Hobbies that Make You Smarter

8. Use Your Hands

In some circles, "he likes to work with his hands" is code for "he's not that good in school," but in reality, working with your hands is good for your brain. This is especially true when doing fine motor skills tasks such as knitting, coloring, or detailing. These activities require attention and focus and unleash creativity by working multiple sections of the brain. They can also relieve stress and anxiety and increase alertness. In addition to all those benefits, working with both hands, not just your dominant one, leads to increased connections between both sides of the brain, which is one characteristic of intelligence.