8 Hobbies to Take up to Become Smarter

#1 Playing any musical instrument. Did you dream of playing violin, when you were a child? Or maybe drums? Even if you're a grown-up, you still can learn to play any musical instrument and thus increase your intelligence level. Playing music teaches you patience and it also increases your memory capacity.

#2 Solving riddles. Brain, just like any other muscle, needs training, and there's nothing better for mental exercises, than riddles. There are lots of different ways to work out your brain: sudoku, board games, card games, puzzles, crosswords and even simple riddles. Solving them helps your brain form new connections between its cells and develop the ability to look at things and problems from different perspectives.

#3 Playing video and computer games. It's believed, that video games don't have a good reputation, however, even they can help you become smarter. In general, video games help develop your working memory, that is responsible for holding and processing the information. Playing video and computer games also improves your motor performance, strategic planning and spatial navigation. But don't hurry up to start playing your favorite game. Remember, that only 30 minutes of playing are good for brain exercising, not more!

#4 Exercising. Running early in the morning or doing yoga is good for your body, but brain also benefits it. Regular physical exercises develop our recognition memory and reduce stress level. By the way, while you sweat out, blood circulates faster in your brain, thus increasing its function.

#5 Traveling. Many think, that traveling is just a nice way to spend time and relax. However, traveling can also help you become smarter. Traveling lets you get rid of stress, and you can focus on new tasks. Try to travel somewhere every weekend, and you'll feel much better. Also traveling lets you learn new things and people, so don't say, that you don't get smarter at all!

#6 Reading. Reading is a very nice hobby and it can really make you smarter. But it's possible only if you read different topics, not only romance novels or horror stories.

#7 Learning a language. Learning a new language may seem a very long and boring process, but it's very useful for your brain. Learning a language can help you slow down brain aging and affect your later life cognition. Also people, who speak multiple languages better perform different tasks, that those, who don't. And did you know, that bilinguals are much better at solving puzzles, task management and planning? It's because they have better attention and task-switching capacity.

#8 Cooking. Cooking, as a daily routine, is terrible, but don't whine about it and instead of that try to cook new meals. Regular cooks, especially those, who have tried a variety of meals, are more creative. By the way, they are also committed to quality and learn to multitask.