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IS YOUR BRAIN WORKING FOR YOU?

Do you feel as though you are losing it? Sometimes you can't remember what you just said or you just can't pay attention or focus on something? You start to wonder what is wrong with.

These are signs that your brain may need some stimulation of some kind. It does not mean that you are suffering from Dementia or Alzheimer's is rearing its ugly head.

The first thing you want to look at is how often are you challenging your brain. When was the last time you tried to do the crossword puzzle in the newspaper or put together a jigsaw puzzle?

It really is so easy to let your brain slip. Not many people understand the importance of challenging their brains on a regular basis. It is so simple to let things slip and not even think about challenging your brain.

Your brain performs so many functions for you, many of which you don't even realize. Your brain is responsible for helping you pay attention to things and to concentrate and focus.

What you may not realize is that you need to feed your brain and exercise it regularly. When you don't exercise your muscles in your body they start to weaken and shrink. They turn to flab and you gain weight. Your brain works in exactly the same way. If you don't exercise and challenge your brain, it doesn't work as well. Your memory starts to fail and you can't concentrate and finish simple tasks.

While many people put this down to getting older, it doesn't have to be that way. Yes, your memory and certain skills may start to diminish but there are things that you can to do rectify this.

One easy way to start getting your brain to work more efficiently is to start doing some brain training. These are just easy and fun games that can get your cognitive skills working again.

This includes playing card games where you have to find the pairs of numbers, or even playing a game of chess with a friend. Both of these games gets your mind working in different ways. You have to start thinking and planning ahead and judging what your opponent might do.

When you start interacting and playing games you will notice that you feel more alive and alert. Your attention span is longer and you actually find you have an interest in life again. So what are you waiting for, try out a few brain games and see how they work for you.

THE BENEFITS OF BRAIN TRAINING

As you age you tend to not use your brain as much and this can lead to you feeling as though you are losing your memory, or that you just can't concentrate anymore. The truth is that these things can be resolved by keeping your brain active.

Brain training games are extremely popular today and there is no shortage of websites that offer some type of brain training game or other. These games focus on specific areas of your brain. For example you may have trouble remembering number sequences or people's names. By playing specific games these issues can be improved.

The benefits of playing brain games includes helping to improve your memory, your attention span and your focus. The games are designed to work in different ways.

For example if you have trouble with people's names and faces you are helped by learning how to associate names with characteristics instead. For example if your Uncle Charlie smokes a pipe you connect a picture of a pipe in your head with his name. If you have trouble spelling you can learn how to sound out the name differently in order to remember it.

Other brain game benefits include taxing and stretching your brain. Your brain is capable of doing so much and most people only tap into and use a small portion of their brains.

A popular game is the Sudoku game. To play this game you need to use logic and to have patience. You basically need to enter a number from 1 to 9 in each column so that each row only contains one of each number. This really does stretch and tax your brain.

Other benefits include being able to think faster, remember birthdays and anniversaries and even just remembering the title of the movie you watched a couple of days ago.

Sometimes you don't notice that you are becoming forgetful as you age. Most of the time you simply put it down to becoming older and this is not always the reason. Usually these signs mean that your brain needs a quick pick me up.

As well as improving your cognitive skills brain games can also help boost your self-esteem and confidence levels. Plus you are instilling a habit which will help keep your brain alert, sharp and active as you age. This can help stop the onset of diseases such as Alzheimer's.

TYPES OF BRAIN GAMES YOU CAN PLAY

The best thing about meditating is that it doesn't require a lot of time. All you need is to set aside 20 minutes per day for this beneficial exercise.

Use the following steps to set up your own routine for meditating and aim for at least once, if not twice, per day.

Select a Time

You want to choose a time that is convenient for you. During this time period ensure that you will not be disturbed. You need to feel relaxed and your mind should be free of worry.

Many people enjoy meditating either as the sun comes up or goes down. If possible you could even meditate outside.

A Quiet Location

This is very important as you don't want to have your spouse or children interrupt you. A quiet room in the house would work or even a secluded spot in your garden.

Your Position

You need to sit comfortably while meditating. While sitting cross legged, or in the lotus position, is recommended it is not always necessary. You can sit comfortably on a chair and still receive the same benefits.

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As you are aware Google just loves to keep updating their products. Gmail for example has undergone some new updates lately with the addition of tabs and new features to their calendar settings.

It is now possible to access Google+ Hangouts directly from within your Gmail account. You may notice that in the previous chat sidebar you now have the option to start a Hangout. If this feature isn't activated, just go into your settings to activate it, click your photo in the top right hand corner.

Once the Hangout feature is activated you an easily start a video chat or text chat with your friends or business associates. It is a fantastic way to stay in touch or just to connect with someone to ask a question.

This new feature is extremely convenient and quick to use and you don't have to physically go into your Google+ account to start your Hangouts. You can easily invite any of your Gmail contacts to a Hangout.

The first time you use the Google+ Hangout feature you will have to install a quick plug-in. It literally just takes a minute or two to install. Then you will be set up and ready to record your Hangout.

As with anything new you may want to attempt a Hangout privately first. This way you can learn where the controls are and how to do fun things such as putting silly hats on people! Plus you can share videos and photos during your Hangout as well.

If you want to chat using any of your Apple devices you just need to download an App to do this. Get your friends to download it as well and then you can all Hangout together, regardless of which device you are using.

There are two types of Hangouts that are available , the video Hangout and the text Hangout. The main difference of course is the video aspect, but there is also a difference in how many people can participate.

At the current time you can invite up to 9 people to join in a video Hangout. Whereas for a text Hangout you can invite up to 100 people! If you broadcast your video Hangout live you can invite people to watch but they cannot actively join in the discussion.

Accessing Hangouts via your Gmail account is a fairly new feature from Google. We are sure that they will find ways to improve not just their Hangouts but other features inside your Google account in the near future. So be sure to stay up to date and connected with new developments as they happen.

DO YOU MARKET WITH VIDEOS?

If you market your business with videos, are you using Google+ Hangouts as well? If not, this is something that you should really consider adding to your marketing strategies.

Google+ Hangout is an easy way to hold an online meeting or product demonstration with up to 9 attendees. You can still invite others to watch your live event, so you can technically have an unlimited audience.

As you are already aware, video marketing is huge and a great way to get tons of traffic to your sites. Google now owns YouTube which is why using Google+ Hangouts is a no brainer. Plus the benefit of a Hangout is that once your video is finished it is automatically uploaded to your YouTube account.

The only requirements to use a Google+ Hangout is that you need to have a Google account and email. If you do any type of online marketing you will have these in place already.

When it comes to using Hangouts you need to know that you don't have to present an "On Air" broadcast. While this is a very popular option, it may not suit your business needs or marketing plan.

It is also possible to set up one on one sessions as well. These would be good for coaching type calls, interviews and for talking with clients privately. This private option can be used for many types of calls and discussions that you don't necessarily want to broadcast to the world. Once your video is uploaded to YouTube you can make it private or unlisted. This way only people with the link can view the video.

Using Google+ Hangouts is a great way to make a variety of business videos including: marketing ones, product reviews, tutorials and how to type videos. The automatic uploading to YouTube can save you time and allows you to easily create a channel with lots of videos.

Remember that videos rank well on all the major search engines, especially Google. So why not keep in their good books and incorporate Google+ Hangouts into your video marketing methods?

Running a business and incorporating online strategies makes good business sense. As a marketer it is always important to stay abreast and use all the current marketing trends as much as possible.

Don't get left behind, position your business as a forerunner when it comes to marketing using Google+ Hangouts.

BEST PRACTICES FOR RUNNING A GOOGLE+ HANGOUT

There are two main ways to run a Hangout, you can choose to run a text or a video based one. You can run a Chat Hangout via text with up to 100 people. For a Video Chat you can invite nine other people to participate with you. By running your chat "On Air" you can broadcast the link live so hundreds, or more, people can watch.

They just cannot actively been seen on the video though.

Use the following best practices to ensure that your Hangout is run professionally and that everything goes according to plan.

Take the time to create a good Google+ page for your business before running your Hangouts. First impressions count and you don't want to risk losing potential customers or clients because you weren't set up correctly.

Choose a good representative from your business to host your Google+ Hangouts. They should come across as friendly and knowledgeable.

Try to answer as many questions as possible during the Hangout.

Always answer questions with a personal tone.