anecdotal evidence, says Karen

Kingston, author of Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui. Well, it does

sound like it makes sense. Either way, getting organised can't hurt and

is certainly worth a shot. Who knows, de-cluttering your life may give

you more of a jolt; than a cup of designer latte – and at a fraction of

the price!-- With Love,Ganesh Babu+919880962897My Group: Kriyababa_spiritualjourney- (Send a blank email)