Brain teasers and tips to stay sharp in between jobs (and when you have one too)

.

7 WAYS TO STAY PRODUCTIVE WHEN YOU’RE IN BETWEEN JOBS (Fast Company):

“Sure, you didn’t plan on being on per­ma­nent vaca­tion, a.k.a. unem­ployed, but here you are. And believe it or not, this can be a bless­ing in disguise…

3. VOLUNTEER AT AN UPCOMING INDUSTRY CONFERENCE.
Research any asso­ci­a­tions in your indus­try that might have an upcom­ing lun­cheon, con­fer­ence, or net­work­ing event. Reach out to the coor­di­na­tors to see if you could use your exper­tise at their next event…

5. STAY SHARP.
Exer­cise your mind with cross­word puz­zles and brain games. Sharp­Brains lists 50 brain teasers to start your day with, and if you love a good cross­word, try Word­Crunch. If games aren’t your thing, Brain­HQ sug­gests going to a muse­um, exer­cis­ing, and mem­o­riz­ing a song as addi­tion­al brain fit­ness tips. In oth­er words, resist the urge to veg-out on the couch Brid­get Jones style. Set­ting a dai­ly sched­ule and list of to-dos can be a great boon for your men­tal well-being.

7. DO SOMETHING YOU’VE NEVER DONE BEFORE.
Ever thought about train­ing for a 10K? Did you ever want to be veg­an for 30 days like Bey­on­cé? Chal­lenge your­self to try some­thing new. Sure, being unem­ployed presents a new set of chal­lenges, but the point is to do some­thing pro­duc­tive as often as you can. Work­ing toward a goal will give you that sense of accom­plish­ment and suc­cess. Plus, when you do go back to work, you’ll have plen­ty of inter­est­ing sto­ries to share with your new co-workers.”

To learn more:

• The Ten Habits of High­ly Effec­tive Brains
• Renowned “brain fit­ness” expert: 8 tips to keep your mind sharp