The Mental Whetstone: Unconventional Ways to Hone Your Wits

Published: Thu, 08/21/14

"Make sure you take the time to feed yourself with what your spirit has to offer." -- Darren L. Johnson, American author.

No doubt about it: you have to keep your wits sharp to successfully lead a team. Some experts claim that doing tough mental exercises will help you sharpen your mind: the New York Times crossword, Sudoku, logic puzzles, reading, learning new tasks, taking classes, and so on. While there's nothing wrong with any of those activities, some scientists say these studies are flawed—the jury's still out on that.

I tend to intuitively believe the studies that show dementia and Alzheimer's have large genetic components, so I'm always eager to know how to keep my wits sharp. But the way I look at it, I'm getting plenty of mental stimulation from the challenges of running a business and doing my job on a daily basis.

Think about it. In addition to juggling umpteen projects, you're constantly busy planning how to delegate them to your team members, trying to balance the summer's vacation schedule, digging up more work for when times get lean, clearing workflow blockages, jumpstarting new projects, mediating disputes between team members and/or co-workers, introducing people to others in your network, and handling a hundred other little tasks. That provides enough mental activity for any ten Sudoku volumes, with a Martin Gardner Mathemagics book on the side.

So I'm going to buck the trend here and say that instead of doing more to hone your mental alertness, you should do less.

The Inactive Angle

My specialty as a productivity expert is showing people how to do more in less time. I try to practice what I preach and do get a tremendous amount done. But the most important part of my life revolves around my loved ones, so I want to spend as much time with them as possible.

But in a world where agility, flexibility, speed, and innovation have become watchwords, you can easily get overworked and overwhelmed. I believe doing too much causes you to lose your mental edge, not hone it.

You aren't a robot. You can't work nonstop. You must take a little time to back up, breathe—and give yourself a break. Literally. Then you can put your head down and work anew. Try these tips to get you there:

1. Get on top of your to-do lists. While you require to-do lists to structure your productivity, they can get out of hand-especially if you pile on 137 tasks in your quest to get things done. Triage your task lists mercilessly, and then prioritize what remains by importance and due date. Practice purposeful abandonment of the least important tasks and delegate like crazy.

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(C) 2014 Laura Stack. Laura Stack is America's premier expert in personal productivity. For over 20 years, her speeches and seminars have helped professionals, leaders, teams, and organizations improve output, execute efficiently, and save time at work. She's the author or coauthor of 10 books, most recently, Execution IS the Strategy. To invite Laura to speak at your next meet or register for her free weekly newsletter, visit www.TheProductivityPro.com.