When you are bored and you have a spare five or ten minutes, your first instinct is probably to reach for your phone and start scrolling. That’s fine, but if you added up the amount of time that you spend on your phone, you’d probably be shocked. There’s nothing wrong with playing on your phone sometimes, but if you do it a lot, that adds up to a serious amount of wasted time that you could be boosting your brainpower instead.
There are some great boredom-busting activities that help to exercise your brain, and finding alternatives to using your phone will help you to maintain a healthy relationship with social media. These are some of the best ways to build your brainpower when you are bored.
1. Jigsaw Puzzles
Before smartphones were a thing, plenty of people would do a jigsaw puzzle to pass the time, and it’s great for your brain. When you are looking through all of the different pieces and working out how they fit together to create a bigger picture, you are exercising a lot of different cognitive abilities and giving your brain a good workout.
Studies of jigsaw puzzles found that your brain still benefits from easier puzzles, so you don’t need to do a 1,000 piece puzzle if you want to boost your brainpower. Another benefit is that you can pick it up and put it down whenever you have a spare five minutes.
2. Word Games
Word games are a great way to boost brainpower and improve your spelling and writing abilities. Scrabble is a classic word game, and there are some great online versions like Words With Friends as well.
Playing a quick game is a much better way to spend ten minutes than going on social media. There are some great online scrabble word finder tools that you can use if you get a little stuck, so don’t worry if you are not very good to start with. As you practice more, you will notice that your vocabulary increases.
3. Card Games
Many people don’t think of card games as a way to improve brain power, but studies show that they exercise a lot of different areas of the brain. There is a little bit of maths involved, as well as memory skills and critical thinking and strategy. You can easily find lots of great card games online, some that can be played on your own and plenty that can be played with multiple players.
4. Dancing
Research suggests that learning new dance moves can actually boost your brainpower in a big way. This activity is good for your physical health as well, and staying active will help to engage your brain as well. If you have a spare half an hour, why not get online and try to learn a new dance? You can also attend dance classes as well if you want to further improve your skills.
If you're looking for other ways to stay physically active during this time, head to our article 7 At-Home Workouts You Can Do Right Now!
There’s nothing wrong with scrolling on social media from time to time, but you could use that time to boost your brainpower with these simple activities.
Are you looking for more ways to beat boredom while staying at home? Read our article 21 Fun Things to Do At Home When You're Bored!
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