Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Balancing a busy day often means being better to do when problems strike, rather than running or beating up on yourself. Here are 5 tips that will help you draw on more brainpower when the chips fall.

1. Reach for brain food rather than forage for junk food when stressors strike. I like to keep a pack of almonds or hazelnuts nearby – especially on those busy days. Water works wonders for the brain too.

2. Grow a friendship by cultivating compassion and watch your interpersonal intelligence give back in growth. Friendships are mutually negotiated and when cultivated they keep your brain alive and well. With good friends around you, problems become easier to deal with.

3. Invent fun and games. Make it simple to start. I sometimes walk for a good idea, eat out in a zany little corner, challenge somebody to board games that are way over my head, or listen to somebody else’s music. Simply find a new way to play and you’ll bank serotonin for more brainpower - well before the next problem hits.

4. Run, dance, or just jump away from tension or stress! Not that you’ll want to avoid dealing with legitimate conflicts … but beat stress and your brain will reboot faster – without cortisol chemicals that tends to  rob those better solutions.

5. Laugh every chance you get and stay with the humor until you get others laughing too. People laugh with you faster when you smile at yourself, and when you draw them into the joke rather than make fun of them or mock their values. A belly laugh often solves a problem far faster than a face that looks like a dinner roll.

It's easier to brace your brain for power ahead ... than to retrieve some semblance of strength after a lightning strike.  What do you think?