Exercise the mind, not just the body

Most people don't think about exercise as a way of exercising the mind as well as the body. Do you exercise with purpose or do you find yourself drifting off to the tv programme you watched last night, the conversations that you had with the last person you met? You see exercising the mind at the same time you exercise the body can see a dramatic improvement in the results that you get from the physical activity.
 
An example for you. When you are exercising your bicep muscle - question do you know where your bicep muscle is? OK if you don't it is that muscle that sticks out when you lift your arm up and out from your body and bend the elbow at 90 degrees. But if you think about contracting that muscle when you bend your elbow you can actually make the muscle work a lot harder - without the need to lift any weights. Clenching the fist can also make a lot more difference. Why? Because you are now deliberately exercising that muscle with purpose as opposed to just going through the motions.  Try it you will be surprised.

Now what has that got to do really with exercising the mind not just the body? Well have you noticed that you can get through most of the day without really having to think too greatly about what you are doing? 

Take driving a car for example, can you remember in vivid detail the drive into work this morning? No - me neither. My experience is a mish mash of every day's driving memories all rolled into one. And most other jobs and tasks that we do each day are similar. But if you really think about what you are doing and why you are doing it - the difference (as with the muscles) can be quite dramatic.
 
Your brain - will have to work harder, therefore exercising the neurons again. Do you remember how many repetitions it took before you finally got the hang of changing the gears and turning the wheel at the same time before you didn't have to remember? Habitual patterns are formed by the brain for those activities we do on a regular basis. Which is why it is important to stimulate the brain in more ways - just to keep them active. But did you know that recent research indicates the people less likely to get alzheimers are those people who exercise their brains regularly.
 
One of the best ways to break the procrastination habit is to treat each task as if it were the first time you had ever encountered it before, and find out whether you can do it differently, more efficiently, or whether you need to do it at all.