If you want to escape the midday slump at work, you can train your mental fitness with Sudokus or crossword puzzles, for example. Fotro: getty images
Lunch is often followed by a short slump. It's hard to get back up to speed in the workplace. Brain jogging can help. Even Sudoku puzzles or crossword puzzles can stimulate the gray matter.
Erlangen. Hunger has been satisfied, the espresso drunk – but the idea of returning to work brings on leaden fatigue – the so-called midday slump. "It takes humans almost half an hour on average to get over it and also mentally get back up to speed", reports psychologist Siegfried Lehrl, chairman of the German Society for Brain Training. He recommends that this start-up phase be accompanied by simple "warm-up" exercises for the brain to shorten. "For example, open a newspaper lying around and circle with a pen all the words that end in "en" end. You will see: After just two or three minutes, your mind will be more alert and thirsty for action, so that ideally you can get on with your afternoon's work with joy and concentration."
According to Lehrl, there are two factors that make "brain joggers" dependent on antidepressants Help to renew the drive for action. On the one hand, each correctly circled syllable gives them a brief feeling of mental happiness, which encourages further performance. On the other hand, even the small circular movement of the hand guiding the pen has a stimulating effect on body and mind. Activity and mental fitness go hand in hand, explains Lehrl: "Even if you take notes during a lecture or listen to your English vocabulary on a walkman while you run, you learn more easily, as we know from a number of studies." Chewing gum can also help.
Increasing mental speed
Mental exercise contributes significantly to increasing the personal speed with which a person can process information, and to increasing his or her personal "memory span to expand. This refers to the ability to remember complex things such as a certain combination of numbers. People who are mentally fit are also more balanced and satisfied overall, Lehrl enthuses: "They are neither underchallenged nor burnt out, but are mentally active in exactly the way that is good for them."
An attractive promise, especially in light of survey data showing that 85 percent of the population is "mentally fit" around the world declare your health to be your most important goal in life, even ahead of "health". The willingness to do something about it, however, is less pronounced, Lehrl reports. It is striking, however, that people with a good education state that they work up to 14 hours a week on their mental fitness, while those with a low level of education say that they hardly bother about it.
Think for yourself instead of using technology
Lehrl emphasizes that people who engage in less complex activities in everyday life are often underchallenged and can benefit greatly from mental exercise. Sudokus and crossword puzzles are one possibility. Another is to forego the comforts of technology every now and then and think for yourself: "Remember important phone numbers instead of just referring to the "phone book-Pressing the "Go" button, calculating your change at the bakery, exploring new terrain using only a map and your head, and leaving the navigation system off are all things you can do in life.