I’ve recently discovered a new term: neurobics. Which is formed from of neurone (the basic cell in a human’s mind) and aerobics (physical exercises), and suggests mental exercises to keep your brain thinking and processing new information. This will keep it healthy in the long run.

Here are some interesting ideas of neurobics:

• Use an RPN calculator. RPN Scientific Calculator is a really good one for OS X.

• Eat, brush your teeth, write, etc. with your non-dominant hand. It will be quite tough and slow at the beginning, until you get a kick out of doing that.

• Take a shower with the closed eyes. Locate what you need by smell and touches. Beware of the possibly slippery floor!

• Use language you’re learning (you’re learning a new language, aren’t you?) as the primary one on the computer, phone, tablet, you name it.

• Try the Dvorak or Colemak keyboard layouts. Caution: this will blow your mind if you’ve used QWERTY all your life!

• Wear a binary watch. Like this one: https://www.dx.com/p/led-binary-wrist-watch-with-date-display-1-cr2032-41235.

• Keep yourself straight and from falling without the gripping the handles when taking a bus. NB: it can be very dangerous depending on your public transportation quality so start small. Also, make sure there is enough free space around you so you don’t bump into other passengers on turns and stops. The basic idea is that your footsteps should be perpendicular to the bus movement (that is, you stay watching the left or right of the bus), and also turn round a little to compensate when the bus turns.

• Count the steps on your way to work.

• Have the nails of different length.

• If you still watch the TV (why?), mute it.

Of course, always use your caution when doing these things, because they require more thinking and you may be distracted from other important things. There is a somewhat related book: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini. Read it to find out how a person can be persuaded into doing something (actually, by the fact that they don’t think much at the moment).

Some extra info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurobics.