Being intelligent matters. Despite the negative stigma given to intelligent people and so called nerds, society now understands that intelligence often counts more than muscle power, especially in this day and age.

Suddenly, being smart is cool. People want to develop brainpower these days. This means not just being smart in the sense of having a wealth of raw knowledge, but being smart where it counts, with practical application.

Here are five tips you can use to increase brainpower and boost your minds capacity to absorb and process information faster:

1) Choose supplements wisely

Yes, there are supplements that actually work. These may include memory-enhancement pills or medications that stave off mental fatigue for adults; there are also IQ enhancement milk supplements for children. A good number of these supplementary products on the market can actually give children a mental edge and help improve learning. Both children and adults need to follow a good, balanced diet and avoid vices that literally destroy brain cells such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and using illegal drugs. This will help keep your mind sharp over time.

2) Try speed-reading

This is a good way to bump up your learning curve. Speed-reading courses not only allow you to cover data faster, but they also train your mind to pick up visual details at a greater speed.

Another benefit youll gain by learning to speed read is that you train your brain to pick up the important details of the written text. Contrary to claims of some self-help courses, however, you cannot acquire a photographic memory if you dont have one to begin with; however, speed-reading is the next best thing for those of who were not born with a photographic memory.

3) Test yourself often!

Here is a good memory enhancement drill. A study conducted by several colleges separated students into two groups. One group was given 5 minutes to study a text, and was then immediately given three 5-minute tests. Another group was given four 5-minute periods to study the same text, but was not immediately given a test afterwards.

A week later, they were all given a test on the same subject. The group that studied only once but took three tests outperformed the group that had studied the text four times but had taken no tests. The results are clear: dont try to learn by just reading. Apply the knowledge you acquire and test yourself repeatedly.

4) Do drills on some basic math drills

Drilling basic math drills by using flashcards may seem like something that belongs in grade school, but even adults can benefit from it. Face it; most of us are spoiled by having calculators to do our addition and subtraction. At its core, math embodies the purest form of logic. Letting your basic math skills deteriorate is similar to letting your logical and deductive reasoning take a downslide.

5) Take Abstract Logic Tests

There are test books available in bookstores that give extensive tests on abstract logic. These tests present one with sets of 3 pictures; the test taker has to extrapolate from the first three pictures what the fourth logical concluding picture will be.

Buy a few of these books and try them out! Abstract logic may not be a direct help in concrete learning, but it actually improves your deductive reasoning capacity.

Try any of these activities and see how they boost your brainpower. Increase your minds capacity to absorb and process information faster.