How to Increase Mental Acuity Through Journaling

Nobel Prize winning novelist Jose Saramago wrote: “A man must read widely, a little of everything or whatever he can, but given the shortness of life and the verbosity of the world, not too much should be demanded of him.” Reading widely diverse material is well known for its ability to grow our brains, along with benefits of better cultural understanding and better decision making. But you have to correlate and synthesize what you’ve read in order to get the true benefit of lots of reading. The best way to do this is with a reading journal.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A new journal
• Pen or pencil
• Reading material

1. 
   Delightful Journals

   Select a journal that is very pleasing to you. There are many journals available today in book stores and stationery stores. Find one that is portable, comfortable to write in, and provides plenty of space for your entries. Some people prefer lines for their writing, others like a blank journal.

2. 

   Each day, read selections from literature, science, history, biography or the arts. Make use of little surprise moments in your day when you might just fritter the time, and use those little increments for reading. Develop a habit with continuity, and you will get more reading done than you think.

3. After reading, write the name of the book or article, and the page number, under a date in the journal. In the dated area, you will just be keeping a chronology of what you’ve read, with the book and page so you can reference it if you want to. Create a separate area in the journal for making comments. In the comments area, jot down the key concepts and ideas of the passage you read.

4. 
   Web of Thought

   As you continue building entries in your journal, you can start cross-referencing. This is where the brain building really takes off. Be aware when you are noting the ideas from a reading and it triggers a memory of something else you read. This is the harvest point. Turn back to what you wrote about the original passage, and notice parallels or conflicts in the information. When your brain is triggered to remember previous reading, and you respond by returning to it and giving analytic thought to what you read, you are creating a large number of neural connections. The brain “lights up” with connectivity that will enhance all future learning.