How To Train Your Brain To Think Faster And Process Thoughts & Ideas Quickly

How To Train Your Brain To Think Faster And Process Thoughts And Ideas Quickly

• How To Think Faster When Talking Or Having Conversations. Activities That Promote Fast Thinking

Thinking fast demands attentiveness and being in the now. Most rimes gatherings such as presentations and meetings, people usually switch off their minds especially if they are not making any contributions. Sometimes they get a huge surprise that throws them off balance.

Let us look at two hypothetical situations:

“Sandra suggest the second step you think we should adopt based on the research already provided”. If you are Sandra, what will you do? Notice that this sort of situation is usually unexpected and sudden.

Sandra may have been pressing her phone and was most likely not paying attention all the while the first speaker was talking. She probably heard only the topic before her brain zoomed out.

In this sort of situation, you need to really think quickly in order to save yourself from being roasted. Imagine if your boss and superiors plus some invited dignitaries were all seated and waiting for you to give an answer (agonizing right?)

So to make sure you do not find yourself in such a tight fix, you must learn how to think fast and w end faster while talking.

Let us paint another scenario- imagine yourself in a lecture room. The lecturer walks in and he/she is your worst lecturer (along with the course) as a result, you immediately switch off your mind from the environment. He/she goes on and on but of course, you are not paying attention.

Then suddenly, you hear your name. You are startled, phone in hand you stand up, visibly shaking from embarrassment. The only thing you heard in the thirty minutes or so lecture is the topic of the day. You ask him/her to repeat the question (because you are stalling and trying to buy time). The question is repeated but you still do not know what to say. Now this is the moment you need to save yourself from the impending shame and embarrassment looming above your head.

You need to think very fast (on your feet) to avert the situation. Doing this requires some skills and tact and some mental stability too.

However, there are some impediments you need to remove if you want to have a seamless fast-thinking process.

These are time wasters that will not help you process your thoughts fast.

Some of them include:

Distractions: This has to be the biggest impediment to fast thinking. On a daily, we are encumbered with a lot of issues and challenges that tussle for our attention. The biggest of them all is perhaps our phones. Everybody is pressing their phones everywhere- homes, offices, schools, in vehicles etc. Those who may not be pressing their phones usually have head phones or ear phones fixed in their ears.

The result? There is absolutely no room for paying attention and thinking for how can you when you have music blasting away. There have been reported cases of people killed on the road because they either had their ear phones  on or were operating their phones while crossing.

This trend should stop (especially among the youths) not just to make for better thinking and articulation but also for safety reasons.

Noise: It is going to be virtually impossible to think fast when the environment is noisy. This is because you will be more focused on being heard above the noise rather than thinking.

Hunger: Remember the saying that a hungry man is an angry man right? Good. He is also someone who does not think(unless of course, it is about food). When someone is hungry, the only thing occupying the person’s thoughts is how to quench the hunger.

Having seen some of the hindrances, let us examine some steps to help you become a fast thinker:

Do not Think Under Pressure

 This is not just for thinking. On a general note, working under pressure can have a negative effect on the person. Imagine answering exam questions under pressure or cooking soup (especially egusi soup frantically because you are under pressure)? You may not likely get the smooth thick consistency that well made egusi soups usually have.

Bringing down to fast thinking, you cannot coordinate yourself when you are under pressure. This is usually difficult because by that time, you are already under pressure to save your face (refer to the above scenarios).

Take deep calming breaths and try not to feel everybody’s stare burning into you. If you mind that, you may not do much. So shut the rest of the world out, focus on yourself and coordinate your thoughts.

Take your time and do not be in a hurry to talk. Once you can do this, then, you are  on your way to being a fast thinker. Remember, it is better to start off slow, then say something that makes sense than to be in a hurry and worsen the situation.

Exercise

Yes, that is right. Exercising leads to fast thinking and better absorption of information. If you want to be a fast thinker, then get into the field. Remember that the mind and body are both connected so of you train the body, you are also indirectly training your mind.

This does not exactly mean going to the gym to lift weights. There are lots of simple work out routines that you can try out at home. Stretches and basic yoga poses are very good ways to start.

You can check them out online and download the apps to serve as a guide. There are several of them so all you need to do is find out which works for you and stick to them. Gradually, you can add more to your routine as you grow more proficient.

The reason exercising is recommended is because your physical body is active at that point and causes blood to rush to the brain also fueling it and making it more alert.

At that stage, the rate of adrenaline is very high and organizing your thoughts will only be seconds away. Therefore when you make exercising a way of life, at least three times weekly, you are already programming your brain to be on stand by alert mode and quick to reflexes.

Be Creative

Sometimes when you need to think on your feet and provide quick answers to an issue or question, you may not have a ready-made answer at that particular time so what do you do? You cannot obviously just stand and gape while hoping that somehow the answer will come to you.

What to do? Get creative. Create a distraction. You can do this  by telling a story (for instance). The story should be related to the issue at hand. This is a very good strategy because at this time, you are stalling and buying yourself sometime to organise your thoughts. Another  good thing about this is that your listeners will not notice that this is what you are doing. So in their minds, you are still talking and making points without knowing its an escape route to coordinate your thoughts.

Most times when public speakers launch into a long tale, it is not necessarily because they want to tell a story and entertain their audience rather it is because they are at a dead end and need a respite.

So ensure you have stories, instances, intros and such likes that you can use to furnish your talks and speeches while waiting for the big idea to pop up. Do not make the story-telling or whatever digression method you choose long. This is because you may take away the seriousness from the idea you were trying to pass across.

Essentially, do not water it down to the point that it looses its essence and becomes almost like child’s play.

Take Long Showers

Sometimes, the best ideas are the ones that come when you are not even thinking about them. Studies have also proven that taking long showers especially warm ones helps loosen you up and makes you more prone to thoughts. At this stage, your brain is relaxed, warm and stress-free.

Be Flexible

Life is too short to be rigid and uptight. Remember, you cannot get it right all the time. How do they say it: “you win some, you lose some” fact. So be flexible, ‘freestyle’, try out a couple of other methods while talking or when you need to think fast. Do not focus only on organizing your thoughts or saying the right things.

Sometimes take your mind away from the issue and focus on the person (especially when you are having a one-on-one conversation). Try telling jokes or painting a scenario. Essentially, lighten up the mood instead of dwelling too much on what you were talking about earlier.  Crack the person up, make them laugh and feel relaxed. You will actually feel good and happy with yourself that you did.

Sometimes, the ideas that you have been racking your head to get all along might emanate from some of the silly lines you let slip without even knowing. Therefore loosen up, be flexible and adaptable. That is the way to keep it moving without breaking much sweat.

You are not Perfect

It is not a perfect world, you are not and neither is the person next to you or the people you are talking to. So do not try to say the perfect things or have the perfect answer/ solution to every problem.

Have you not  noticed that people are not exactly psyched about those who never seem to put a foot wrong. It is what makes us human so if you are perfect, then perhaps you are not human.

Essentially what is mean here is that answers can come from anywhere or anything. It is not until you have sat down to chronicle them or you have thought for several hours that it would come.

It could come from the careless things we say at times. It could come from unsuspecting comments we let slip, it could come from the weather, colours, shapes just about anything. So do not limit yourself to one thought pattern. Nothing ever works from just one angle. You are an explorer. Look at things from different angles, not just the one you think will work.

Remember, anything is possible.

Look at Your Mistakes

 Life is all about self-improvement right? If you want to succeed at anything you are doing then you need to constantly take a step back to evaluate your mistakes. No one who was successful never made mistakes but the problem now is what do you do or make out from the mistakes.

Whining and complaining all day is not going to change anything instead, it will leave you where you are at, with no improvement.

Even when you know you have done well, remember that you could have done better, so ask yourself areas where you ought to put in more efforts so that it turns out better.

This does not transcend into perfectionism, instead it is self-improvement/ development which is a vital component of learning. If you also wish to get inspired, there are several notable icons in history who failed a lot times but did not give up. They kept pushing and pushing and by dint of hardwork, they were able to come out better than they got in.

A notable example is Abraham Lincoln, the first United States of America’s president, who failed in business and in Congress but later rose to become the president.

Moral: do not let any obstacle to deter you. Instead make mistakes, learn from them and make up your mind to keep pushing and striving but not only striving, but also thriving at what you do until you become better.

So today, if you were able to come up with a quick solution in less than  five minutes, challenge yourself to narrow it down to three minutes the next time and before you know it, you leave the minutes zone and get into the seconds. Consistency breeds efficiency. Before you know it, you are thinking and procuring solutions and answers on the spur of the moment. This way, you are challenging yourself to be better than you were yesterday and that is the whole essence of living.

Think About Thinking Itself

Science calls it “metacognition” and it is the act of thinking about thinking. It is believed to be a very crucial skill. Having a good judgment is not measured only on the premises of intelligence or experience but rather on the ability to engage in inner thinking/meditation or introspection.

There is no doubt that moments of introspection actually makes us sober and opens our minds to deeper thoughts. This is something we should also strive to do daily if we hope to free our inner muses and make the most of it in our daily lives and interactions.

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