Manual Thinking
You write down your lists, use your calculator, get entertainment by watching the television. Your brain hardly hiccups at the mundane tasks you give it. Stretch your mind by making even the simple tasks use more brain power.
Toss the calculator. Add, subtract, multiply and divide by hand, or in your head. Do your checkbook without the calculator. Don't use paper to figure a tip--do it with just your mind.
Go list-free. Pack away your to-do list or your shopping list. Use your memory to remind you of what's next. Picture a clock and assign your appointments to times in your mind. Visualize your refrigerator or pantry as you shop--what's missing that you need to buy?
More word games. Crosswords, word-scrambles, Scrabble--word games are great exercises in manual thinking. They force you to draw on your vocabulary--especially words you seldom use. Learn a new word every week--tape the word and its definition to your bathroom mirror and review it every morning. Read riddle books and try to solve them.
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