But you don’t need to shell out hard earned cash to keep your mind in tip-top condition. Try these five more traditional methods to work on your noodle.

1. Memory

Lots of your brain’s basic activities are linked to memory. The ability to read, to work and to tot up the scores on a dartboard are all affected by being able to register information. There are plenty of simple memory based games you can play every day to keep your mind in prime condition. Think back to a certain part of your life, such as your first day at school or university, and see if you can remember a particular number of factors in your life from that time such as where you lived, who you dated and what you wore.

Or play the ‘band name game’ where you try to remember as many musical groups as possible that begin with a particular letter, then move onto the next in the alphabet. Or wow everyone next time you’re at karaoke by learning all the words from your favorite song and them belting them out unexpectedly.

2. Concentration

The ability to focus on detail and maintain your attention span is a vital element for a healthy mind. Slipping into regular activities or following the same routine every day can lull your grey matter into atrophy. By just shaking up your daily habits, you can keep your mind keenly aware. Reorganise familiar items around your house, such as where you keep keys, cutlery or crockery.

Alter the route you take to get to the shops, to make your brain understand and grapple with the new developments. And try to engage in a number of activities at once. Perhaps have the radio or TV on while cooking or listen to a book on tape while exercising. Multitasking can be an efficient way to improve concentration.

3. Words

Improving your language skills will help your ability to remember words and expand your understanding of new topics. Crossword puzzles may seem like an obvious, old-fashioned method of refining your word knowledge, but nothing beats it. Ensure that any new words you encounter are looked up and digested. And don’t worry about ‘cheating’.

By looking at the solution in the next day’s paper, you’ll learn more about the words you missed than giving up in frustrated fury. Scrabble too, with an investment in a good Scrabble dictionary, is a tremendous way to learn about words you never thought could have existed and broaden your brains horizons.

4. Visual Awareness

To survive and prosper in any given environment, your brain needs to be aware and to recognize the visual stimulation on offer and process the information it encounters. Thinking in pictures is said to exercise the creative and emotional part of the brain. One good technique is to select an object each day completely at random and then quickly make a drawing of it.

Do this every day for a week and then on the final day attempt to draw every object you have seen. Or, when you are walking down the street, attempt to observe and remember everything you saw. Once you’re at the end of the road, try to recall as many things as possible, repeating the exercise regularly.

5. Problem solving

We all need to be able to recognize situations and make decisions relating to those situations. Being able to quickly observe a problem and work out a strategy for its solution is a vital human tool. This doesn’t have to be on the battlefield or in the executive boardroom. A simple conversation needs certain factors to be recognized and the correct response to be offered.

Social interaction is a simple and pleasurable way to work these particular mind muscles. More advanced games such as chess and Sudoku also work excellently in this regard. Even video games, so often criticized for rotting your brain, will exercise that function of your mind as even the most violent ‘shoot-em-ups’ need strategy and problem solving to be conquered.

About the Author: Dale Shaw writes on behalf of Wish.co.uk who provides an exhilarating range of experience days and unique gifts. If you’re looking for great gift ideas, visit their site for some inspiration!

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1. Walk Away

There are many ways to relieve stress, but sometimes just walking away can help. If you find yourself staring at a blank screen, pulling your hair out, or snapping at your loved ones, just walk away. Take some time for yourself; go around the block or down to the corner store. Even a short 5 minute break from the madness of your day can help bring your thoughts in order and even spark new ideas for completing your tasks. Taking a few minutes away can actually save you time rather than spending hours frazzled and disorganized.

2. Take a day off

Some of us take on more than we can handle in a single day. With the economy the way it is and businesses cutting salaries and costs, many of us work 7 days a week to sustain our way of living. Taking a day off to recharge is the best way to reduce stress. Try to clear your mind and enjoy your family, friends, or activities that get your mind away from work. This is also a great way to realize the solution to a problem that may be causing the stress. Resting your mind and body will allow new ideas in and give you a new perspective on things.

3. Prioritize and Organize

Disorganization is stressful in itself. Creating a list of priorities and goal setting can reduce the stress that comes with multiple tasks. Like a student planning homework, a businessman scheduling meetings, or a writer completing a chapter, setting your sights on what you want to complete for the week will give you a better understanding of your time and what needs to be accomplished. If you feel you have too much to handle and your mind is jumping from one task to another, write them down and give each project an allotted time frame to work on them.

4. Exercise

This can be used in conjunction with walking away. Many of us work jobs where we spend the majority of our work week sitting at a desk in front of a computer screen. This in itself is a tiring and daunting task. Getting out and exerting some energy will not only keep you energized and clear headed, but it will also let out some pent up frustrations and keep you healthy. Whether you choose to jog, play tennis, or just enjoy a day at the gym, exercising is a great way to find balance.

5. Ask for help

We sometimes forget we are only human. There is only so much we can do in a short time frame. Trying to balance work and family can overwhelm us and keep us from achieving anything at all. Asking for help is not a crime and does not show weakness. Whether it’s asking your spouse to help with something at home or errands that need to be done, or it’s asking a fellow co-worker or friend in the same field to help with a project, two people are better than one. See which tasks can be micro-managed and get a little assistance. This will relieve some of the responsibilities and stress to allow you to complete whatever tasks you’re working towards.

6. Just say no

Knowing your limits and sticking to them will greatly reduce stress. Many of us want to be the go-to guy for our bosses, family and friends, however, sometimes we just can’t. If you know your limitations on time, skills, and knowledge you can better reduce stress. Don’t take on any new tasks if your plate is full. If you are unsure of how to complete a task that is being offered to you, decline until you have more time to devote to learning it. Taking on a new task is hard enough when you are overwhelmed; adding learning to it can increase your stress levels even higher.

7. Eat Healthy

A diet that is rich with vitamins and minerals will go a long way in reducing stress. Eat healthy and avoiding junk food, alcohol, and cigarettes. A well-nourished body can cope with stress better and allow you to accomplish more. Eat a good breakfast and make time for regular meals. This will keep your energy up, your mind focused, and your tasks successful.

Whether you are a student trying to complete your mid-terms, or you’re the CEO of a major corporation, stress is stress. Managing stress will not only allow you to succeed but will keep you healthy and happy in life. There is no one answer for everyone when it comes to reducing stress and releasing frustrations. Find the activities that work for you and create your own stress management plan.

About the Author: Terry Southerland is a career counselor who writes for thebestdegrees.org, a site providing lists of online degree programs as well as rankings and reviews for many fields, such as online business administration degrees.

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One thing is certain: the most effective and successful people are experts in time management and they have the same number of hours in the day as you do. So time management has nothing to do with magically expanding time to suit your needs, but of using it effectively. It is a question of self-management rather than time-management.

Here are some tips on utilizing your time effectively:

1. Identify what is really important in your life and build your activities and goals around these big rocks. Having clear Core Values will avoid decision paralysis.
2. Identify what are your time wasters: how much time do you spend watching TV? How many activities do you do that can be delegated to others? Do you live in a cluttered environment that drains your energy? Which activities can you eliminate without any particularly important repercussions? How much time do you spend worrying over things that are not within your circle of influence?
3. Eliminate procrastination. Just stop it plain and simple. Identify why you are procrastinating and challenge your assumptions. Are you a perfectionist?- learn how to manage it. Do you create a huge To Do list that’s impossible to go through? – cut out on the list. Do you feel overwhelmed with some large tasks? – chunk them down in smaller activities… and just DO it.
4. Use a planning system such as a To Do list everyday. Having a To Do list will help you to focus on the Big Rocks of life especially if you prioritize well.
5. Plan the hardest task and DO IT the first thing so that you get over the hardest task early on when you have high energy levels- in other words, as they say: eat your frog.
6. Learn to time activities correctly. I find that people who are not outstanding achievers generally lack the ability to time activities effectively. If you do not time activities effectively you will find yourself sliding off your schedule and missing out on important activities.
7. Focus on the task at hand. Do not start doing many things at the same time. Chunk big jobs into smaller ones, focus on the particular task, get it done and then move on. And please – do not give me the multi tasking excuse. Yes you can multi-task but you have to be focused on the task at hand.
8. Do not handle an activity twice when you can finish it in one sequence. E.g unless you are sure you can take the time to answer an email or a letter right away- do not open it.
9. Give a strict time frame to meetings or activities. Make sure you come out with clear actions from the meeting as otherwise it is just a waste of time.
10. Drop tasks that you do not need to do or those which are of no benefit. Learn to delegate effectively. Make sure that you delegate to people who have the knowledge and skills and delegate a task completely. Offer help if required but don’t breath down people’s necks.
11. Avoid being distracted by requests or telephones during activities which you need to focus on intensively. Give clear instructions that you are not to be disturbed unless the office is on fire.
12. Never leave the scene of a situation that requires a decision without taking a specific action. Taking an action right away will ensure you save time in the future. If you keep procrastinating on an action you need to take it will come back to you with a vengeance and you will waste more time trying to solve the repercussions.

To receive a FREE Report that provides information on the 10 Vital Keys to Life Success and other resources visit http://www.insightzonecoach.com or http://www.insightzonecoach.com/blog.

Reggie Aquilina is the Founder of Insight Zone Academy. He is a Life Coach and works in the field of Adult Learning and Development. He is actively involved in providing e-learning resources related to Life Coaching and he is the creator of the Life Coaching Home Study Course: The 10 PowerKeys Program.

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• You had set goals that are impossible to reach
• You had set goals that could take longer time to succeed

Let’s talk about basics before you proceed further. In a month, there are four weeks – one week consists of 7 days; or 30-31 days in a month. First thing, you need to have three basic things before you proceed:

• A pencil or a pen
• A piece of white paper
• A ruler

Here’s how you set your weekly goals with ease:

• Let’s put it this way, you divide four weeks into four quadrates (refer to the diagram above).
• List down your weekly goals in every quadrate. For example, I’ve set 40 goals for this month – that means 10 goals for each quadrate.
• In the lower right of the quadrate, please allocate some small space for “Target” – for example, how many goals that you’ve achieved so far.

Here’s how you use this Four-Quadrate Weekly Goal Plan:

• After a week, you need to review your goals. At the “Target”, write down total number goals that you have accomplished.
• If you couldn’t complete all your goals in the first quadrate, strike the uncompleted goals and write them down again in either second, third or fourth quadrate. You have to sort out these uncompleted goals according to your own preferences.

  

  For example, earlier, I had set 10 goals for 10 goals for the first quadrate (or for the first week) and I’ve achieved 5 goals for the first week. However, the uncompleted 5 goals, I will strike them out and write them again in the second, third and fourth quadrates. You need to arrange it properly as there are unaccomplished goals at the second, third and fourth quadrates.

• If you have uncompleted goals in different quadrates, you have to push yourself real hard to accomplish it. If you don’t hard to succeed it, your uncompleted goals will accumulate at one or all of your quadrates that can make this plan go terribly wrong.
• Once you have completed this weekly goal plan, review your work to accomplish your goals and your problems that affects your productivity. You can bring forward those uncompleted goals to the following month. Repeat to the second point on how to sort out your uncompleted goals.

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Life for Alibaba’s founder – Jack Ma is all about providing values to people as the core of his business.

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This picture shows the abuse or the ineffectiveness of post-it pads. Overuse it may cause serious distractions. Luckily I’ve discovered an expressive way of using Post-It pads (and it’s addictive too) -  I draw on Post-it pads by using basic props.

(via Serendipity)

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When you receive a PDF document, you’ll see a new “View” link next to PDF attachments you get in Gmail. See how it really looks in Google Documents:

(via The Official Gmail Blog)

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I’ve just installed Google Maps in my Sony Ericsson mobile phone because I don’t have use GPS when I want to look for directions – it saves me a lot of money as I couldn’t manage to buy one GPS device for this year.

Start installing Google Maps in your mobile phone here.

(via The Official Google Blog)

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Viral marketing is essential in improving your company sales and reputation. It’s much easier if you try to listen about viral marketing discussion in the movie Star Wars. It has funny accent and voice-overs – not to mention about the voice over of Darth Vader.

(via Swissmiss)

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