What do you think?
Rate this book
Mind Performance Hacks: Tips & Tools for Overclocking Your Brain
You're smart. This book can make you smarter.
Mind Performance Hacks provides real-life tips and tools for overclocking your brain and becoming a better thinker. In the increasingly frenetic pace of today's information economy, managing your life requires hacking your brain. With this book, you'll cut through the clutter and tune up your brain intentionally, safely, and productively.
Grounded in current research and theory, but offering practical solutions you can apply immediately, Mind Performance Hacks is filled with life hacks that teach you to:
Use mnemonic tricks to remember numbers, names, dates, and other flotsam you need to recall. Put down your calculator and perform complex math in your head, with your fingers, or on the back of a napkin. Spark your creativity with innovative brainstorming methods. Use effective systems to capture new ideas before they get away. Communicate in creative new ways-even using artificial languages. Make better decisions by foreseeing problems and finding surprising solutions. Improve your mental fitness with cool tricks and games.
While the hugely successful Mind Hacks showed you how your brain works, Mind Performance Hacks shows you how to make it work better.
Mind Performance Hacks provides real-life tips and tools for overclocking your brain and becoming a better thinker. In the increasingly frenetic pace of today's information economy, managing your life requires hacking your brain. With this book, you'll cut through the clutter and tune up your brain intentionally, safely, and productively.
Grounded in current research and theory, but offering practical solutions you can apply immediately, Mind Performance Hacks is filled with life hacks that teach you to:
Use mnemonic tricks to remember numbers, names, dates, and other flotsam you need to recall. Put down your calculator and perform complex math in your head, with your fingers, or on the back of a napkin. Spark your creativity with innovative brainstorming methods. Use effective systems to capture new ideas before they get away. Communicate in creative new ways-even using artificial languages. Make better decisions by foreseeing problems and finding surprising solutions. Improve your mental fitness with cool tricks and games.
While the hugely successful Mind Hacks showed you how your brain works, Mind Performance Hacks shows you how to make it work better.
330 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
70 people are currently reading
1897 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 11, 2012
Mind Performance Hacks by Ron Hale-Evans. I bought this 2006 book by accident and have greatly enjoyed it (and used copies are selling for next to nothing on Half.com and Amazon. The book consists of 75 chapters of about 3-4 pages each. Each chapter contains a hack or technique for creative problem-solving or just mental exercises. Sounds hoaky, but page after page is loaded with insights: how to think analogically, learn an artificial language, ask stupid questions, cultivate the naïve mind, construct memory palaces, hold a question in your mind. In addition to being well-written, it is also well-researched. Lots of references to important cognitive psychology and self-help sources , including a reference to my all time favorite How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett. Even if you are not seriously interested in the subject or the specific techniques being proffered, it is still a great read.
June 6, 2009
I like this book because it goes straight to the methods or hacks if you will, unlike other books where you have to search for the tricks after wading through long intros and useless chatter. In the memory part of the book he rightly picks Dominic O'Briens method to focus on who I'm a big fan of.
February 9, 2008
one gun, two shoe, three tree. if you want to be able to remember lists of thousands of items and write perl scripts to make something exciting happen in your life (oxymoron?) then i recommend this.
May 21, 2012
This was a pretty nifty book--if not to apply, then just to read. Quite varied and skimmable. I only wish I'd encountered some of the advanced mnemonic techniques (like the Major or Dominic System) or calculating tricks during high school or college, when they would have been worth learning. I don't do much, if any, memorization anymore!
The book also mentioned an interesting experiment from Elizabeth Spelke's lab. There was a rectangular room with 2 long "walls" of curtains and 2 short "walls" of curtains, 1 of which was red. The experimentee watched as something (say, food) was "hidden" behind the corner formed by the red curtain and another curtain: either in the corner to the left of the red wall or in the corner to the right of the red wall. After being disoriented, the experimentee sought out the hidden food. Rats got it right ~50% of the time, which you would expect if all they could encode was the idea of a red corner, not the idea of a red corner joined with the idea of right or left. Pre-verbal babies were the same. Older children and people generally it right close to all the time, since they had the linguistic abilities to encode red + right/left. But here's where it gets interesting: if you hijack those abilities for a verbal shadowing task--repeating back what they were hearing in real time--their performance also dropped to ~50%. Fascinating.
The book also mentioned an interesting experiment from Elizabeth Spelke's lab. There was a rectangular room with 2 long "walls" of curtains and 2 short "walls" of curtains, 1 of which was red. The experimentee watched as something (say, food) was "hidden" behind the corner formed by the red curtain and another curtain: either in the corner to the left of the red wall or in the corner to the right of the red wall. After being disoriented, the experimentee sought out the hidden food. Rats got it right ~50% of the time, which you would expect if all they could encode was the idea of a red corner, not the idea of a red corner joined with the idea of right or left. Pre-verbal babies were the same. Older children and people generally it right close to all the time, since they had the linguistic abilities to encode red + right/left. But here's where it gets interesting: if you hijack those abilities for a verbal shadowing task--repeating back what they were hearing in real time--their performance also dropped to ~50%. Fascinating.
July 2, 2013
Expected to get really nice things from this book, but honestly dropped after ~25% of the book. Read some random places too (while this book could be read like that). And in overal - didn't liked it. Yes there are some good techniques described, but while it gets to the point it becomes too boring and also sometimes descriptions are to complicated or too boring. The book didn't motivated me enough to try at least few techniques right away. Will take a look some day when I will some trick I spotted there, but this is not the book you must read ;)
July 16, 2013
A mind-opening overview of mental techniques; Lots of new information and terms VARK, cruft, po, scamper; For anyone with a wish to improve. Plus, I already (and unknowingly) nurtured a lot lf respect for Ron Hale-Evans because of his www.ludism.org/mentat site and his mnemonic list which has quite a few common items with mine (Neil Gaiman, Douglas Adams, Isac Asimov, Tolkien characters and so on)
August 29, 2016
Not what I expected at all... And too much SF references for my liking.
June 3, 2013
I bought this ages back in one of OReilly's sales (its been in a couple since, so keep your eyes out). I dug it out after getting hooked on LifeHacker's "I am... and this is how I work' series, which made me wonder what other areas I could apply the whole self improvement thing to.
I enjoyed reading it, but after reviewing the bookmarks and annotations I'd made, I found I wasn't going to be implementing any of them - the useful ones I'd already come across elsewhere, even updated in Ben Hammersley's 64 things. While I'm referencing books, though, you might want to check out Arnold Bennet's Edwardian self help classic; "How to Live on 24 Hours a day" - one recommendation from this book I have downloaded to the Kindle App!
I enjoyed reading it, but after reviewing the bookmarks and annotations I'd made, I found I wasn't going to be implementing any of them - the useful ones I'd already come across elsewhere, even updated in Ben Hammersley's 64 things. While I'm referencing books, though, you might want to check out Arnold Bennet's Edwardian self help classic; "How to Live on 24 Hours a day" - one recommendation from this book I have downloaded to the Kindle App!
December 30, 2008
on my second run-through of this book. it's not really meant to be read linearly, but is a collection of various ways to play with your head, in the interest of "improving" it. it's got a lot of cog sci in, but it's all perfectly simple to understand - even the math bits! good stuff. i may even have implemented some of the techniques without conscious effort (which is good, 'cause conscious effort's almost beyond my capabilities, now). i find this stuff fascinating, and i think it could help almost anyone, but others might not be so taken with its intent, which is why i hesitate to recommend it.
April 5, 2014
There are lots of great tips in this book about how to use your brain better, some focusing on memory, others on creativity, and chapters about mental math and communications.
They are quite a varied range of hacks, from the rather obvious or even condescending (sleep more), everyday helpful tricks (using mnemonics or visual journeys to improve short-term memory), to the implausibly difficult (learn an artificial language).
There's a lot of stuff in this book, perhaps too much to take in in just the week I spent reading it, and while I don't plan on using all of it, there's enough variety that everyone would be able to find a few hacks to interest and be of use to them.
They are quite a varied range of hacks, from the rather obvious or even condescending (sleep more), everyday helpful tricks (using mnemonics or visual journeys to improve short-term memory), to the implausibly difficult (learn an artificial language).
There's a lot of stuff in this book, perhaps too much to take in in just the week I spent reading it, and while I don't plan on using all of it, there's enough variety that everyone would be able to find a few hacks to interest and be of use to them.
March 19, 2025
This is a fun book of mental tricks, things like mnemonics, brainstorming hacks, mental math.
It is well written and does a good job of explaining things without wasting too much time.
I found the mnemonics section the most interesting because they show how people can remember long lists of things. The creativity and maths sections were also fun.
I don't really know how much of this book I would use because we live in an age where we are attached 24/7 to a dictionary, calculator, notebook, encylopedia, brainstorming chatbot etc etc.
It feels a little bit dated.
Another issue is that some of the ideas in the book aren't proven to actually be helpful in any way. A glaring example is the communication chapter, but there are many things in here which not only lack evidence but are ineffective e.g. learning styles (debunked), brain training (brain training apps have been sued because they don't improve general brain function despite advertising this).
The book is more a curiosity cabinet than a grab bag of reliable techniques. I find this playful and fun, but if a reader is going in with a business-like mindset they're going to be very disappointed. I also think they will be put off by the tone of the book. It feels very tech nerd, a lot of references to fantasy/sci-fi, sex, buddhist mysticism, rationalism.
This is why I didn't give it 5 stars although I feel like it deserves a higher average rating than it has.
It is well written and does a good job of explaining things without wasting too much time.
I found the mnemonics section the most interesting because they show how people can remember long lists of things. The creativity and maths sections were also fun.
I don't really know how much of this book I would use because we live in an age where we are attached 24/7 to a dictionary, calculator, notebook, encylopedia, brainstorming chatbot etc etc.
It feels a little bit dated.
Another issue is that some of the ideas in the book aren't proven to actually be helpful in any way. A glaring example is the communication chapter, but there are many things in here which not only lack evidence but are ineffective e.g. learning styles (debunked), brain training (brain training apps have been sued because they don't improve general brain function despite advertising this).
The book is more a curiosity cabinet than a grab bag of reliable techniques. I find this playful and fun, but if a reader is going in with a business-like mindset they're going to be very disappointed. I also think they will be put off by the tone of the book. It feels very tech nerd, a lot of references to fantasy/sci-fi, sex, buddhist mysticism, rationalism.
This is why I didn't give it 5 stars although I feel like it deserves a higher average rating than it has.
December 27, 2019
Finished, didn't particularly like it / gained new insight
July 29, 2020
A well written collection of known techniques that help you learn, memorize and brainstorm. I go back to it now and then.
December 29, 2015
If you don't have a book on mind performance tips, then this one is an okay one to get to start off with, to see which direction you want to go. I already have several, so a lot of the more useful things are a retread of concepts explained in greater depth in other books, and yet others are more like interesting tricks rather than anything useful or applicable. For example, while the concept of being able to count up to a million on your fingers using a binary system is somewhat interesting, it's rather like those internet videos of people who've trained themselves to spin pens on their fingers in showy ways. Certainly impressive and skill they worked hard to acquire, yet not really impressive at the same time.
Still, I got some utility out of it, as for what it lacks in depth, it certainly makes up for in breadth, and it offers you a finger pointing in the direction of more complete references.
Still, I got some utility out of it, as for what it lacks in depth, it certainly makes up for in breadth, and it offers you a finger pointing in the direction of more complete references.
August 19, 2012
This was an interesting book. Got quite a bit out of it. Some of the hacks I already do and some don't work well with my brain, but there was a gold mine of ideas and things to play with. Plus, I can now figure out the day of the week for any date, which is something I've wanted to learn how to do since those old "Where there's a will, there's an A" commercials, but never got around to looking up how to do it.
March 30, 2014
A really nice overview of a bunch of different mental hacks. Some are more valuable and others are more filler, but even so it contains nice introductions to a wide range of useful topics. Topics like mnemonics, mental math, cognitive behavioral therapy, and meditation.
For reading about any of these on their own, there are better, more in depth resources, but for a collection of quick introductions to a whole range of techniques, this is a great book.
For reading about any of these on their own, there are better, more in depth resources, but for a collection of quick introductions to a whole range of techniques, this is a great book.
August 29, 2011
This is a really cool book! Tons of useful "hacks" to improve your life; including ways to improve your memory, math skills, creativity, decision making, communication, and mental fitness. You don't have to read it like a "book", just pick sections that you are interested in, but I predict you will end up reading the entire thing.
November 21, 2012
Literally full of chapters of Applied Cognitive Science, these mental hacks really do come in handy sometimes. Try some of these to learn a few different ways of improving one's ability to use what one already has (in the area of mental acuity), and quite possibly improving memory recall enough to become a Mentat someday.
October 25, 2012
Full of practical clear information on tips and tricks that can help you from memorising your shopping list to having a more healthy mental attitude. It would describe it as a self help book for geeks. Geeks do not need the motivation, they just need neat tricks to try out.
July 11, 2014
I would probably have given this book 1 star if I didn't see how there could be a lot of useful tools in it for some people, but for me personally they seemed like mostly things that just won't work for me, and would be more of a bother to go through with, and yield no reward in doing so.
February 6, 2007
this is a collections of researches and ideas about how to boost up your brain power by analysing its aspects and limitations.
i need someone to push me forward, i can not finish it alone.
i need someone to push me forward, i can not finish it alone.
April 28, 2007
Good book. A lot of the stuff seems like it's more work to put the application into place then is worth, but there are definitely thing i learned, especially from the creativity section.
October 8, 2008
Valuable information about human brain's common behavior, ease reading, full of useful tips and tools.
July 13, 2009
Some interesting ideas, but few of the tips sounded like they'd give me enough benefit for the effort of implementing them.
January 30, 2011
Some hacks are more useful than others, and there are a few good tips in here.
March 24, 2013
Kniha se spoustou tipů jak zlepšit výkon svého mozku. Dala mi pár užitečných tipů do praxe.
March 29, 2013
A should-read book on how to be productive in your job as your manage your career.
October 6, 2013
Not to be read in one go. Lots to mull over and use from this one. Will be returning periodically as and when it becomes useful.
February 13, 2017
It was OK, but I lost interest partway through.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews