Want to increase your brain power? Looking for more creativity? Want to be more productive? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then cognitive training may be exactly what you’re looking for.

Business owners have a lot of hats to wear. You have to be a CEO, a sales person, a CFO, a technical advisor, a writer, and an innovator. All of this requires a lot of brain power. It also requires a lot of time and energy. Your brain, as cognitive theory goes, is like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.

What is Cognitive Training?

According to many experts, cognitive training is the process of exercising the brain to make it stronger.  This of how you would lift weights to grow your arm and leg muscles; you can do exercises or “training” to strengthen your brain.

Most often people think of cognitive training when they’re assisting people who are suffering from brain injury or illness. We’re talking about things like traumatic brain injury or dementia. Doctors and therapists can devise specific exercises to help patients increase their brain power.

However, these same concepts can be applied to people without any impairment to strengthen their brain. One of the most powerful ways cognitive training can help is to help you learn how to focus. It’s often used for people with attention-deficit issues. Additionally, cognitive training can help you change your mindset. For example, if you want to become a more positive or confident person, you can use cognitive training to facilitate the process.

How Do You Use Cognitive Training?

There are actually several formal and informal ways you can go about strengthening your brain. Formally, you can find a number of brain training software programs online. They walk you through exercises and puzzles over a period of time. There are even mobile device applications devoted to the concept.

Informally, you can strengthen your brain by participating in a number of activities, including:

  • Ballroom dancing
  • Crossword puzzles
  • Learning a new language
  • Playing chess
  • Rubik’s cube type puzzles
  • Sudoku
  • Learning a new sport, game or activity that requires intense focus

People who have undergone formal brain training activities and programs claim that they experience the following benefits:

  • Clearer thinking
  • Faster thinking
  • Improved memory
  • Increased awareness
  • They’re happier, more joyful
  • Better concentration and focus

All of these are great attributes for life, and certainly for work and productivity. If you’d like to reap these rewards, cognitive training may be exactly what you’re looking for. And if you believe that if you don’t use it you lose it, then it certainly makes sense to exercise your brain.