Thursday, May 19, 2011

Brain Training in Prep for AMP

So, one other part of gearing up for the AMP program is getting your brain ready to be flogged mercilessly over the next year. I have to contend that my brain typically does not get stressed as much/fast as it did while in the AMP program. My job is certainly challenging and requires lots of thinking, but the 'drinking from the fire hose' encountered during AMP is a different animal all-together.

One of the things I did prior to AMP (and have started to do again) is to try to stretch my brain in ways which are different than what I encounter at my job. In the past I have periodically read brain-teasers or thought exercises, but this time I went a different route.

I am not sure how I was turned on to this site, but somehow I ended up at Lumosity. They have a free trial to let you explore the site and their games, which gives you a good sense of how their 'brain training' actually works. I am not sure I completely buy their propaganda, but I can tell you that it is both:
   a) a diversion (i.e fun) and
   b) a boost in confidence about your mental acuity (through improvements seen in the games)


Clearly a big jump in one's improvement is due to practice and a deeper understanding of how the games are structured. However, I found a few games very interesting. One was the fast-food name/order matching game, which attacks one of my weaknesses - name recall. I found that after focusing on that game, I was more apt to actively attempt to remember someone's name when I meet them, and therefore have a higher probability of remembering the name.

Again, I am not completely sold on 'brain training', but I think it does have some positive benefits. Give it a try and see what you think.

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