Listed below are sure-fire tips that promote a clear and sharp mind…

1 – Become Aware of Your Thoughts

It doesn’t always feel like there is a separation between our mind and soul. There are three parts to each of us: body (our fascinating and very advanced HOUSE), mind (our thinking; the ENGINE) and soul (the LIFE that resides in the HOUSE).

Thoughts are powerful. In fact, they are literally our point of power. They guide us.

The funny thing is, we usually just think away without ever really thinking what we’re thinking about!

Being aware of your thoughts just means that you NOTICE, without judgment, the thoughts that you think. Our thoughts are like the running ticker at the bottom of a CNN screen. So, just as you would watch the ticker at the bottom of the screen – watch your own thinking. And again, WITHOUT JUDGMENT. Don’t try to analyze, just notice.

Practice this as much as possible. And like with anything else, the more you practice – the better you get.

2 – Spend Time in Silence

There is so much going on in our lives. Our minds are constantly distracted by sights and sounds. Especially in today’s society because we have technology around us at all times.

Technology is fabulous, but being inundated with it creates overstimulation. And we wonder why ADD is so prevalent these days! It is so easy to disconnect from ourselves and constantly be taken up with our environment.

Sitting in silence/meditating is like hitting the reset button. We need time to reconnect with ourselves and reset so that we can live from the inside out. So that we can live from a centered place.

When we go through life out of touch with ourselves and uncentered, we are constantly REACTING to our environment.

Schedule at least 5 minutes/day for silence. Close your eyes, breathe, and just be. Reconnect your body, mind and soul. Reconnect with yourself.

3 – Take Brain Breaks

Research shows that short breaks from your work or activity will create more efficient and laser focused attention during the work periods.

For every 60-90 minutes of work, take a 5-10 minute break.

Schedule your work periods and schedule your breaks. AND STICK TO IT.

The brain performs better when it has plenty of oxygenated blood. During a break, get your blood flowing a bit. For example, breathe deeply for a minute or two to get some good oxygen into your blood. After the deep breaths, stretch out and move around. Stretch up tall and definitely stretch your legs. Walk around some if you can.

It’s important to give your brain breaks. Stop treating it like a workhorse! Start incorporating this into your day and watch yourself get sharper and more productive!

4 – Avoid over-eating

FOOD COMAS. We’ve all had them. That lethargic feeling after eating too much.

Talk about brain fog! There is no way that you can be sharp and clear after over-eating.

The best way to avoid over-eating is to eat for FUEL 90% of the time. (The other 10% is for joy eating…birthday cake and other times of celebration!)

LISTEN to your body. It will tell you when you’re hungry and when you’re not. We just aren’t used to tuning in to listen to the sensations that our body gives.

Think of hunger as a scale of -10 to +10. -10 is FAMISHED. +10 is STUFFED. And right, smack dab in the middle is Zero. Zero is neutral. Try to constantly stay between -2 and +2.

Staying in this range will keep your eating from jeopardizing your mental clarity.

5 – Eliminate consistent, excessive alcohol intake

With this kind of brain fog – you just feel plain stupid.

Consistent moderate alcohol intake results in consistent mild to moderate brain fog.

Getting hammered will result in severe brain fog for 1-2 days and mild brain fog for days after that.

There are a couple of reasons for these lasting effects…

Alcohol strips vitamin B1 (thiamine) from your brain. Thiamine is essential for brain function. This deficiency that is inevitable from getting a buzz (or plastered) results in depression, irritability and brain fog.

Also, alcohol consumption suppresses REM sleep. REM sleep lasts for 70-90 minutes each night and is when you actively dream. Emotions and stress are dealt with during REM sleep. Lack of REM sleep can make you feel more stressed, emotional and can result in a decline of mental activity (as well as hormone and immune system problems).

Start incorporating these tips into your life and notice how much better you regularly begin to feel!

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Owner of Brilliant Life Design and twenty/thirty-something life coach, Melissa Foster, works with clients to take their life OFF of auto-pilot and get ON purpose. If you want to start living a life that delivers lasting success, sign up for a fre*e subscription to Melissa’s weekly eZine, Fully Alive at www.BrilliantLifeDesign.com.

What if, for a day, you were not capable of experiencing any of the five physical senses? Not sight, sound, taste, smell or touch. But your were still able to think and feel emotions.

What would be the driving force behind decision making?

The sense of feeling emotion is what would guide you through your day. You would naturally follow what feels good for you. If you were so in tune with this sense, you would undoubtedly be more in tune with intuition (gut feeling). You would realize that your thoughts truly are the trigger for emotion, not what happens around you.

What if we let go of the addiction to data collection and analyzation? What would happen if you felt your way through a day? What would happen if you stopped trying to think your way through and made decisions based on what feels right for you? 

We live in a world that requires us to make decisions using that left brain of ours. But what if we toned it down a bit and checked in to see where we could slow down our busy mind? The second you begin analyzing, you create a cloud around your options. Start practicing with small decisions and items on your to-do list.

For a day, focus on leaning towards what feels good and right for you. Steer away from over-analyzation. Your decisions with be made quicker and you will feel better. 

“Many people try to think their way through the block when it’s their thinking that IS the block.”-Martha Beck