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How to Increase Your Mental Capacity to Work Smarter

Besides the noticeable physical gains of exercise, if you want to improve your brain function, staying active is one of the best ways.


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Jessey Anthony

2 years ago | 5 min read

How would you like to instantly remember every single piece of information your brain absorbs, from birthdays and phone numbers to conversations and presentations?

If you are like me, who immediately forgets people’s faces, then you would know how embarrassing it is to meet the same person you met a day before and not remember who they are.

I have had friends and even relatives accuse me of blowing them off after a few hangouts. They assume I intentionally ignore them, while in reality, I just didn’t remember their faces.

Our inability to recall events or information affects our personal relationships and puts a setback in our career, and here is how.

  • You ask the same questions repeatedly.
  • You forget common words when speaking.
  • You misplace words- instead of a table, you say chair.
  • You take a longer time to complete familiar tasks.
  • You misplace items in inappropriate places.
  • You get lost while walking or driving in a familiar area.
  • You have mood swings for no particular reason.

Some neuroscientists argue that everyone is born with an unshakable memory, focus, and productivity. Yet despite being naturally endowed with superbrain power, you still suck at retaining information. Why?

Well, the obvious reason is that you have not discovered how to switch on your superbrain box. Whether you are a professional coach, an entrepreneur, a student, or someone just looking to unlock the full power of their brain, this post is for you.

I will show you exactly how you can break every limitation holding back your personal growth so you can experience a life change elevation in your career and your entire life.


Learn to manage your stress

I bet some of you reading this post do not get up to 4 hours of sleep (myself included). Lack of sleep can increase our stressors. Although our brains can help us get through stressful moments, we are not well-equipped to face stress over the long haul.

After just 30 minutes of constant stress, the body stops sending extra blood to the brain. As a result, the brain no longer has the sugar rush to stay especially alert and focused.

Connections between nerve cells can grow back and make remembering easier, but this can only happen if you can relax.

Sometimes, we do not realize how stressed we are until we are at a beach somewhere getting a massage at the spa. To cope with stress, some people change their lifestyles; others must change their minds.

Some people don’t have that luxury or that ability, but it is possible to make small changes in how you organize your day to make a difference.

For example, you can try taking five minutes to close your eyes and meditate, walk fifteen minutes around the block during lunch break, or set aside half an hour to decompress each day.

Prioritize your work

According to Jim Kwik, “The most important thing is to keep the most important thing, the most important thing.”

When you organize your work in order of importance, you will remember when to do a specific task and manage your time efficiently.

We have 86,400 seconds in a day, and whatever you are not investing in it — your health, career, or happiness — is gone. Whenever you miss the opportunity to make a second of your time productive, you never get it back.

This is why priority management is so important in helping you horn your brain’s capacity to retain memory.

Learn the skill of experimenting

Focus, creativity, and imagination are great strategies for boosting your brain. Take responsibility and reconnect your brain by practicing simple mental exercises.

For example, instead of drawing with your dominant hand or buttoning your coat, use your other hand every now and then.

Another example is if you are in the habit of forgetting people’s names shortly after they introduce themselves to you, using visualization, you can attribute an image to the names to help you remember.

By experimenting with different methods of doing things, you will realize you can do better at anything. You will learn what works for you and what doesn’t.

One of the things I never thought I could do was being a sales rep. I used to be a shy person, by the way. I still am, I think. Speaking in front of people, convincing someone to buy something was a skill I didn’t have until I got into the unemployment force and had to sell myself to get employed.

No one will know of your potentials until you show them. In order to fully unlock your potentials, you have to experiment with different ways of doing things.

Get better at memorizing

When you memorize things with bizarre images, you tend to remember things too well. By getting better at the skill of memorizing, you get better at other skills like experimenting.

Reviewing also enhances your memory. To maximize the effects, repeat the information at specific time intervals. Memorizing large amounts of information in a short time, especially the night before tests does not help with long-term memory.

A popular method to effectively practice memorizing is the “2–7–12 rule,” which says that we are likely to remember something after the second review for two days, after the third review for seven days, and after the fourth for twelve days.

Motivation activates your willpower

Our brain is a muscle. It can be trained and retrained to change. With regular mental exercises, you will be able to increase your brain’s capacity. All you need to do is invest some time to train your brain using your imagination regularly.

Your imaginations are your superpowers. Your thoughts activate your imaginations and rewire your brain. Every time you have a new thought, you create new connections.

Whenever you rehearse negative thoughts and complaints in your mind, you are rewiring your brain to be fearful. That’s why Shakespeare opined, “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the brave dies once.”

When I hated sales pitching, I would repeatedly say in my mind, “I can’t do this. I can’t do this,” and I would feel the fear in those words each time. This is because our mind doesn’t know the difference between imagination and reality.

Knowledge represents the present, but imagination is something that is yet to be.

Only have thoughts of things you want to happen in your life. Attach a positive mantra to what you want to accomplish. Recite it in your head every day.

My goal is to boost my memory, as such mantra will be, “Every day I improve my mental and physical performance in every way. I look and feel healthy at 35 years old.”

Practice this technique five times a day: When you first wake up, before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and before you go to sleep. The more you do this exercise, the more your perception changes.

Slowly you will begin to build new habits that help you remember anything easily.


About author

Jessey Anthony is a motivational speaker, fitness coach, and relationship expert who helps people become confident in themselves in any challenges they face in life. Sign up to my newsletter & more cool stuff.

Connect with me on LinkedinMediumTwitter, and Quora.



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Jessey Anthony

Jessey is a travel addict, freelance content writer and fitness coach. Check out more from me at:


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