Becoming a good thinker with clarity

LegacyUser

Has anybody here got themselves from a stage of being abit dense to a problem solver, good thinker and concentrator with a good sense of clarity. When I say dense I mean not from a lack of intelligence but from bad habits.

How did you achieve this? I would like to set a few goals for myself. I know puzzles and the like will help as well as trying to become more concious of my thinking processes and making them better. Does diet make a good difference? I'm sure meditiation would. What other things have you tried? I'm willing to do anything to acheive this.

blah

I believe you can "improve your brain power". The brain is a muscle so using it will strengthen it. There must be a website out there with information that would help you. Also I believe eating fish with Omega-3 is good for your brain.

ali.c

I am confused as to what you mean? To be physical problems or personal problems? I do know that 4 years of studying engineering did a lot for my problem solving skills, which are transferable to other fields, practice makes perfect after all. I now have a logical brain. mediation can be good i think but there are different styles of practice. Presumably some would be better than others.

homah_7ft

I've heard learning latin is good for improving a person's ability to use logic.

Offalycool

I would suggest to you that if you wish to improve your clarity of thought, you need to organise your thoughts. I was diagnosed with Dyslexia, and while I by no means stupid, I struggled with school work, and left school with a very meagre Leaving cert. Through the help and guidance of others I have recently graduated from university, and am expecting reasonably good grades. One of the most important techniques I have used in collage is mind maps. There is an excellent book The Mind Map Book: Radiant Thinking by Tony and Barry Buzan. I cannot recommend this highly enough, there techniques changed my life. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Map-Book-Thinking-Evolution/dp/0563537329

Edit. Don’t be disheartened.. you may find you turn your perceived weakness into your best strengths

ali.c

Offalycool wrote:

There is an excellent book The Mind Map Book: Radiant Thinking by Tony and Barry Buzan. I cannot recommend this highly enough, there techniques changed my life. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Map-Book-Thinking-Evolution/dp/0563537329

QFT, thats an excellent book! You can now get software programs to do maps in too. Very handy for getting your thoughts in order. I use them for essays, actually when i switched to using them my grades rose on average by 5%.

The Freeman

personally i would suggest you get an allergy test, i was the same even to the point where it would put you in bad form cos i couldn't read messages properly in social occasions, etc. i took an allergy test and turned out i was a coeliac and lactose intollerant, this caused bad concentration levels, irratible bowel syndrome and numourous other conditions, and a vconstant fuzzy lathargic head;)
hope it helps


remember its our own personal responsability to insure you are fully fit, nobody else will do this for you.;)

r3nu4l

Assuming you have no medical conditions:

Fish oils
Plenty of water
Plenty of good sleep
A good diet full of fruit, veg, protein, good fats and very few bad fats.
Exercise.

All of the above improve concentration and boost energy levels required for good thinking as well as releasing endorphins, good for feeling positive (especially exercise!).

Visit the Fitness forum for good healthy lifestyle tips!

Marksie

I have used the omegas and various herbal remedies. I find that meditation helps as you begin to focus on specific things, also visualisation.

I know one guy who does soduku and logic problems to keep hmself mentally nimble

i guess anythkng that fires the synapses :-)

Paddygarrett

Meditation's good. It improves concentration and helps you increase your ability to see things objectively.

I recommend a book called 'The Inner Game Of Tennis' by W. T. Gallwey. It's pretty much Zen Buddhist practices applied to tennis coaching but the chapters on concentration and performance are really good. It worked for me.

pwd

The only reason this hasn't been mentioned already is because it's so obvious: Drink and most drugs cloud your thinking.

Marksie

There is also the possibility that you have to much going on in your head, and that everything gets in a tangle and nothing gets sorted.

Prehaps when an imprtant problem arrives actually clear the brain, sit down and bullet point what it is in writing, what the solution is and teh steps you want to get there.

fasty

I've found that solving puzzles and reading helps improve my concentration, attention span and problem solving skills.

As suggested, writing things down is great, as is finding like minded individuals to talk about ideas etc. It's excellent to have a second point of view.

I'm a smart enough guy but over the years I've found myself finding it harder to concentrate and would just arse around on the Internet all day rather than do something with myself.

It bothered me and tbh, it was even affecting my work so I made an effort to concentrate and set myself goals. It's worked wonders to be honest, I find my mind is much sharper.

eefy

I found the word games on this website really good and fun too!
They are quite addictive.

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/games/

Scuba_Scoper

I used to be all over the place with my thoughts and actions. While I was doing one thing my mind would be away on another. I learned of a process called Getting Things Done by Dave Allen.

http://www.davidco.com/

It was easy to incorporate into my work an personal life and now I don;t really let things get on top of me and my productivty has increased immeasurably.

Diet and exercise also played a huge part but the most positive thing I have ever done was to give up smoking. ALL these things contributed to me becoming a totally different person to the one who started this year.

Clarity of thought, I believe comes from knowing what do and when to do it. If your mind is clear you can devote all your energies to defining your thoughts and actions and utimately achieving your goals.

LegacyUser

'

bitspaceymoment wrote:

Has anybody here got themselves from a stage of being abit dense to a problem solver, good thinker and concentrator with a good sense of clarity. When I say dense I mean not from a lack of intelligence but from bad habits.

How did you achieve this? I would like to set a few goals for myself. I know puzzles and the like will help as well as trying to become more concious of my thinking processes and making them better. Does diet make a good difference? I'm sure meditiation would. What other things have you tried? I'm willing to do anything to acheive this.

I hear you, I think along the same lines as yourself. 3 things that I would suggest;

1) The philosophy of Buddhism
2) Book: Evolve Your Brain - http://www.amazon.com/Evolve-Your-Brain-Science-Changing/dp/075730480X
3) Yoga'

Awful Scut

The Freeman wrote:

personally i would suggest you get an allergy test, i was the same even to the point where it would put you in bad form cos i couldn't read messages properly in social occasions, etc. i took an allergy test and turned out i was a coeliac and lactose intollerant, this caused bad concentration levels, irratible bowel syndrome and numourous other conditions, and a vconstant fuzzy lathargic head;)
hope it helps


remember its our own personal responsability to insure you are fully fit, nobody else will do this for you.;)

Is there anywhere in particular you can get these tests done or do you just go to a GP?