Sharpen your memory with coffee!
Want to breeze through your work and other tasks faster so you can get to the fun stuff? Just follow these super-easy techniques, which are study-proven to make multitasking and problem-solving easier, banish post-lunch brain fog—and more!
1Be better at multitasking with lavender!
Need to get more done by tackling a few tasks at the same time, say, jump between phone calls, e-mails and making dinner? Rather than reach for a pricey energy drink, inhale the calming scent of lavender, and you’re guaranteed to be even more productive than usual! ✤ It works! The same scent compounds in lavender that usher in relaxation also block the buildup of a stress hormone that impairs your working memory—the kind that enables you to juggle different pieces of information at once, Oregon Health & Science University scientists explain. As a result, you feel calmer and can get more done with ease! Or take curcumin! Taking 400 mg. of this golden spice enhances your working memory within the hour by increasing serotonin and dopamine— hormones that help neurons communicate better, say researchers from Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology. One option: NOW Foods Curcubrain, $23.99 per 50 400-mg. capsules, Swansonvitamins.com.
2Sharpen your math skills
with rain! Need to work on your budget or another challenging math task? Log on to Rainymood.com— a free website that continuously plays soothing rain sounds— and keep it on in the background. Not only will your calculations be easier to do, they’ll be more accurate!
✤ It works! The sound of rain revs your mental alertness and boosts your concentration without distracting you, making it easier to access the math-managing areas of your brain, reveals a new international study. Focus longer with flowers! Notice your attention is dwindling? Look at photos of flowers or other natural scenes! Gazing at nature refreshes your brain, rebooting concentration within six minutes, say Georgetown University researchers.
If you’re like most of us, your brainpower takes a dip between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., largely due to a natural spike in insulin after lunch, say scientists in the journal Nutrients. And now they know how to prevent it: Take 500 mg. of brown seaweed extract (such as Nature’s Answer Bladderwrack, $7.79 per 90 250-mg. capsules, Vitacost.com) with lunch!
✤ It works! Their study found that the supplement upped alertness and boosted job performance far better than a placebo! Compounds in the seaweed reduce the absorption of carbs—the culprit behind the brain-draining rise in insulin.
Or rearrange your to-do list! Do certain work tasks make you feel happy or fulfilled? Tackling them during your afternoon lull will instantly wake you up, say University of Tulsa researchers. Positive stress triggers a surge of energizing and mood-boosting brain chemicals like adrenaline.