What does your brain need to easily climb the career ladder and be successful in society?
If you're like most people, you might not know much about your brain. Still, your brain is who you are. They're the size of your fist, weigh about as much as a cantaloupe—about three pounds—and are the boss of your mind and body. They never turn off and are active even when you sleep. They determine how well you perform at work and how far you climb the career ladder, so it's important to know what your brain actually needs from you.
Using modern imaging techniques, neuroscientists have improved our understanding of this amazing organ, how it works, and what it needs to perform optimally. Science shows that if you can provide these 10 things to your brain, it will be happy and healthy, and you will increase your life and career success.
1. Your brain needs enough blood flow to function optimally
Studies show that it is movement good medicine, not only for the limbs and heart, but also for the brain. One study showed that after 12 months of exercise and movement, blood flow to the brain increased, which is said to even help slow down the onset of memory loss and the onset of dementia. You can feed the brain the excess blood it needs through aerobics, walking, stretching and other exercises.
2. Your brain needs occasional breaks
Science does not support the belief that "burning" the brain is a good practice. New ones research actually show the benefit of what scientists call "micro break". These short breaks—five minutes or less are recommended—are effective energy management strategies and can be as simple as stretching, walking up the stairs, looking out the window at nature, eating a snack, or doing a five-minute mindful meditation. Micro-breaks relieve brain fatigue and "cool down" when you breathe deeply, meditate, practice yoga or tai chi, or get a massage.
The brain needs healthy food.Photo: Toa Heftiba/Unsplash
3. Your brain needs certain types of food
Healthy brain food boosts your mood, health and work performance. Pay attention to the food on your plate and ask if it promotes overall brain health. Proteins, such as meat, dairy and eggs, give your brain the amino acids it needs to create neurotransmitter pathways. In addition, they stabilize blood sugar. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines, help the brain with mood. Vitamin B is essential for brain health and is found in eggs, whole grains, fish, avocados and citrus fruits. Vitamin D, found in dairy products, beef liver, orange juice or egg yolks, is an important mood stabilizer.
4. Your brain needs enough sleep
According to neuroscientists, sleep is important for the recovery of the whole body, and lack of sleep reduces your resistance to stress and damages your brain. Lack of sleep interferes with memory and learning. Your brain works more slowly. You are more forgetful and your focus is short-lived. A recent study she showed that good sleep restores our clarity and performance by actively improving neuroplasticity. On the other hand studies show that lack of sleep leads to brain stress, clouded thinking and fatigue in decision-making. In addition, poor sleep indicates vulnerability to social stress. Research they also show that poor sleep makes it difficult to see the positive side of things, which makes us react more strongly to stressful situations at work; on the other hand, good sleep helps us respond better to negative and positive situations at work.
5. Your brain learns from new experiences
Your brain's ability to adapt to new situations is essential for survival. Studies show that exposing the brain to new experiences suppresses established thought patterns, thereby consolidating new information. New things encourage adaptive learning and increase your the ability to generate new ideas in existing neurological frameworks. So your brain likes it when you try new things.
Your brain needs company.Photo: Omar Lopez/Unsplash
6. Your brain is healthier when you have social connections
Recent ones findings researchers show that social engagement moderates cognitive decline. People who hang out with friends and family, volunteer, or take classes have stronger gray matter and a healthier brain. The key is to avoid complete social isolation and choose safe ways to maintain social interactions (at least while we're in a pandemic) to strengthen your brain and improve your well-being.
7. Your brain prefers single-tasking to multitasking
At any given moment, you may have to perform several tasks at the same time. But if multitasking becomes a pattern, it can backfire on you. When you jump between multiple tasks at the same time, you force your brain to refocus with each such jump and reduce their productivity by up to 40 percent. Multitasking not only undermines productivity, but also neutralizes efficiency and results in more half-done projects, leaving your brain overwhelmed and stressed. Scientists say that long-term multitasking rewires the brain, causing breakdowns in thinking, lack of concentration and fatigue in decision-making. As a result, such people take longer to switch between tasks, their brains are more tired and less efficient at juggling work problems than those who do not multitask.
8. Your brain wants to help you communicate with colleagues from socially diverse backgrounds
Scientists at Yala have discovered that your brain works differently when you talk to someone from a different socioeconomic background. They found a higher level of activity in the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for self-regulation, avoiding bias, and working with your limbic system (or emotional brain), which gives you helps to understand the world. It is your prefrontal cortex that decides whether you will do what your impulsive, lightning fast emotional brain wants you to do. Scientists from Yale thus found that despite our implicit biases and prejudices, during conversations with employees from different socio-economic backgrounds, our frontal lobe is activated, which helps us navigate communication barriers and social diverse points of view.
The brain likes optimism.Photo: Candice Picard/Unsplash
9. Your brain loves positivity
Research shows that despite being "wired" for negativity, the brain likes optimism. They are neuroscientists found out, that chronic pessimism damages your telomeres – the protective spikes at the end of chromosomes that are shortened by negative thoughts and lengthened by positive ones. Shortened telomeres predispose us to poorer health, shorter career paths and earlier death. Additional research show that people who are enthusiastic and happy have less likely that their memory will decline as they age. Positivity is always present - even in the worst pressures. By focusing on multiple possible aspects of a situation, you expand your brain's visual spectrum so that it sees more options. Studies show that when you widen your narrow field of negativity into a "wide-angle lens," you create more optimism, and optimists climb the career ladder faster than pessimists.
10. Your brain needs 120 minutes a week in nature
A ground-breaking study in Scientific Reports showed that your brain likes to survive at least two hours a week in parks, forests or beaches. This promotes your physical and mental health and well-being and gives you greater perspective on your life circumstances. Study participants who spent 120 minutes a week in nature were healthier and had better psychological well-being than those who didn't find time for nature at all or those who spent less than two hours a week. It doesn't matter how you reach those 120 minutes. You can do it in one piece or spread it over the whole week. It also doesn't matter what activity you do when you're outdoors: it can be sailing, cycling, spinning, kayaking, walking, tennis or simply sitting.
These ten steps help your brain become stress-resistant, happy and healthy. You don't have to continue to allow external or internal pressures to stifle your brain and dictate its health. Your brain and body were not designed to be on standby 24 hours a day, jumping from task to task. When you slow down and enjoy the tasks you've been rushing through until now, the ease and calmness keeps your energy up, your thinking clear, and your productivity high.
Scientists are among others recently discovered, Yes resolving an argument by the end of the day significantly reduces brain stress. So step back, take a breath and cool off. By the end of the day, you will have plenty of time left for the things you want to do. You'll be more productive at work, your brain will be happier, and most importantly, you won't be served before your time.
