How to Sharpen Your Brain

As a keynote speaker, I have to memorize a lot of content for audiences. At first it can seem like a daunting task… but I few weeks ago I learned a simple (yet critical) lesson on how to sharpen my mental game. The problem is, I learned the lesson only AFTER making an all too common mistake.

If you want to sharpen your mental game, and not be a dumb dumb like me, keep reading!

Here’s what happened: One day I decided to block off several hours on my calendar to nail down a new speech. I wanted to have time to focus, and not be distracted.

And so when the time started I threw myself into it.

I practiced the stories,

….clarified the points,

…..got the powerpoint slides right,

….worked on my staging….

… Started the story over…

…. Started the story over (again)…

…. Started the story… Wait, where was I again?

Sure enough, after an hour my brain was pretty exhausted with the huge task. I was trying to everything, everywhere, all at once. And brain fog set in.

I struggled to concentrate to learn and memorize the material, and after a little while took a much needed break.

It was clear this was going to take much longer than I thought…

But why? Why was this so hard?

(Photo: Brain fog is real)

I recently came upon an academic paper that explained why I had such a difficult time learning the new material over the long time period. In 1994 a group of scientists asked this simple question: how much mental effort is the right amount to learn something new? And so they did a meta-analysis (Aka they studied all the other studies who had previously asked he same question) and discovered this truth:

When learning something new, its best to tackle it in 20 minute sprints… spaced out over time.

They discovered that when you when you drag it out over dense and extended periods of time, learning decreases.

And when (like me) you block off several hours to learn and memorize something really big? Its nearly impossible to remember it all.

What does this have to do with influence and success?

(Photo: The study I read)

You have a lot to do, I get it.

And sometimes you need to up your game by learning new things and acquiring new skills.

However, like me, do you try and knock it all out in one agonizing marathon session?

Or, like this study suggests, do you break it down into intermittent sprints?

Your brain is a muscle, and just like any bicep or tricep, it needs to rebuild and recover after intensive use.

You would never go to a gym and workout the same muscle for 4 hours on end with no break.

You could do some real harm and injure yourself!

Similarly, when learning something new you need to give your brain time to adapt, recover, and try again.

And when you do, your brain becomes sharper and stronger… over time.

(Photo: Pretty soon your brain is gonna look just like this. Watch out Mr Brain-iverse)

So what are you learning? What are you working on? How can you break it down into sprints and adequate recovery time?

This week try breaking down your mental learning game into sprints… not marathons.

Pretty soon, you’ll be amazed at how fast things come back to your memory, and how truly far your brain can go.

And who knows, maybe one day I’ll see you speaking on stage too!

Christian

CHRISTIAN HANSEN has gone behind the scenes in some of the biggest organizations in the world to find out the reasons why some people get chosen and why others don’t. As the 2X #1 bestselling and LinkedIn Top Ten ranked author of “The Influence Mindset: The Art & Science of Getting People to Choose You” Christian helps teams and organizations who want to stand out and be the obvious choice. With degrees from Brigham Young University and The London School of Economics, he’s helped thousands of individuals position and sell themselves. A fan of international communication, history, and choral music, he currently lives in Utah with his wife. Reach him at: TheChristianHansen.com