In our increasingly complex world, cognitive flexibility is a skill that is often overlooked but extremely valuable. Whether in our personal or professional lives, the ability to adapt and think flexibly is a key driver of success. It helps us how to navigate challenges, seize new opportunities, maintain good mental health, and come up with innovative solutions.
So, What is Cognitive Flexibility?
Cognitive flexibility is essentially about learning to learn and being able to be flexible about the way you learn. Simply put, cognitive flexibility is the mental ability to switch between thinking about two different concepts or to think about multiple concepts simultaneously. It allows us to adapt our thinking in response to changes in our environment. It is closely linked to other cognitive functions like:
- Shifting: The ability to switch attention between different tasks, concepts, or perspectives. This involves letting go of one way of thinking and adapting to a new one.
- Updating: The ability to update and revise information in working memory. This includes incorporating new information, correcting errors, and adjusting mental representations as needed.
- Inhibition: The ability to suppress irrelevant or automatic responses. This involves inhibiting prepotent or habitual responses in order to flexibly adapt to new situations or tasks.
- Task-switching: The ability to switch between different tasks or mental sets. This involves mentally disengaging from one task and shifting attention and cognitive resources to another task.
Why is it important?
Cognitive flexibility is required in many real-world situations. It is vital for various aspects of our lives, including problem-solving, creativity, and interpersonal relationships. Often, we tend to think in black and white instead of exploring the shades of gray in between. While this can help us at times, it may also limit our ability to navigate challenges in more than one way.
It can be easy to be trapped into thinking that there is only one correct approach to tackle a problem, but this rigidity can hinder our progress. We may also spend an excessive amount of time trying to find the perfect solution instead of considering alternatives.
Alternatively, by developing cognitive flexibility, we can expand our ways of thinking and find more effective solutions to achieve our goals. It provides you with the ability to see that what we are doing is not leading to success and to make the appropriate changes to achieve it – changing strategies for optimal decision-making, being open to taking extra steps, or skipping certain steps, or trying new approaches.
Cognitive flexibility can also help us protect against a number of biases, such as confirmation bias. That’s because flexibility in thinking results in recognising and overcoming potential faults in ourselves. The ability to switch our thinking from one dimension to another quickly can greatly enhance our ability to adapt to new environments and achieve success. It is also associated with higher resilience to negative life events, and better equips people to handle uncertainty and change.
Cognitive Flexibility in Children
Cognitive flexibility starts developing during childhood. Children who have good cognitive flexibility are better equipped to solve problems and adapt to new or unexpected situations. They can shift their thinking from one dimension to another, for example, from color to shape, which is a critical skill in academic and social settings. Hence, nurturing cognitive flexibility in children sets the groundwork for the development of advanced cognitive abilities and emotional resilience.
Cognitive Flexibility in Adults and Seniors
As we age, maintaining cognitive flexibility becomes increasingly important. Adults and seniors who possess good cognitive flexibility are better equipped to adapt to changes in their professional and personal lives. This ability allows them to adjust their strategies when rules or circumstances change, deal with ambiguity, make reasoned decisions, and manage multiple tasks efficiently.
Moreover, good cognitive flexibility aids in preserving mental health. It helps individuals to adapt their thinking or behavior to the changing demands of life, thereby reducing stress and anxiety. It also enables people to learn from their past experiences and apply these lessons to the present or future circumstances, thereby promoting personal growth and mental well-being.
How to Retrain Your Brain to Be Flexible
The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones. —J.M. Keynes
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As it turns out, being smart, competent or even having strong social skills will not guarantee flexible behaviour. This cognitive function continues to develop throughout adulthood, but however, it can decrease with age. Thus, fostering cognitive flexibility is vital at every stage of life. Here are some ways to stimulate this cognitive function and retrain yourself towards a flexible mindset.
Cultivate growth Mindset
A growth mindset is the belief that our abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort, practice, and learning from mistakes. It helps to increase cognitive flexibility skills by promoting a willingness to embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, and view failures as opportunities for growth. This mindset fosters a sense of curiosity, openness, and flexibility, which are essential components of cognitive flexibility.
Embrace uncertainty
One of the main reasons we resist change is because it brings uncertainty. However, by accepting that uncertainty is a natural part of life, we can learn to be more comfortable with it. Start by challenging yourself to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. Seek out new experiences, hobbies, and challenges that push you out of your comfort zone.
Engage in cognitive exercises
Engaging in activities that challenge your thinking patterns encourages new neural connections, and enhances cognitive flexibility. Here are few of these activities.
- Artistic and creative activities, such as painting, sculpting or music, can also help improve cognitive flexibility. These activities stimulate creativity and encourage the exploration of new ideas and perspectives.
- Continuous learning is another effective way to improve cognitive flexibility. Learning new skills or discovering new information stimulates the brain and can help improve cognitive flexibility.
- Puzzles, brain teasers, and strategy games like chess or Sudoku can help improve problem-solving skills and encourage attention and working memory, all skills related to cognitive flexibility.
Reframe your limiting beliefs:
Our beliefs have a significant influence on our thinking, shaping our interpretations and evaluations of various aspects. Sometimes, our limited beliefs can make our thoughts rigid and distorted, affecting how we see ourselves and others. Yet, by reframing our interpretation of a situation, we can break free from these inflexible thoughts.
Cognitive restructuring or reframing (CBT) is an effective technique that identifies and modifies rigid thought patterns to positive ones. By challenging your limiting beliefs and analyzing their pros and cons, you can evaluate evidence for or against them and examine their validity. This way, you can change your perspectives and discover new ways of viewing a situation.
Seek different perspectives
We often get stuck in our own point of view, which limits our ability to see alternative solutions. Make a conscious effort to consider alternative viewpoints and understand different perspectives by engaging in conversations with people who have different backgrounds, beliefs, or experiences. Engaging in discussions, reading diverse literature, and actively listening to others also can help broaden your understanding and enhance cognitive flexibility.
Emphasise learning from failures
Being flexible and learning to adapt involves changing behaviours in response to new situations. Failure is a natural part of life, and it’s essential to reframe our mindset around it. Instead of viewing failures as setbacks, reframe them as learning opportunities. When faced with a failure, ask yourself what lessons you can take away from it and how you can use those lessons to improve in the future. Analyse what went wrong, identify areas for improvement, and develop strategies to overcome future challenges.
Embrace change
Change is inevitable, and the more we resist it, the harder it becomes to adapt. Instead of fearing change, try to see it as an opportunity for growth and learning. embrace it. Look for the positive aspects that change can bring and focus on the opportunities it presents. By embracing change, you’ll be better prepared to adapt and thrive in any situation.
Practice mindfulness:
Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present and aware of our thoughts, feelings, and surroundings. By practicing mindfulness, we can become more aware of our fixed thinking patterns and consciously choose to shift our perspective. Mindfulness exercises, such as meditation or deep breathing, can help cultivate present-moment awareness.
Read more : How to Practice mindful meditation : How to Retrain Your Brain To Be FlexibleQuestions to reflect on the above aspects:
How do I typically react when faced with unexpected changes or challenges?
Am I open to considering alternative perspectives when required, or do I tend to stick to my own way of thinking?
Do I prefer to stay within my comfort zone, or do I active;y seek new opportunities to learn?
How do I handle setbacks or failures? Am I able to bounce back and adapt?
Do I approach new situations with a willingness to learn, or do I resist change and prefer to stick to what I already know,
To sum up,
Cognitive flexibility is a vital skill that enables us to thrive in an ever-changing world. Understanding and improving cognitive flexibility is an investment in your cognitive health. The key is to find activities that you enjoy and can incorporate into your daily routine.
Retraining your brain to be flexible takes time and effort, but the benefits it brings to your life are immense and long-lasting. It is however important to keep in mind that flexibility is not about abandoning your values or beliefs; it’s about being open to new ideas and approaches. So, start today and watch as your ability to adapt and thrive in any situation improves.
Related Read :
What is cognitive dissonance and some ways to deal with it
How to improve your perspective thinking
Some ways to apply design thinking in problem-solving
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Fresh perspectives and approaches for personal change and growth
Last year, I began using my left hand to do more things like cutting meat and using my toothbrush. Prior to this, I was exclusively right handed. Thanks for the interesting article.