Cognitive Health and Psychology

Achieve Peak Cognitive Performance in 6 Steps

Tactics for expanding cognitive adaptability and versatility to excel in various endeavors, professions, and circumstances

You possess inherent cognitive capabilities that allow you to survive and thrive. By becoming aware of these abilities and consciously improving and orchestrating them, you can unlock invaluable potential for success, health, and happiness.

The human brain is an incredibly intricate and sophisticated organ. Despite significant advancements in neuroscience and cognitive science, scientists have only partially uncovered its mysteries.

In conjunction with other brain regions and bodily processes, the neocortex is believed to be crucial in orchestrating cognitive functions.

Cognitive functions include perception, thoughts, attention, language, intention, intelligence, feelings, and intuition, to form knowledge, memories, experiences, habits, and competencies.

I intentionally use the analogy of orchestration as a means to effectively convey my ideas and insights. The concept of orchestration serves as a helpful metaphor to illustrate the role of the mind in cognition.

Cognition, in simple terms, refers to the mental processes and abilities involved in acquiring, processing, and using information.

Adaptability is adjusting to changes and finding new ways of doing things. Versatility refers to having various skills and abilities to apply in different situations.

Consciousness (the subjective experience of being aware of oneself and surroundings) is a subject of ongoing study and inconclusive debates among scientists as it is an aspect of our existence that we both intuitively and experientially understand.

The purpose of this story is to improve mental skills to orchestrate fundamental cognitive functions focusing on metacognition, executive functions, and decision-making.

Without going into scientific details, I aim to provide an overview of six cognitive functions to flex your metaphorical mental muscles to complete tasks effectively and achieve goals effortlessly. I provide practical tips at the end of the essay.

Here are six steps to gain mental elasticity that can be applied to various tasks, jobs, or situations.

1 — Sharpen focus with intense attention.

Focus and attention are fundamental and essential cognitive capabilities that are necessary for completing tasks. Every task requires information, and with focus and attention, you can utilize that information to complete the task at hand.

Your brain uses energy from food or fat stores to orchestrate your focus and attention, and it also requires neurotransmitters such as dopamine to process information.

Even though focus and attention may appear to be psychological entities, they also have biological connections within the body.

For example, without sufficient energy, it is impossible to focus and pay attention, leading to a condition known as brain fog. The dose and intensity of focus and attention also play a critical role.

Focusing too much on a single task might also lead to “paralysis of analysis” and deplete dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, and acetylcholine reserves, leading to feeling overwhelmed, increased stress, and decreased productivity. Finding the right balance is crucial.

To improve focus and attention, you can implement mindfulness practices such as meditation and visualization. Additionally, activities such as speaking, writing, and reading can also substantially contribute to the improvement of your focus and attention.

2 — Learn to perform graceful task switching.

To effectively task switch, you must learn to focus and pay attention to achieve your goals.

Task-switching involves shifting our focus and attention from one task to another. One example of this can be observed in walking, as you must alternate your legs to progress forward.

Reading and writing are other examples of task-switching. For reading, you need to understand words, phrases, and sentences.

For writing, you must continuously switch your focus from one word to the next to compose sentences and, eventually, paragraphs to complete an essay or book.

However, if task-switching is not orchestrated effectively, it can lead to cognitive overload, as the brain has a limited amount of energy and may shut down when faced with too many demanding tasks.

One solution to this issue is to start with easy and simple tasks, taking small steps instead of attempting to complete a large project all at once.

For example, instead of attempting to complete a document with hundreds of pages, starting with one paragraph or page is more beneficial and taking a break before continuing.

By consciously and mindfully implementing this practical approach, you can achieve more in a shorter amount of time, as small tasks often have a snowball effect and aid in completing more complex tasks.

From my own experience, I have found that single-tasking can be more productive and enjoyable than multitasking. I have discussed this in an article titled Here Are My Three Reasons for Not Multitasking Anymore.

3 — Improve your working and procedural memory.

Working memory is closely associated with focus, attention, and task switching. Compared to previous items, working memory is relatively new. Working memory helps us create visual maps of objects and events.

As part of our cognitive system, working memory allows us temporarily manipulate and store information while performing tasks that require mental effort. Working memory is essential for thinking, learning, solving problems, and making decisions.

You need both long-term and short-term memories to effectively use working memory. You can measure working memory by combining the memory span with the concurrent processing tasks at hand.

The more mental undertakings you can perform at a specific time, the better your working memory can be.

Typical working memory can usually handle seven to nine chunks of the digit at a given time. However, some people exceptionally and practice can handle more.

I provided practical tips to improve working memory in a previous article titled 12 Steps to Skyrocket Working Memory.

Procedural memory is a type of long-term memory responsible for the retention and recall of skills and habits that we perform automatically and without conscious thought.

It is an implicit form of memory, meaning that we are not aware of the specific memories or experiences that guide our actions but rather the actions themselves. Examples of procedural memory include touch typing, speed reading, riding a bike, and cooking a meal.

You may learn more about procedural memory with practical tips in this story titled Here’s How Mastering Procedural Memory Can Take Your Writing to the Next Level.

4 — Plan intentionally and effectively.

Planning is organizing and arranging the steps needed to reach a specific objective. Its primary aim is to facilitate the transition from a starting point to a desired outcome with a clear intention and direction.

The ultimate goal of planning is to mitigate the effects of chance and distractions in daily life. By having a plan, you can minimize the possibility of being sidetracked or hindered by unexpected events or circumstances. Thus you can achieve your goals more efficiently.

Intentional and effective planning can enhance cognitive flexibility by breaking down complex tasks, proactively managing potential obstacles, providing a sense of control, promoting the development of mental models, and reducing the mental effort required to switch between tasks.

Focus, attention, task switching, and working memory allow you to plan and achieve your goals.

Without planning, you cannot manifest anything to fruition. Thus, planning is an essential cognitive function for our survival. It distinguishes humans from other living beings.

The critical aspect of planning is to map out the tasks and link them logically to produce new meanings and desired results. Overplanning can be a problem delaying execution. So refrain from perfection.

You can gain cognitive flexibility, mental elasticity, and emotional maturity by planning your activities mindfully and pragmatically.

5 — Enhance your mental problem-solving skills.

Cognition (thinking, reasoning, and remembering) is crucial for effective problem-solving. In broader terms, problem-solving involves addressing a challenge or obstacle. It is critical for your survival and well-being.

Problem-solving is a systematic process that employs thinking, creativity, intuition, strategies, and tools. It is not limited to simply troubleshooting, though that is one aspect of it. It is a crucial aspect of creating innovative solutions, as the outcome should alleviate specific problems for users.

Effective problem-solving begins with identifying and defining the problem at hand. A plan is devised to address the issue, and the right mindset, structure, and questioning are employed to execute it.

The process may involve multiple revisions and alternative solutions, from which the best course of action is chosen. This process can increase your mental flexibility serving like a physical workout.

Sub-skills that are integral to problem-solving include planning, research, creativity, communication, analysis, risk assessment, and integration. All of these are mental tasks that are part of our cognitive system.

6 — Tap into your subconscious mind effortlessly.

The conscious brain can handle a small chunk of information. The solution to our problems is tapping into the vast ocean of the subconscious mind.

You can visualize the subconscious mind as the control center for the body and mind. It regulates bodily functions and is responsible for processing information that is not currently in your conscious thoughts but hidden in memories, emotions, and habits.

The subconscious mind operates below the level of conscious awareness, which is responsible for our decision-making and critical thinking.

The subconscious mind is responsible for our automatic behaviors and reactions. It also includes past experiences affecting your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

You can tap into the subconscious mind using various techniques. Commonly used techniques are meditation, visualization, chanting, affirmations, lucid dreaming, journaling, working in a flow state, listening to music, expressive writing, and self-hypnosis,

By using these techniques, you can calm down the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and activate the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).

The Reticular Activating System (RAS) establishes a bridge between the conscious and subconscious mind. It can work better when PNS is active.

RAS can filter excessive and unnecessary information based on fixed parameters. These parameters are our safety and survival coded in the old brain that the cognitive system perceives and processes.

If you imagine the failure and focus on it, the RAS will bring evidence of failures. Likewise, focusing on success brings success. This might be one of the reasons optimists become happier and live longer.

Summary

The brain has multiple functions to complete tasks. Metaphorically, it requires physical and mental muscles. By flexing these muscles, you can enhance your cognitive skills. Your metacognition coordinates and orchestrates these functions.

Effective use of cognitive function and process determines your success. Those who use them properly thrive. Avoiding or misusing them might lead to failure if you miss one or more components of these functions and processes, you might face problems.

To keep your mental muscles healthy and flexible, you need to remove distractions. An effective way of managing distractions is by creating your own rules for planning, attention, focus, and mindful task switching.

As an adult, you need to take ownership of your cognitive processes. You must resist the temptation to relinquish control to external influences, instead standing firm in your resolve to chart your own course.

Your mission, strategy, and goals are uniquely your own, and it is your responsibility to set your own agenda in your life. Thus, you must establish your own rules and adhere to them steadfastly.

One key aspect of this process is learning to view failure as a valuable learning experience. Your cognitive processes are constantly evolving, and it is through making mistakes that you truly learn and grow.

Another essential component to flex your mind is mastering the art of entering and working in the flow state. This state of effortless productivity can be achieved by learning to release your worries and anxieties about outcomes.

Ultimately, orchestrating your lives requires a harmonious balance of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual powers. Without a conscious effort to orchestrate your cognitive functions, you may struggle to achieve these essential elements of a fulfilling life.

By cultivating self-awareness, self-discipline, self-confidence, self-respect, and self-love, you can remain grounded in reality and optimize your potential for creativity, productivity, health, well-being, joy, and life satisfaction.

The key takeaway points of this post

Cultivate the discipline to focus intently on a single task, remaining engaged until completion. Refrain from multitasking.

Develop the ability to shift focus and attention deliberately and with intention, effectively switching between small tasks.

Enhance cognitive flexibility and build cognitive reserves for optimal mental well-being.

Expand working memory capacity and function to improve task completion performance effortlessly.

Adopt a proactive and mindful approach to pragmatic planning to manifest desired outcomes. Refrain from overanalysis and overplanning.

Active parasympathetic nervous system and harness the power of the reticular activating system to access the depths of the subconscious mind.

Embark on a mindfulness journey, becoming evermore aware of your cognitive capabilities and using them to their fullest potential.

Continuously strive for self-improvement in cognitive abilities and cognitive flexibility using your body and mind in balance.

Slow down, prioritize sleep, regular breaks, and mental downtime to recharge cognitive abilities.

Practice self-reflection with the self-awareness to understand and improve cognitive processes and functions. Have empathy and compassion for others.

Seek new learning experiences, have fun, build social connections, and participate in altruistic activities.

Conclusions

Failing to master the art of cognitive orchestration and neglecting to consistently and methodically put these skills into practice might impede your ability to lead a healthy, happy, and productive life.

Thus, developing and honing these cognitive abilities is essential for achieving cognitive health, performance, overall well-being, and personal fulfillment.

Cognitive performance refers to improving cognitive functions with healthy lifestyle choices and creating cognitive reserves to reduce decline effects as we age.

Besides the mental approaches mentioned in this essay, there are other ways of enhancing cognitive performance, such as exercise, sleep, rest, timely recovery, meditation, neurobics, fasting, ketosis, autophagy, thermogenesis, fun, social connections, nutrition, and supplements.

Improving our cognitive performance can build solid cognitive reserves, which can protect and make us more effective mentally when we age or face mental health disturbances and neurodegenerative disorders.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

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