15 Daily Habits That Gradually Make You Smarter Over Time

You don’t become smarter overnight, you become smarter through what you do every day. What do you think smart people have in common? A lot of people think of intelligence as something you’re simply born with. Some people after all make being smart look effortless. Intelligence though it isn’t a set trait, it’s a changeable flexible ability to learn and stimulate your brain that can improve over time. The thing smart people have in common is they’re dedicated to lifestyle habits that support and protect their mental health.

Habits make us the man and this is certainly true when you look at popular entrepreneurs and academics that have risen to the top of their field thanks to their ability to think up solutions to daily problems. We’ve gathered the 15 habits they all have in common and we think are important to make you smarter every day.

1. Ask Questions

The German philosopher Hans George Gattimer once said, knowledge can only be with those who have questions. Most people don’t ask questions because they feel like they’ll look stupid but they couldn’t be farther from the truth. Learning requires asking questions and finding answers, as kids the depth of our curiosity has no boundaries.

Everything around us piques our interest. Why is the sky blue why do cat’s meow and consequently if you don’t understand anything or are unsure about something don’t be afraid to ask about it. Even ask yourself questions and research the solutions on your own. When you go home instead of watching tv look online for material that will help you to understand topics you’re interested in but a little confused about. Don’t neglect this easy but time-consuming practice it may just considerably increase your intelligence.

2. Read Across Genres

The brain is a very powerful tool and reading is the mental exercise it needs to be in tip-top shape. We have instant access to almost all the written books created by humans, thanks to smartphones tablets e-readers and of course the internet. However, we often waste time viewing amusing videos of cats and dogs on Facebook while just mindlessly scrolling a news feed.

It’s undoubtedly a way to unwind and feel more cheerful, but it’s not realistic or healthy to use all of your free time doing this. However reading often cannot only help you stay informed and teach your brain to function well, but it will also help you to continuously learn new things. The best options are books instructional periodicals and lengthy articles and websites. Maintain your own reading routine even if it just involves reading a portion of a chapter each day your intellect will grow over time.

3. Hang Out with Smart People

Friends can teach you knew skills and keep your mind active. Our surroundings shape our values beliefs and ways of thinking and spending time with intellectuals will constantly help to feed your brain because with smart people there’s always something to discuss and there’s always something to learn from them. Granted you might still sometimes feel as though you don’t know enough but even that has its perks.

You are adjusting to your surroundings and your mind will compel you to put in the effort to improve as a result of acknowledging your shortcomings. Your friends don’t have to be smarter than you the important thing is they always have interesting things to discuss and are pacesetters in whatever field they work. Intellectuals already know how to feed their brains so spending time with them is very beneficial in order to adopt not only knowledge but also a learning style.

4. Take Time to Think

We are all easily distracted from one thing to another not properly understanding the true essence of the information received. The habit of taking pauses to reflect on what you’ve learned is highly beneficial and is in fact an important part of the learning process.

When you take time to think you get to consider all the factors that might directly or indirectly have a connection to whatever you’re doing. You get to plan three to five steps ahead and will seldom be caught lacking the same goes for conversations. Smart people listen more and talk less and they manage to get a lot done with fewer words.

5. Exercise Frequently

Don’t overlook exercise and its effects on our smartness. The brain and body constantly cooperate together with our overall energy and physical health has a direct impact on the quality of our thoughts as you grow cognitively.

Keep in mind that you should also grow physically since the two are intertwined physical exercise also instills discipline which is advantageous for the efficient growth of positive habits and new information. Try as much as possible to make time for at least one form of exercise you can sign up for your local gym. Get some running shoes for a few miles runs or simply practice yoga or other home workouts anything works just move your body more.

6. Prioritize Eating Healthy

You must be familiar with this prevailing notion that glucose is the ideal fuel for the brain, but a balanced diet rich with needed vitamins and minerals is the best fuel you can get to power your thought engine. The optimum diet for enhancing brain performance includes enough protein moderate amounts of carbohydrates and enough healthy fats. Therefore, whole grains, lean meats, nuts, fish and dairy products should be on your dinner table. It’s also a good idea to adopt the habit of eating just enough to be satisfied and avoid junk food as much as you can, it’ll tire you out and in the long run can cause some health complications.

7. Keeping A Diary

It’s been proven in group studies that a few minutes spent reflecting on the events and thoughts of the day in writing increases brain power, nothing motivates and helps you become smarter like personal experience and your own achievements. Take a few minutes each evening to write down your thoughts, events and insights of the day. With this you’ll have the opportunity to analyze the ideas that come to your thoughts and questions that arise. There is the added advantage that writing frequently makes you smarter overall by expanding your language and communication skills since keeping a diary is a language practice activity, learning new terms and expanding your vocabulary will raise your IQ.

8. Do Something New Even If You Think It Won’t Work

Practice makes perfect smart people are not unnecessarily scared of failure. They understand the universal truth that without practice nothing can be truly learned and so they’re up for the challenge. It’s impossible to learn a new equation if you don’t attempt questions on it and so is learning to play the guitar if you don’t try those chords yourself. Sometimes outstanding and even spectacular successes are the results of something that frightened us tremendously.

9. Apply And Share New Knowledge

If you don’t intend to use what you learn there’s no use in studying it. Smart people always make use of their acquired knowledge not because it’ll help them to succeed but rather because sharing their intellectual resources makes them more valuable. Have you read a book discuss it with people who’ve also read. It the best technique to reinforce and comprehend the subject matter is to share new information and concepts. You will learn more during such a discussion about the work itself as well as the lessons other people have discovered. It doesn’t matter who you share your thoughts with family, friends, co-workers, members of a social network group or topical forum because the act of sharing knowledge itself that’s what enriches your understanding and helps you to draw out more informed conclusions.

10. Be Selective of What You Put Your Effort Into

Smart people tend to have few friends but, they make up for the lack of numbers with deep and genuine friendships. Those with whom you spend time including your loved ones reflect your personal identity and needs, guiding you toward understanding yourself and the world around you beyond friendships. When you’re careful of what you give your attention to, you’ll be able to work optimally without unnecessary distractions. Smart people find it easy to get their priorities in order think of a mental checklist. It’s far easier to follow the next agenda on your list than to juggle every plan you have at once.

11. Take Short Breaks at Work

In the era of total digitalization our brains literally burn out from the bombardment of information, being in touch with what’s happening isn’t always a good thing. That’s why even a short vacation is sometimes needed to stay creative and stave off cognitive burnout. After working for several hours, weeks or months and due to the absence of pauses and moments of mental calmness, we begin to think superficially and automatically the same goes for reading. You will assimilate better when you take breaks after a few hours of reading, in this free time you can enjoy a short walk, meditate, exercise or do some chores around the house, just give yourself a mental time out.

12. Learn How to Be Organized

In their devices and instant messages both at home and at work people that have a habit of making things orderly tend to be smart. Disorganized objects, frequent message alerts and clutter on a desktop and in work folders all divert the mind from tasks and lower productivity. Your mind will function more effectively the less disorder there is in an area where you live and work. Develop the habit of putting things away right away, make multiple themed folders on your desktop and avoid saving individual papers there.

13. Study Other People’s Behavior Patterns

Smart people tend to be understanding in their own way and consider things like their colleague’s motivation, their perspective of the project and the level of help they require try to understand the situations of people around you. It’ll take strong intellectual effort but in the long run you’ll have better social skills and be able to make the right decisions, especially when other people are involved.

14. Be Actively Observant

Though, you can see everything around you do you really pay attention to it. Many of us watch the world uncritically focusing primarily on the things that immediately affect us, but instead spend a few minutes every day examining your surroundings critically. Examine the normal everyday interactions that take place in your environment on a global interpersonal and societal level.

This should be normal for everyone but given the circumstances of our times, this is a useful practice that’s a little bit unpopular. When you turn your attention outside of yourself and actively pay attention to details, you’ll be surprised by what you discover about your surroundings give it a go.

15. Sleep whenever you need to

According to studies giving our bodies more downtime helps our brains function better in terms of memory attention and focus. It was also found that those who normally stay up late and get up early had worse attention levels than their peers that slept for longer. The brain processes information from the previous day as you sleep. Having enough rest strengthens memory and removes amyloid and tau proteins linked to plaque formation in Alzheimer’s disease. Although there is no set length of time that everyone should sleep different individuals need varying amounts of sleep.

Your main priority should be to rest whenever your body needs it. Habits require minimal consciousness to be carried out, so you need to make these things habits. Well, some of these actions might seem kind of strange at first, consistent practice will make them a part of you and it’ll be seamless.