Good practices to have a sharp mind

Nowadays, it is a challenge to be productive and focused throughout the day. There are a lot of influences and distractions that get in the way of having a sharp mind and good concentration.

I found this video from Jim Kwik very beneficial – a brilliant author and “brain coach” who shares good practices for keeping a sharp mind, and to avoid being hindered by the many obstacles that can affect us every day.

The first principle that he teaches, is that if we want to win the day, we have to win the first hour of that day. The things we do (or don’t do) during the first hour after waking up have a huge impact on our potential to make the day a success.

Jim compares a typical person’s day to that of someone who has to chop wood, by asking “if you had to chop wood all day, when would you like your axe to be sharpened?”. And the answer is: at the beginning. That is why it is important to engage in practices at the start of our day that sharpen our mind (and avoid bad ones).

He mentions three “supervillains” who rob us of our mind’s sharpness:

1. Digital overload: the infinite and invasive quantity of information that is on the internet and which bombards us at all times on our devices, and that makes our brain less efficient, because it’s subject to the same principle as muscles: use it or lose it.

2. Digital dementia: The fact we rely too much on the intelligence of our smart devices. The smartphone which remembers phone numbers for us, the GPS who always tells us where to go, etc.

3. Digital distraction: the infinite number of stimuli that draw our attention and distract us, coming from our devices like our phones. All the pings and dings, app notifications, social media, etc.

And thus, the worst thing we can do is to use our smartphone within the first hour after waking up. Because by doing this we train our brains to be distracted. I’m not talking about turning off the alarm or playing a song, rather it’s messaging and social media that put us in a distracted, reactive state. But the best is to avoid as much as possible to use our phone during the first hour of the day.

Recap: morning is the key moment that can pave the way to an efficient mind for the day, or to a distracted and therefore ineffective mind if we do things in the first hour that condition it to be distracted.

If you find these information valuable, I recommend Jim Kwik‘s book, “Limitless“.

–Francis LaBadie