Increasing mental awareness can help you be more productive and more efficient in virtually every aspect of both your personal and work life. However, eliminating the mental clutter and promoting clarity is not always easy when you live a particularly busy lifestyle. It can be difficult to find the time to focus on your own wellbeing, let alone find real ways to increase mental awareness in your free time.

The fact is, if you want to notice a tangible difference in the way you think and how productive you are, then you’ll need to be consistent with the lifestyle changes and adjustments you’ll be making to do so. With that said, consider the following four methods that can be practiced daily to increase mental awareness:

1. Drink More Water and Stay Active

Studies have shown that proper hydration promotes mental clarity and helps the body’s organs function better overall. Avoid overly sugary drinks, alcohol, and excessive coffee, and opt instead for pure water – at least eight full glasses per day. In addition to drinking enough water, you may also want to lead a more active lifestyle by incorporating an exercise regimen into your daily schedule.

2. Consume Adequate Calories and Eat High Energy Foods

Many people don’t know that your brain can burn a lot of calories, but this is a fact that should be readily apparent to anyone who has ever tried to take a test or perform a mentally difficult task on an empty stomach. Make sure you’re consuming enough calories according to your daily nutritional requirements, which are usually based on your height, weight, age, and sex. The Mayo Clinic has a simple calorie calculator you can use to make sure you’re getting enough calories to promote optimal mental awareness.

3. Use a Cognition Enhancer

Cognition enhancing drugs, also known as nootropics or neuro enhancers, are a class of medication that are designed to promote alertness and wakefulness in the user. While these drugs are most often prescribed to patients who have trouble staying awake or focused for long periods of time, studies have shown that 90% of patients are actually using nootropics for off label uses like energy supplementing or as a focus aid.

As such, there are many scholars, professors, novelists, lawyers, surgeons, authors, and entrepreneurs that use alertness drugs like Modafinil, Modvigil, Modalert, and Provigil to improve productivity and fend off fatigue at the end of long work shifts. While each of these drugs are in the same class, there may be slight differences between the way each one makes you feel, which is why it is good to search for comparisons like Modvigil vs Modalert to find out which one might be the best fit for your needs.

4. Play Brain Games and Take Quizzes

Finally, playing brain teaser games like puzzles and taking frequent quizzes are great ways to keep your mind at its sharpest. Games like Sudoku and memory testing games are awesome for promoting alertness and strengthening your attention span. You might also want to consider using some brain training apps on your smartphone or tablet in your spare time.

In closing, the best way to get the most out of your alertness improving regimen is to use all of the tips above in conjunction with one another. Furthermore, make sure you stay consistent in your daily practices and you’ll see much better results as the weeks go by. And most importantly, if you do decide to take cognition enhancers, make sure you speak with your physician about it beforehand.