What Is Cognitive Flexibility & How to Improve It [With Examples]

Cognitive flexibility refers to your brain’s ability to adapt to new situations and adequately respond to the challenges and demands of everyday life. As a result, it’s one of the most important skills to develop, regardless of your age or profession.

To help you understand how to improve cognitive flexibility, our team of experts researched this concept in more depth and came up with several strategies that bring instant results. In this article, we’ll review their findings and clarify any misconceptions about cognitive flexibility.

So, let’s dive in!

Key Takeaways

• Cognitive flexibility means that you’re able to adapt to new situations, think outside the box, and quickly shift from one task to another.
• Cognitive flexibility allows you to multitask, problem-solve, empathize with others, quickly adapt to changes, and come up with creative ideas.
• You can improve your cognitive flexibility by practicing mindfulness, playing board games, learning to redirect your thoughts, changing your routine, and talking to people from different backgrounds.
• Cognitive inflexibility is otherwise known as rigid thinking—the inability to think outside the box or quickly adapt to new circumstances and environments.

What Is Cognitive Flexibility?

What Is Cognitive Flexibility?

Cognitive flexibility is the ability to quickly shift between different thought processes to adapt to new environments, perspectives, and demands. Simply put, a flexible mind allows you to be efficient and innovative, as well as rise to any challenge.

In theory, cognitive flexibility is at its peak in adolescence and young adulthood and slowly declines with age. In that sense, it’s a lot like fluid intelligence, which encompasses the ability to problem-solve, process new information, and effectively use cognitive faculties such as working memory or logical reasoning.

The reason for the decline of cognitive flexibility in adulthood and old age may be related to the decreased level of neurogenesis in the hippocampus.

Hippocampal neurogenesis is the process of creating neurons in the part of the brain called the hippocampus, which supports thinking, learning, and memory, so its decrease affects all of these skills.

In addition, adults are more likely to rely on experience and tried-and-true solutions than develop new ways of approaching a problem. As a result, they may struggle to adapt or consider alternative perspectives when necessary.

On the other hand, adolescents and young adults don’t have a wealth of experience to rely on, making them more likely to resort to creative thinking and novel approaches. That’s why a mix of younger and older adults in the workplace can be the best path to success.

Why Is Cognitive Flexibility Important?

Cognitive flexibility is important because it helps you function in your day-to-day life, juggle several tasks at once, and quickly switch from one way of thinking to another. Without it, you’d have a far more difficult time adequately responding to different professional and personal demands.

Here are some of the benefits of cognitive flexibility:

• Adapting to new situations. Your ability to quickly assess a new situation or environment and grasp how to adequately respond to it is a result of cognitive flexibility. It allows you to shift your thinking at a moment’s notice.
• Effective problem-solving. Solving problems frequently requires thinking outside the box and deviating from the tried-and-true path. That’s only possible if you’re able to think flexibly and break away from the thinking patterns you’re used to.
• Multitasking. When you phone with your friends while preparing lunch, you exhibit cognitive flexibility. Your mind can simultaneously juggle two tasks at once, as long as neither is too mentally challenging.
• Creativity. Generating new ideas or creating something new and valuable from existing ones requires a great deal of innovation, which is directly related to cognitive flexibility.
• Empathy. Above all, empathy is the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes and consider their viewpoints. Pulling away from your own perspective requires a great deal of cognitive flexibility, especially if your experiences are vastly different.

5 Strategies to Improve Cognitive Flexibility

Strategies to improve cognitive flexibility include practicing mindfulness, playing board games, taking control of your thoughts, changing your routine, and talking to various people.

Below, you’ll find more details about each of the strategies and ways in which you can incorporate them.

#1. Practice Mindfulness

an image of a person practicing mindfulness

In recent years, mindfulness has become somewhat of a buzzword associated with yoga, life coaching, and self-help psychology. As a result, it may be a little off-putting if you don’t subscribe to the particular ways of thinking that promote it.

However, mindfulness, at its core, is returning to your own thoughts and feelings, examining them, and staying grounded in the present moment. This practice helps you maintain a healthy relationship with yourself and gain a deeper understanding of your own psyche.

Once you understand your own thinking patterns and emotions, you’ll be able to develop healthier responses to stressful situations and better solutions to problems, improving your cognitive flexibility skills.

#2. Play Board Games

an image of a board game that improves cognitive flexibility

Board games are a fantastic way to train your brain and boost your cognitive flexibility. After all, they require you to devise strategies on the spot and adapt to challenges as you go, which significantly improves your problem-solving skills and teaches you how to deal with setbacks and unexpected hurdles.

Most importantly, all this is done in a relaxing and fun environment, usually in the presence of your friends and family. As a result, it’s not just cognition that receives a boost but also your social skills and ability to empathize.

#3. Redirect Your Thoughts

an image of the statue of the Thinker

As anyone who’s struggled with falling into negative spirals surely knows, your brain can be your worst enemy. It’s very easy to turn one unpleasant experience into negative thoughts about your own self-worth and convince yourself that you’re undeserving of success and happiness.

However, these negative spirals are detrimental to cognitive flexibility—they overburden your brain with stress, causing it to completely shut down to alternative perspectives. Ultimately, this can result in cognitive rigidity, which is frequently associated with depression.

So, once you feel like you’re falling down one of these spirals, stop yourself immediately and try to redirect your thoughts to something else. You don’t have to try to convince yourself these thoughts aren’t true—that might only exacerbate negative thinking. Instead, focus on an entirely different topic.

Of course, this is easier said than done. But with enough practice and mindfulness exercises, you’ll become much better at interrupting negative spirals.

#4. Change Your Routine

an image of people holding the rails and changing their routine for cognitive flexibility

You can exercise your cognitive flexibility by switching things up once in a while. A routine doesn’t offer much mental challenge and, therefore, makes your brain stagnant. So, any deviation from the norm can be beneficial.

And when we say any deviation, that’s exactly what we mean. You don’t have to travel to a new place every week or constantly take up new hobbies just to keep things fresh. Even ordering something new from your favorite restaurant or taking a different route home from work counts as changing your routine.

So, try to introduce these small changes as often as possible. They won’t significantly interfere with your life, yet they’ll still provide your brain with much-needed stimulation.

#5. Talk to People

an image of a group of friends laughing and talking

Finally, talking to people can do wonders for your cognitive flexibility. Through meaningful conversations, you gain new perspectives you likely haven’t considered before and become more open-minded and empathetic.

In other words, you improve your cognitive flexibility even just by hanging out with your friends and family. However, if you’re looking for an extra boost, step out of your comfort zone and talk to strangers too—you might be surprised by the new viewpoints and ways of thinking you encounter.

Cognitive Flexibility Examples

A good way to test your cognitive flexibility is to consider some common examples and see whether you exhibit such traits in your everyday life. You’ll find some of the ways cognitive flexibility manifests itself below.

#1. Thinking About Your Thoughts

Thinking about your own thoughts, otherwise known as metacognition, is a crucial executive function that allows you to evaluate your own thought processes and determine whether they benefit you or not.

For instance, when you start slipping down the negative rabbit hole, you can catch yourself and reflect on why your thoughts are going in this direction. Similarly, when you’re stuck trying to find a solution to a problem, you can ask yourself whether your current thought process benefits you or if you need a brand-new approach.

Metacognition and mindfulness go hand in hand—mindfulness requires thinking about your own thoughts, and, at the same time, your metacognition develops the more time you spend practicing mindfulness.

#2. Thinking About Multiple Things at Once

Thoughts rarely follow a linear pattern—instead, they frequently jump from one topic to another or even simultaneously concern themselves with two things at the same time.

This ability to switch between thoughts and think about several things simultaneously is a perfect example of cognitive flexibility, which allows you to maximize efficiency and execute multiple simple tasks at the same time.

However, thinking about multiple things at once can lead to a decrease in focus and attention span. So, when it comes to completing complex cognitive tasks, it’s better to focus on one thing at a time.

#3. Reading Comprehension

an image of a woman reading a book showcasing the cognitive flexibility

Reading seems like a simple task, but behind the scenes, your cognition is carrying out many tasks to ensure the words on the page don’t look like a bunch of random letters to you.

In fact, reading would be impossible without visual processing, working memory, and long-term memory working together. While your brain is processing the words you see, your memory recalls their meanings and pieces them together to form a logical sentence.

All of these simultaneous tasks take only seconds, allowing you to smoothly go over a piece of text without having to stop and process what’s written. That’s why reading is one of the highest and most impressive forms of cognitive flexibility.

#4. Changing Directions

Imagine that you’re driving home from work, taking your usual path, when you suddenly come across a roadblock. Naturally, your next step is to make a turn and figure out an alternative path to get to your destination. Pretty simple, right?

Actually, this is only simple because of your brain’s ability to think flexibly and instantly come up with solutions. If cognitive flexibility didn’t exist, you’d likely be completely stumped, as you’d be unable to switch from your original thinking.

But thanks to your sophisticated executive functions and cognitive flexibility, you can discard your previous plans immediately and switch on your strategic mode. This allows you to immediately develop a new plan and execute it without a hitch.

#5. Regulating Stress

Cognitive flexibility allows you to shift your mental focus from stressors and negative thinking and channel your thoughts in a positive way.

For instance, when you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can decide to take a break or focus on the positive outcome instead of ruminating on your current struggle. That shift in thinking allows your brain to rest and recuperate, which, in turn, helps it function better and overcome challenges.

What Is Cognitive Inflexibility?

Cognitive inflexibility is the inability to shift your thinking, understand different perspectives, and quickly adapt to new circumstances and environments. It’s often described as rigid thinking, the complete opposite of cognitive flexibility.

People who think rigidly usually stick to tried-and-true solutions, don’t engage in innovation, and struggle with empathizing with and understanding other people. As a result, they may encounter problems in social situations or at their workplace, especially if their jobs require problem-solving and creativity.

Although anyone can exhibit cognitive inflexibility, it’s often one of the main symptoms of autism. People with autism tend to struggle with adapting to new environments, understanding different perspectives, and thinking in shades of gray.

Consequently, they seek stable, predictable environments that they know how to respond to. Otherwise, they can feel insecure and overwhelmed and experience anxiety attacks and meltdowns.

However, even people who aren’t on the spectrum but struggle with thinking flexibly don’t enjoy unpredictability. After all, when you’re not used to challenging your thinking, it can feel frightening and overwhelming to start.

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Final Thoughts

Cognitive flexibility is undoubtedly a crucial skill to develop, as it makes everyday interactions with the world far easier and more fulfilling. After all, your environment is constantly changing, and you need to be prepared to change your thinking in response.

Ultimately, by exposing yourself to new situations and people, your cognitive flexibility will naturally improve, even without any additional effort. But if you want to give it an additional boost, practice mindfulness and check in with yourself frequently—that will do wonders for your cognition and mental health in general.