Many people aspire to become smarter, but they often overlook the importance of brain training. Brain training is a method of cognitive training using exercises to improve brain functions and problem solving skills, thus increasing brain IQ, focus, creativity, and working memory. While brain training programs can be costly, there are plenty of free brain training hacks that you can learn to make your brain smarter. In this article, we will discuss 10 free brain training hacks that will boost your brain IQ and help you achieve your goals.

1. Learn by Teaching

According to Ron and Marty Hale-Evans in Mindhacker, learning by teaching is a proven way to gain a deeper understanding of a particular subject. It involves breaking down a concept through analysis and then putting it back together through synthesis. By teaching the content, you can accelerate your learning and improve your understanding of the material.

To make this hack work, find a way to teach the content. If you have the appropriate education, try teaching an online course. If not, try explaining the idea to a friend, spouse, or child. Use innovative systems thinking tools to conduct analysis and synthesis and to teach your course. Before you teach a concept, it’s a good idea to dig a bit deeper into how to quickly grasp a new concept, skill, or idea.

2. Learn by Writing

Writing is another effective way to boost your brain IQ because it forces you to break apart concepts and then piece them back together. Starting a blog or writing on Medium.com is an excellent way to begin. While writing about the content you are learning, pay close attention to the feedback you receive once published.

3. Get Physical Exercise

Physical exercise is an excellent way to increase brain power. Neurogenesis is the birth of new neurons in our brain, and exercise increases the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which supports neurogenesis. Start an exercise routine and change your diet by eliminating refined sugars and taking vitamins to improve the functioning of your brain and body.

4. Listen to Audiobooks

Audiobooks are a great hack to use while exercising, driving, doing chores, and just about any other activity. Audiobooks improve your listening and retention skills while allowing you to absorb new knowledge.

To make this hack work, purchase wireless running headphones, sign up for a free app connected to your local library, such as OverDrive, and checkout audiobooks through the app. You can also purchase audiobooks at a discount through Audible.com, or use a free text to speech online app called Natural Reader to convert an online article, a pdf, or a word document to an audio.

5. Read Smarter

By reading books faster and smarter, you can increase brain IQ. Certain books should be skimmed, and others should be read slower with more attention to detail. Skim the book first, start with the title page, the inside of the cover, the table of contents, and the back of the book. Identify the author’s main theme and ask yourself the question “why” throughout the book. After reading the book, ask yourself three questions:

– What happened in the book?
– What was the key takeaway?
– What can you do with this new information?

6. Reason Backward

Reasoning backward is another powerful hack to increase brain IQ. Our mind is logical and proceeds forward, so we often miss things such as a repeated word in a sentence. By reading a sentence backward, we can catch mistakes we otherwise would have missed.

7. Quick and Easy Math Tricks

Math tricks are an excellent way to improve your intelligence and cognitive skills. Easily multiply any two-digit number by 11 by adding the first two digits and placing the result between them. For example, 32 x 11 = 352. Another powerful trick is multiplication guesstimation, which allows you to approximate the answer to a multiplication problem. For example, you can easily estimate that 88 x 54 is approximately 90 x 50 = 4500.

8. Think, Try, Learn

Think – Try – Learn is a powerful tactic discussed in Mindhacker by Ron and Marty Hale-Evans. It involves theorizing, testing, observing, recording, playing, analyzing, defining meaning, changing, and growing. This idea can be applied to just about any activity in life and helps you utilize each bit of an experience to grow your brain IQ.

9. Brain Training Apps

Elevate and Lumosity are brain training programs designed to improve our focus, speaking ability, processing speed, memory, math skills, and much more. Both programs come packed with more than 40 brain games and puzzles designed to improve our critical thinking and cognitive skills.

10. Learn a New Language

Learning a new language is one of the most powerful ways to improve your intelligence and cognitive capacity. When you learn a new language, your brain rewires itself to accommodate new knowledge, making you smarter and more adept at problem-solving.

In conclusion, there are plenty of free brain training hacks you can learn to make your brain smarter. By improving your brain power, you can increase your brain IQ, focus, creativity, and working memory. Try these 10 brain training hacks and see if you don’t feel more alert and intelligent!