Key Takeaways
- Quality sleep and daily physical activity form the foundation of your brain health.
- Trying new hobbies or even letting your mind wander helps your brain stay flexible and build stronger connections.
- Small daily habits, like staying social or listening to music, can sharpen your thinking.
Becoming smarter isn’t always about acing trivia night or speaking more than one language—it’s about building the kind of brain health that helps you think faster, remember more, and solve problems with ease. Fortunately, the brain is equipped to adapt and grow stronger through lifelong learning and intentional routines.
Small changes, like the ways you move, sleep, and lounge, can rewire neural pathways to improve cognition over time. Ahead, we asked doctors to share the most impactful habits that are proven to enhance brain function. Weave these practices into your daily life for sharper focus and long-term mental health.
Keep a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Sharon Brangman, MD, is a geriatrician, a trustee on the board of the McKnight Brain Research Foundation, and a director of the Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease at SUNY Upstate Medical University, so she knows a thing or two about keeping your brain in tip-top shape across decades. Numerous studies back her most obvious suggestion for feeling smarter: Stick to a consistent sleep schedule.
“When we sleep, our brains continue to work by consolidating our memories and improving our ability to focus and problem-solve,” says Brangman. “Not getting enough sleep may result in problems with usual brain functioning, yet, according to the NIH, a third of American adults report regularly getting less than the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep.”
For sharper thinking (and better sleep), Brangman says to put your phone away at least one hour before you go to bed, since blue light has been correlated with poor sleep quality and duration.
Exercise Daily
Once you’re sleeping well, the next habit on the priority list should be to get your body moving more. “Whether in the morning, during a lunch break, or after a long day at work, exercise can stimulate the brain’s ability to maintain old network connections and make new ones that are necessary to cognitive health,” says Brangman.
She brought up one study specifically that found that cognitive decline is much more likely in adults who are inactive than those who regularly exercise. As for how much and how often, Brangman says to aim for at least thirty minutes of light to moderate exercise per day.
Try New Hobbies
The brain thrives on a reasonable amount of novelty. While it may take a bit to get the hang of a new hobby, Brangman says trying out novel tasks like reading, knitting, gardening, or painting can challenge the mind in a good way. “Learning a new skill stimulates the brain, encouraging the formation of neural pathways that help our ability to multitask, manage stress, and improve mood,” she says.
One study from the Journal of Aging and Health found that regularly engaging in challenging, new activities improved memory function in adults. This continuous engagement can help you feel smarter and keep your brain sharp across all life domains as you age. “As an added benefit, social hobbies also help combat loneliness and foster meaningful connections—an important aspect of brain health,” Brangman says.
Stay Socially Engaged
Maintaining social connections has been consistently linked to stronger brain function. “Consistent connection with others—whether through calls, visits, group activities, or volunteering—helps stimulate thinking and supports emotional wellbeing, both of which are important for cognitive health,” says Joel Salinas, MD, MBA, MSc, FAAN, chief medical officer of Isaac Health. He explains that he sees a clear link between social isolation, loneliness, and how well the brain functions in his practice.
According to Salinas, even small, consistent efforts to connect with others can add up. “Everyday actions, supported by community and consistency, may make a meaningful difference over time,” he says. From casual check-ins with friends to joining a local club or volunteering, there are several ways to maintain strong social ties to keep the mind engaged and emotionally balanced.
Daydream
If you tend to daydream, you may have been told to get your head out of the clouds, but research suggests this isn’t always a bad thing. One study in The Journal of Neuroscience found that mind wandering—which can consume nearly half of our waking hours—can actually help the brain think more clearly. In a visual task, participants who let their thoughts drift were better at unconsciously noticing hidden patterns. In this context, mind wandering didn’t disrupt thinking and actually supported learning.
That said, experts caution that intentional mental engagement is key for long-term cognitive health. “Mentally engaging activities that are challenging, new, and have meaning or purpose—such as mentoring, learning to support a cause, or organizing a family event—may be more protective than passive forms of stimulation like puzzles alone,” says Salinas.
Talk to Yourself
When asked which habit can actually make you smarter, Ryan Sultan, MD—a psychiatrist, professor, and medical director of Integrative Psychiatry—had a refreshingly simple response: Talk to yourself. It’s exactly the kind of insight you’d expect from a psychiatrist who studies how thought patterns shape intelligence.
“Talking to oneself is surprisingly beneficial,” Sultan says. “Speaking to yourself out loud and verbalizing your thoughts improves cognitive control and search performance.” He pointed to a study published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, which showed that participants who verbalized a lost object like keys, by saying “keys, keys, keys,” found the objects quicker than those who did not vocalize. Quirky as it sounds, this small habit can help you think more clearly and solve problems faster.
Be Bored Sometimes
“Surprisingly, ‘being bored,’ or doing nothing, is beneficial for the brain,” says Sultan. “It activates default mode thinking and engages regions of the brain known as the default mode network (DMN), a region important for promoting creativity and connecting ideas.”
One study published in the Creativity Research Journal found that people engaged in a boring task produced more creative ideas compared to participants in a control group not exposed to a boring condition. However, Sultan told us that more recent research suggests that being bored itself does not contribute to creativity. It’s “how a person responds to boredom and whether or not it motivates them to be more creative is what really matters,” he says.
Spend Time in Nature
Sultan also says that a green environment (one filled with more trees and nature) is fuel for the brain. He pointed to a Belgian study that found that a 3% increase in neighborhood greenness was associated with a 2.6 IQ point increase on average.
While the research highlights a strong link between greenery and cognitive performance, it does not prove that spending more time in nature directly causes higher IQ. Instead, the researchers think the effect may stem from multiple factors, including reduced stress and increased opportunities for physical activity—all of which support brain health and development.
Listen to Music
Even everyday background music—especially if it’s familiar—can subtly boost mental performance. A study in Scientific Reports found that playing a participant’s preferred background music during a vigilance task significantly increased task focus and reaction times.
But some music is designed to increase that effect. “Your brain naturally has rhythmic activity (i.e., ‘brainwaves’), which can be enhanced with sounds engineered to match those rhythms,” says Kevin Woods, PhD, director of science at Brain.fm. “Our research found that music with rapid modulations can synchronize brainwave activity in ways that regular background music simply can’t. Just a few minutes of listening can boost focus-related brain activity by up to 119%.” This specialized music briefly optimizes brain networks for attention and memory, helping you perform tasks more effectively.
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