To be more mentally alert, individuals are advised to maintain a reading habit to keep the brain active and working. Reading is a good mental exercise that stimulates creativity and comprehension skills. Furthermore, it is the easiest to maintain among other hobbies so there is no reason for people not to exercise their brains.
There are many different ways to keeping and improving mental alertness aside from reading. Physical and meditative exercises, like yoga and tai chi, are a good way to relax the mind and facilitate the release of right chemicals into the brain to keep it alert. Yoga is a known mental relaxation and revitalization exercise that is done through concentration and emptying the mind.
Learning new things daily is another good mental activity. Storing new information on a regular basis compels the brain to sustain a higher level of alertness to cope with the learning activity. Engaging into conversations, watching informative TV programs and maintaining good or active conversations with people are also good brain exercises. Again, reading can be a good vehicle to learning new things.
Getting enough sleep is important to staying and becoming more mentally alert. People who sleep five hours or less everyday tend to become absent-minded and forgetful. Sleeping is the best way for the brain to relax and recuperate adequately from a daylong work.
Some experts believe that a healthy and balanced diet can improve mental alertness. However, this still needs further research verification. Some food ingredients and properties like sugar and caffeine can keep the brain alert. But for people with sleeping problems, taking caffeine is not advisable. Alcohol, drugs, solvents and other chemicals taken can have damaging effects to the brain that do not only decrease its capacity to be alert but also deteriorate its capacity to do normal functioning.
There are mental energy boosters or enhancers available in drug stores; although, using them is nonetheless advisable as it inhibits the brain from working naturally. However, if this is an option for a certain period of time, like for a time being when a licensure exam will be taken, seeing a doctor for prescriptions will be a safer option.
Finally, to be more mentally alert, it is also necessary for every individual to have a positive outlook and attitude in life. Too much stress and anxiety can affect a person's ability to make sound decisions and actions to a situation. Too much worry does not help in exercising the mind; instead, it stresses it and impedes creativity to flow in. People's choices and beliefs can have an impact to how one become more mentally alert. So having a full understanding and knowledge about mental health is important.
Source: Articlealley, + Kriz Cruzado
