4Tests Blog

Are you a student looking to boost your IQ, or intelligence quotient?

Many are, and with good reason. Having a solid IQ will make you more receptive to the subjects in class and more capable to institute the good study skills necessary for improving test scores, getting good grades, and overcoming any confidence issues that you may normally face when introduced to new material.

Luckily, there are some everyday activities you can do — things that cost anywhere from very little to no money — to boost your IQ. Let’s look at them in more detail below.

1. Video games

Video games were derided by an entire generation of old fogies until studies began to learn the physical and mental benefits they offered with regard to strengthening of hand-eye coordination and detail orientation. So many things are coming at you from every angle in a video game that you have to be responsive and alert and able to make quick and well-thought-out decisions from a greater overarching strategy.

So the next time anyone tells you to put away the video games, you’re wasting your brain? Call BS.

2. Keeping up with current events

Current events are useful in the sense that they will tell you what is going on in the world and bring an overall sense of awareness to your daily life, but they are also often connected to past stories and events that will only add to your collective knowledge of a topic and all of the things that come with it. The 24-hour news cycle is a great example of this. In the ongoing need to provide news content, there is a lot of regurgitation out there, but it relies on how the current status is connected to past events. The more you keep up with the news and read of current events, the greater your understanding will come together.

3. Reading fiction

Fiction, like current events, has connection after connection; but oftentimes those connections are even more powerful and can help you broaden your understanding well beyond what you would otherwise think. By weaving so much of the world and other literature and emotions into an ongoing narrative, stories help us rely on a bigger understanding of the human condition, and that only helps boost your IQ.

4. Incorporate regular exercise

Studies have shown that if you get away from your workstation for exercise, stretching, or any number of activities, you stimulate brain activity so that it becomes easier to focus on studies, exams, and homework. People who don’t get enough movement in their daily routines also run a higher risk of encountering diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer later in life. While it may take a few extra minutes you think you don’t have, you will easily make that up with the productivity boost that you receive.

5. Caffeinate!

The body probably doesn’t need as much caffeine as you think that it does, but don’t listen to anyone who tries telling you that it’s bad for you or doesn’t have a net positive effect. While you probably shouldn’t start the day with a cup of coffee — after all, your body makes enough cortisol on its own to get you through these early morning hours. By giving it the extra dose through a caffeinated beverage, you’re telling it to make less, which feeds into your tiredness and turns coffee and other such drinks into an addiction. The best times to drink coffee/caffeine? Between 10am and 12pm or 2pm and 5pm, according to TIME.

6. Play musical instruments

Musical instruments do a lot more than add a beat to the party. They also have the surprising benefit of teaching the player how to notice acoustical cues in communication so that they become more aware and responsive of how others are communicating with them and vice versa. Anything that can help you become a stronger communicator will only add to your IQ because it opens up your receptors to new information and understanding.

7. Hand-write

When you hand-write notes, your brain has a tendency to synthesize information better and to cull out the necessary from the unnecessary. Handwriting in general creates multiple “touches” with new information. Your brain realizes that it must process a main idea quickly in order to send that signal to the hand. The hand then writes out the words as the brain rephrases the words into an order that makes sense. This usually facilitates one checking back on the work they have accomplished and getting one more “touch” with the info, thus solidifying the overall understanding.

In Summary

If you are really wanting to boost your IQ, you don’t need any big expenses or fancy programs. Simply try any of the activities above, and the difference you will notice will be astonishing. What are some “brain tricks” that you have used to improve your understanding? Sound off in the comments section below.