7 Phenomenal Tips for Mental Agility

If you want a more agile mind, remember this: invest in yourself and make a passion for learning a major part of your life.
7 Phenomenal Tips for Mental Agility
Valeria Sabater

Written and verified by psychologist Valeria Sabater.

Last update: 09 October, 2022

There are many people out there who are hoping to improve their brain power with tips for mental agility.

After all, mental agility is the combination of all of the amazing cognitive processes that give you the ability to reason and reach conclusions quickly. This aspect also includes creativity, your ability to analyze things, and your quickness to make inferences in your day-to-day life.

All of these processes aren’t gifts or aptitudes that just apply to younger people.

It’s quite the contrary! Believe it or not, mental agility can be trained and doesn’t need to go away as you get older.

Just like exercising, going to the gym, or practicing yoga, it’s worth dedicating a few minutes a day to these simple tips for mental agility. They’ll encourage communication between both hemispheres of your brain, create new neural connections, and improve your overall mental agility.

Read on to find out how!

Tips for Mental Agility

1. Get dressed or undressed with your eyes closed

Even if it’s just once a day, try it! Get dressed or undressed with your eyes closed. It may seem silly, but it activates incredible processes:

  • First, it improves your coordination.
  • It optimizes the connection between the right and left sides of your brain.
  • In addition, it improves your fine motor skills.
  • It helps you make mental maps, including the distance from button to button, how to use a zipper, where to put your arms, etc.

Always do this exercise safely.

Do you like these tips for mental agility?

Read: The Best Physical Exercises for a Healthy Brain

2. The guessing game

tips for mental agility

Improving your mental agility takes willpower.

These tips for mental agility may just seem like simple activities, but your brain will thank you for them.

The guessing game is an ordinary daily challenge that requires you to apply three processes: attention, estimation, and calculation.

For this tip, all you need to do is ask yourself questions as you go about your day.

For example:

  • How many stairs are in my workplace?
  • How many people are wearing a black item of clothing on the bus?
  • Looking at the last two digits on a license plate that is passing by, what do they add up to?
  • At the traffic light, how many seconds will it take for the light to turn green?

Fun questions like this are a great way to fine-tune your mental abilities and improve your attention, estimations and calculations.

3. Learn 5 words in another language every day

It doesn’t matter what language you pick or if it’s a different one every day. To improve your mental agility, learning between 3 and 5 new words a day can be very helpful.

Besides widening your global perspective, you’ll be improving your linguistic ability while also creating new neural tissue that will translate into greater mental reserves for effectively facing the passing of the years.

4. Mix up your routine as much as possible

tips for mental agility

One of your brain’s biggest enemies is a rigid routine. When nothing new ever happens, your brain goes on autopilot.

When your cognitive processes are limited to the same thing all the time, leaving no room for creativity, freedom, or personal pleasure, this can gradually lead to memory loss, lack of concentration, slower reflexes, and many more.

You should ideally set aside somewhere between one and two hours a day for yourself every day. These little moments to yourself are a gift to your mind and senses.

5. Discuss, pay attention, socialize and reach conclusions

Social contact, positive relationships, and conversations that widen your perspective and build your knowledge really are the fuel for improving your mental agility.

All of these help improve your concentration, your ability to respond, your assertiveness, and even your emotional management.

While it may surprise you, even arguing every once in a while sharpens your mind. After all, there’s nothing wiser than knowing how to argue with respect and ingenuity.

6. Keep a journal

tips for mental agility

Many people already have taken up the habit of getting their thoughts, ideas, and memories out onto paper by keeping a journal.

This exercise is also great therapy for your mind.

You learn to transform your ideas and the things that happen in your day into words and stories. Thinking makes you more agile, introspection gives you a way to vent, and all of this has a positive impact on your brain.

Your creativity even increases. In fact, as you start writing, you’ll end up feeling like writing more. It’s like a door that opens to many other paths to explore.

7. Go for a walk every day

tips for mental agility

Do you like these tips for mental agility?

Read: What Happens to Your Brain When You Exercise

Your body is in sync with your mind.

A tired, stressed out, numb body makes your brain a little more rigid. Then, it focuses on aspects that impede creativity and relaxation and just concentrates on external stimuli.

Going for a walk or run is actually relaxing for your brain. Taking a walk frees your mind and makes your body feel great. When you put one foot in front of the other, your mind opens up, especially because it’s getting more oxygen and nutrients.

If you want a more agile mind, remember this: invest in yourself and make a passion for learning a major part of your life.


This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.