We know that it’s important to exercise our bodies. We put a high emphasis on getting at least 30-60 minutes of exercise every day. We take care of our muscles, bones, and heart with regular exercise, and we take care of the rest with what we eat. It’s only recently that we’ve also discovered that we need to exercise our minds as well to keep them functioning well. After we’re done with school, we don’t have an onslaught of new information coming at us, which can slow our mental capabilities down. Stay sharp by playing mind games in your spare time.

1. Briangle: This one tests your mental acuity. You will have riddles, problem solving questions, images to decipher, and more. You can also compete with your friends and family to see who is able to get the most answers correct on a quiz. Test yourself with a little friendly competition and give each other a steady accountability partner to grow your brain.

2. Eidetic: This is a memory enhancement tool that tests your mnemonic abilities. It’ll give you practice at memorizing quotes, numbers, lists, and more. It’ll prompt you to take quizzes to see if the information that you are learning is making into your long-term memory rather than cramming it into the short term where it easily can fade away.

3. Happify: This app is more of a mental awareness kind of brain tool. Its principal philosophy is that positive thoughts cause more positive thoughts. The app encourages you to keep track of the good things that happen, the goals that you reach, and send you notes of encouragement. It’s helpful to remember to reset your priorities every day to remain happy. Your emotional wellbeing is just as important as your mental stamina.

4. CongniFit Brain Fitness: Developed with the help of neuroscientists, this app works to change the maps in your brain to improve your mental fitness. It will help with recalling information old and new. You’ll also notice that it’s easier to concentrate, making it easier to store new memories into the long term. You can challenge friends to tests and quizzes to push each other in a little competition. Make memory challenges a game so that you’ll want to do it. You can track your progress over time to see how your brain is evolving.

5. Lumosity: This app focuses on improving the user’s memory, problem solving skills, and attention span. There are 3 games in each section. Each game focuses on one specific mental issue to hone in and sharpen. You’ll play games and work your memory and reflexes to keep on task. The games constantly change as you grow. The only things that remain the same is that you want to beat the clock in every exercise.

Do a game or two a day to keep consistent at stretching your brain. Try to do these exercises during the day when you have down time instead of while you are winding down for bed. With constant work, you’ll start to notice that your memory is improved, tasks aren’t as daunting, and you can pay attention longer.