11 ms·

I don't know you personally but I doubt cognitive decline has anything to do with this. As we age, we usually end up with more and more life responsibilities,

by jb1991 4y ago

I don't know you personally but I doubt cognitive decline has anything to do with this. As we age, we usually end up with more and more life responsibilities, beyond just the work we are doing. All of that is input to the brain and requires energy in response. The brain is not infinite. I often feel as you do, but then I have periods where I am as light and agile in my productivity as 20 years ago, maybe even more so, and usually it is my life circumstances that are the culprit. I remember once about 13 years ago I was working on a mobile game and had a similar problem as you describe; there was one day where the technical work seemed to overwhelm me and I felt inadequate. But I was just a young chap, and it was a passing moment -- I had indeed just taken on some enormous new life responsibilities at that time, which were the likely explanation. Burnout is real, too, and giving yourself space (if you can) to relax and not think about work for a break can be quite useful to recharge.

bit-101 4y ago
I concur with a lot of what other people are saying here. Late 50s, programming professionally for around 25 years. But recently switched to management. Really hard for me to focus on details of the companies code anymore. But... when I get on some personal project, I'm on fire. I can learn new languages and concepts and systems and build pretty complex things that people are amazed at. I think it's more job burn out after years of writing code for other people. You write the code and you work towards the deadline like the world is going to end if you don't make it. Then that code is in production for a year or two. Maybe more if you're lucky, and then it's gone, replaced by some new thing. You stop caring quite as much. But you see these new young kids on fire and working all night and you get imposter syndrome and you try to care and you beat yourself up and think you're losing your touch. tmi?
jb1991 4y ago
Also, our standards improve as we age. I wrote a lot of high-energy seemingly clever code when I was younger, but it was nonsense and terrible to read. Now I would not allow myself such indulgence, and so I work differently, maybe at times more slowly, and it might seem this is due to less abilities, but actually it is due to wiser experience.
- LastTrain 4y ago
  It turns out the same dynamic is at play with songwriting - your standards get higher, what seemed novel when you were 20 now seems boring. I’m sure it is the same across disciplines. The irony is, it kills creativity.
  - obituary_latte 4y ago
    Does it though? I often find it's fun to find new and novel ways to create things that are both clear and efficient. Creative problem solving can be leveraged anytime.
    - HelloMcFly 4y ago
      I think the problem is you start saying "no" to more things (literally and metaphorically) before you've even worked the idea or given it a shot. This is purely supposition.
      - LastTrain 4y ago
        That is the gist of it, yeah. You get discouraged because you can't come up with anything interesting, whereas when you were 20 everything you came up with seemed interesting. I'm just generalizing my own experience of course, and there are more things at play than just this - like I think not yet knowing all the rules has something to do with it. I try to be aware of it, and take some advice I heard once at an artist-in-residence talk: sometimes quantity is better than quality. That is, treat making like sports: practice.
        sho_hn 4y ago
        > You get discouraged because you can't come up with anything interesting, whereas when you were 20 everything you came up with seemed interesting. This is so true. I'm 37 now, and I'm struggling with that - I'll come up with a project idea, only to second-guess myself whether it's ambitious or innovative enough, and really worth spending the limited time I have available. I end up questioning whether it would really count, or just serve as frivolous self-entertainment. When I was younger, it was good enough that ideas were interesting or would help me achieve mastery. Once you have a bunch of well-worn skills under your belt and have plenty of options and the ability to make commitments, everything becomes just a function of effort/time and choosing what to do next becomes the biggest challenge. I'm trying to cut myself some slack and allow myself some amount of time to pursue frivolous ideas. At least you can intentionally combine them with e.g. new implementation technologies (e.g. a new tech stack or new tools) to get important first-hand experience and maintain relevant skills (and therefore decision freedom). I'm also hoping that some day, having kids might help me with some of these anxieties :-). If I revisit/retread older ground then perhaps to make it accessible to them at home or teach them by doing little projects together and give them a boost and allow the next generation to take it further. I.e., even doing non-innovative stuff could count, as a fundamentals teaching moment for someone else. Hope they take an interest!
tablatom 4y ago
I'll second this. Based on my own experience (I'm 50) it's all about energy levels. When my energy is high, I can code like I did two decades ago. Probably better. I guess the difference is that in your twenties, energy is almost for free. As you get older, you've got to be smarter about it - all the usual things - diet, exercise, avoiding stress... Not that I'm good about those things - I do OK but not great. Sometimes (rarely, thankfully) my energy is so low I can't really code at all, sometimes I'm flying. I'd say by far the biggest factor is my overall state of positivity and optimism. And yeah, life definitely gets more complicated as you get older.
- shanebellone 4y ago
  I'm 33 and this describes me perfectly too. Some days are clear and sunny while others are dark and cloudy.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- mythhouse 4y ago
  I had unlimited energy till about 40 and then I hit some sort of cliff. This coincided with covid and being indoors using high velocity media like reddit/insta. I am not sure how much is age and how much is habits that caused this.
  - CodeWriter23 4y ago
    Easy enough to test, get off the high velocity media and do normal things like socialize / get out of the house (if you're aren't already) for 2-3 months and see if things change.
    - mythhouse 4y ago
      yes!! . I am in colorado for a 3 month work/ski trip hoping to ski 3 days/week. I don't use my phone on the slow ski lifts. Its amazing to be phone free for the whole day out in the mountains.
jb1991 4y ago
Another thing is simply that we have lower tolerance as we age for things that are boring. It's hard to get motivated and concentrate on something you don't enjoy. When I was young, I could bend over backwards for stuff I thought was meaningless but now I just shrug and try to avoid the kinds of problems you describe -- and if I had to do one, I'd probably procrastinate and feel lots of negative emotions.
FlacoJones 4y ago
thank you for adding "(if you can)" to suggesting they relax...that is real
MuffinFlavored 4y ago
> As we age, we usually end up with more and more life responsibilities As somebody who far away from 40, how is one supposed to "look forward" to getting older given this likelihood?
- SnaggyJoker 4y ago
  Pretty sure nobody looks forward to getting older except for the young. People plan towards retirement which is usually just looking forwards to not having to work anymore. People look forward to having children and grand children. I don't know anyone who looks forward to getting older except for the young.
- cstever 4y ago
  More life responsibilities isn't a bad thing. Life is (or should be) made of intentional decisions by the user (you). And the culmination of these intentional decisions can fill your life with meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. You don't have to take Responsibility A if you don't want to, but you have to live with the consequences of your decision (good or bad). It's a trade off. I want a house. I make that decision for that responsibility. I now own that responsibility knowing the duties that come with home ownership will take a portion of my time and therefore will reduce the availability of time once given to a different responsibility. Of course, mistakes will be made, but the best part is you can most often correct mistakes in healthy and meaningful ways.
- bboygravity 4y ago
  Those life responsibilities are not mandatory unavoidable things. They're choices. Such as: owning property, owning car(s), having children, getting married, getting a mortgage, etc. You can chose to not do any of those things and basically live like you're 20 when you're 80 (in terms of responsibilities).
  - alex_suzuki 4y ago
    As someone who has done all the things you listed, my experience is that the grass is always greener on the other side.
softwaredoug 4y ago
I agree - I think cognitive decline is very gradual over life until older age. And experience makes up for it. Some abilities even improve. [1] Responsibilities seem to multiply. And as you age you sometimes find you're not only caring for kids potentially but aging parents. It's a lot. 1 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4015335/#:~:text=Cognitive%20change%20as%20a%20normal,speed%2C%20decline%20gradually%20over%20time https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4015335/#:~:tex....
safety1st 4y ago
Personal anecdote: I'm around the same age as OP and until recently also felt like my thinking was slowing down over the years. I went for many years without an exercise habit. About 5 months ago I started lifting weights. The transformation has defied all my expectations and the biggest unexpected benefit is that my mind has become sharper, faster and more focused. I essentially feel like I've reversed a decade's worth of brain and body aging by going into the gym and lugging some iron around a couple times a week. Around the same time I started cutting back on alcohol intake and cleaned up my diet a bit. So it could be any of these factors but I think it's a combination of all of them, as you get older, you need to maintain your body or it'll deteriorate and take your mind with it.
- FPGAhacker 4y ago
  I’ve had a very successful similar experience with regard to excercise.
  - dr_dshiv 4y ago
    Hmm. Do you think we will ever get a pill to replace exercise?
    - safety1st 4y ago
      While we don't have this we do have two simple technologies which massively amplify the benefits of whatever exercise you do: whey protein and creatine (plus a whole host of others where the risk/reward profile is less straightforward)
    - lvturner 4y ago
      We already have many, the side effects however are... problematic.
    - jb1991 4y ago
      Exercise is a source of enjoyment, why would you want to replace that?
denton-scratch 4y ago
When I was 40, I think my cognitive capacity and coding ability was pretty good - possibly peak. By the time I was 60, I found learning new stuff (especially languages and frameworks) hard; but that was partly or wholly because I didn't regard learning new tricks at that age to be a good investment of my time and effort, since I'd soon be retiring. Since I retired, I have suffered a cognitive decline; everything takes longer. But, you know, I'm retired, and work expands to fill the time available.
- Damogran6 4y ago
  I'm 53, I'm feeling similar. I see the 7th package manger or the 4th pipeline manager or the 17th linux disto or the 52nd video game where you can craft shit... and it just makes me tired. While I'd like to retire and think I'll financially get there sooner or later, I'm afraid that there's an underlying structure to work that I'll miss.
asah 4y ago
big +1 to all this. Also if OP had COVID, check for long COVID symptoms of other kinds, incl cognitive issues with non-programming tasks.
justanother 4y ago
As a 45 year old lead developer, this is the answer that I most align with. Not only are job expectations a bit higher than 20 years ago (ie, back then you could just say "I'm still workin on it" but today you generally have to give progress reports at least daily and have your velocity tracked), but at this age, my time can be strictly regimented (exercise, chores, caring for the animals, appointments, helping in the kitchen, doing actual paid work...) from before-sunrise until almost midnight. I'm not quite sure what happened to the days that seemed like I had a whole ocean of time, but even writing this reply is a bit much. Give yourself some grace. Afternoon siestas are a great idea if you can sneak them in.
- Turing_Machine 4y ago
  > you generally have to give progress reports at least daily This trend seems genuinely goofy to me. If you have daily reports, standups, or whatever, you're going to be spending a lot of your time prepping for those. That's time that you're not spending writing actual code (or whatever you're nominally supposed to be doing).
djaychela 4y ago
Came here to say much the same. I'm older (51), and have felt I was losing my ability to think over the last few years, and also to express myself clearly in conversation. But a great deal of this is to do with a number of huge problems that have happened with my step-children and the near-constant onslaught of having to deal with a variety of agencies and not just run off into the sunset. Plus I decided I could self-build an extension to my home. It may well be that the OP has other load that has crept up on him; until you take a step back it's often difficult to see what's happened over a period of years. But burnout is a thing, and sometimes you need to take stock, take a break, and maybe even make some big changes. You're only here once, so it's a good idea to give it your best shot, IMO. As far as anyone can tell.
spacemadness 4y ago
Yes, let’s not spread around some idea that mental ability declines at 40. That’s just ridiculous and not backed by science. It sure is backed by ageism though.
jjtheblunt 4y ago
i think that's perfectly said, and i'm 55. in short, that assignment sounds de-motivating, so you're predisposed to notice momentum is hard to establish. and getting coherent blocks of time, to get in a flow as they say, is the challenge that hits me all the time, and which i didn't have when going to an office 20-35 years earlier (including in college i mean).
ljm 4y ago
I have my problems with burnout and depression and this usually leads to phases where I am hyper productive and can effortlessly take on any challenge, and then the opposite phase where I feel completely incapable and end up overthinking everything. Even without burnout, sometimes a problem doesn’t motivate you and therefore you don’t really feel like solving it when there are other things that seem more interesting or more practical. Either case, once the down period starts it’s a good signal to take some time off and get your head out of it.
alfon 4y ago
For someone who has been forced to try countless substances / diet regimens / health strategies due to a pervasive chronic disease, I beg to differ. There's so many things that you can personally do that will alter your cognitive abilities, sometimes to an incredible extent. The tricky bit is that there is indeed no silver bullet, and what works for someone might do nothing or create harm for another. So in my opinion, understanding that there are alternatives to resignation is really the critical component.
WuxiFingerHold 4y ago
I'm 50 and can confirm this. E.g., I'm currently much more concerned about how politicians seemingly driving the country I'm living in and the world as a whole downhills in all regards. These worries are of course a waste of my personal energy. On the other hand: When structuring my day with Pomodoros (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique - especially doing the rest properly, meaning just lying down doing some relaxation technique) and resisting all other harmful stuff like (to much) news or (any) social media, I feel like I'm even sharper than in my younger years. Even remembering stuff better. So, I think those problems are to be spotted in our changing environment and internal setup more than in an aging process. At least not at 40, 50 or 60.
thorin 4y ago
I think this is quite true, and I've noticed that my son can remember virtually every pokemon card and football player he's interested in whereas I've started to have to write things down. His world is quite small and now with the Internet etc our focus is very wide. It takes serious discipline to focus on something low level exclusively and not be subject to outside interference.

by jb1991 4y ago

bit-101 4y ago

I concur with a lot of what other people are saying here. Late 50s, programming professionally for around 25 years. But recently switched to management. Really hard for me to focus on details of the companies code anymore. But... when I get on some personal project, I'm on fire. I can learn new languages and concepts and systems and build pretty complex things that people are amazed at. I think it's more job burn out after years of writing code for other people. You write the code and you work towards the deadline like the world is going to end if you don't make it. Then that code is in production for a year or two. Maybe more if you're lucky, and then it's gone, replaced by some new thing. You stop caring quite as much. But you see these new young kids on fire and working all night and you get imposter syndrome and you try to care and you beat yourself up and think you're losing your touch. tmi?

jb1991 4y ago

Also, our standards improve as we age. I wrote a lot of high-energy seemingly clever code when I was younger, but it was nonsense and terrible to read. Now I would not allow myself such indulgence, and so I work differently, maybe at times more slowly, and it might seem this is due to less abilities, but actually it is due to wiser experience.

LastTrain 4y ago
It turns out the same dynamic is at play with songwriting - your standards get higher, what seemed novel when you were 20 now seems boring. I’m sure it is the same across disciplines. The irony is, it kills creativity.
- obituary_latte 4y ago
  Does it though? I often find it's fun to find new and novel ways to create things that are both clear and efficient. Creative problem solving can be leveraged anytime.
  - HelloMcFly 4y ago
    I think the problem is you start saying "no" to more things (literally and metaphorically) before you've even worked the idea or given it a shot. This is purely supposition.
    - LastTrain 4y ago
      That is the gist of it, yeah. You get discouraged because you can't come up with anything interesting, whereas when you were 20 everything you came up with seemed interesting. I'm just generalizing my own experience of course, and there are more things at play than just this - like I think not yet knowing all the rules has something to do with it. I try to be aware of it, and take some advice I heard once at an artist-in-residence talk: sometimes quantity is better than quality. That is, treat making like sports: practice.
      - sho_hn 4y ago
        > You get discouraged because you can't come up with anything interesting, whereas when you were 20 everything you came up with seemed interesting. This is so true. I'm 37 now, and I'm struggling with that - I'll come up with a project idea, only to second-guess myself whether it's ambitious or innovative enough, and really worth spending the limited time I have available. I end up questioning whether it would really count, or just serve as frivolous self-entertainment. When I was younger, it was good enough that ideas were interesting or would help me achieve mastery. Once you have a bunch of well-worn skills under your belt and have plenty of options and the ability to make commitments, everything becomes just a function of effort/time and choosing what to do next becomes the biggest challenge. I'm trying to cut myself some slack and allow myself some amount of time to pursue frivolous ideas. At least you can intentionally combine them with e.g. new implementation technologies (e.g. a new tech stack or new tools) to get important first-hand experience and maintain relevant skills (and therefore decision freedom). I'm also hoping that some day, having kids might help me with some of these anxieties :-). If I revisit/retread older ground then perhaps to make it accessible to them at home or teach them by doing little projects together and give them a boost and allow the next generation to take it further. I.e., even doing non-innovative stuff could count, as a fundamentals teaching moment for someone else. Hope they take an interest!

tablatom 4y ago

I'll second this. Based on my own experience (I'm 50) it's all about energy levels. When my energy is high, I can code like I did two decades ago. Probably better. I guess the difference is that in your twenties, energy is almost for free. As you get older, you've got to be smarter about it - all the usual things - diet, exercise, avoiding stress... Not that I'm good about those things - I do OK but not great. Sometimes (rarely, thankfully) my energy is so low I can't really code at all, sometimes I'm flying. I'd say by far the biggest factor is my overall state of positivity and optimism. And yeah, life definitely gets more complicated as you get older.

shanebellone 4y ago
I'm 33 and this describes me perfectly too. Some days are clear and sunny while others are dark and cloudy.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
mythhouse 4y ago
I had unlimited energy till about 40 and then I hit some sort of cliff. This coincided with covid and being indoors using high velocity media like reddit/insta. I am not sure how much is age and how much is habits that caused this.
- CodeWriter23 4y ago
  Easy enough to test, get off the high velocity media and do normal things like socialize / get out of the house (if you're aren't already) for 2-3 months and see if things change.
  - mythhouse 4y ago
    yes!! . I am in colorado for a 3 month work/ski trip hoping to ski 3 days/week. I don't use my phone on the slow ski lifts. Its amazing to be phone free for the whole day out in the mountains.

jb1991 4y ago

Another thing is simply that we have lower tolerance as we age for things that are boring. It's hard to get motivated and concentrate on something you don't enjoy. When I was young, I could bend over backwards for stuff I thought was meaningless but now I just shrug and try to avoid the kinds of problems you describe -- and if I had to do one, I'd probably procrastinate and feel lots of negative emotions.

FlacoJones 4y ago

thank you for adding "(if you can)" to suggesting they relax...that is real

MuffinFlavored 4y ago

> As we age, we usually end up with more and more life responsibilities As somebody who far away from 40, how is one supposed to "look forward" to getting older given this likelihood?

SnaggyJoker 4y ago
Pretty sure nobody looks forward to getting older except for the young. People plan towards retirement which is usually just looking forwards to not having to work anymore. People look forward to having children and grand children. I don't know anyone who looks forward to getting older except for the young.
cstever 4y ago
More life responsibilities isn't a bad thing. Life is (or should be) made of intentional decisions by the user (you). And the culmination of these intentional decisions can fill your life with meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. You don't have to take Responsibility A if you don't want to, but you have to live with the consequences of your decision (good or bad). It's a trade off. I want a house. I make that decision for that responsibility. I now own that responsibility knowing the duties that come with home ownership will take a portion of my time and therefore will reduce the availability of time once given to a different responsibility. Of course, mistakes will be made, but the best part is you can most often correct mistakes in healthy and meaningful ways.
bboygravity 4y ago
Those life responsibilities are not mandatory unavoidable things. They're choices. Such as: owning property, owning car(s), having children, getting married, getting a mortgage, etc. You can chose to not do any of those things and basically live like you're 20 when you're 80 (in terms of responsibilities).
- alex_suzuki 4y ago
  As someone who has done all the things you listed, my experience is that the grass is always greener on the other side.

softwaredoug 4y ago

I agree - I think cognitive decline is very gradual over life until older age. And experience makes up for it. Some abilities even improve. [1] Responsibilities seem to multiply. And as you age you sometimes find you're not only caring for kids potentially but aging parents. It's a lot. 1 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4015335/#:~:text=Cognitive%20change%20as%20a%20normal,speed%2C%20decline%20gradually%20over%20time https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4015335/#:~:tex....

safety1st 4y ago

Personal anecdote: I'm around the same age as OP and until recently also felt like my thinking was slowing down over the years. I went for many years without an exercise habit. About 5 months ago I started lifting weights. The transformation has defied all my expectations and the biggest unexpected benefit is that my mind has become sharper, faster and more focused. I essentially feel like I've reversed a decade's worth of brain and body aging by going into the gym and lugging some iron around a couple times a week. Around the same time I started cutting back on alcohol intake and cleaned up my diet a bit. So it could be any of these factors but I think it's a combination of all of them, as you get older, you need to maintain your body or it'll deteriorate and take your mind with it.

FPGAhacker 4y ago
I’ve had a very successful similar experience with regard to excercise.
- dr_dshiv 4y ago
  Hmm. Do you think we will ever get a pill to replace exercise?
  - safety1st 4y ago
    While we don't have this we do have two simple technologies which massively amplify the benefits of whatever exercise you do: whey protein and creatine (plus a whole host of others where the risk/reward profile is less straightforward)
  - lvturner 4y ago
    We already have many, the side effects however are... problematic.
  - jb1991 4y ago
    Exercise is a source of enjoyment, why would you want to replace that?

denton-scratch 4y ago

When I was 40, I think my cognitive capacity and coding ability was pretty good - possibly peak. By the time I was 60, I found learning new stuff (especially languages and frameworks) hard; but that was partly or wholly because I didn't regard learning new tricks at that age to be a good investment of my time and effort, since I'd soon be retiring. Since I retired, I have suffered a cognitive decline; everything takes longer. But, you know, I'm retired, and work expands to fill the time available.

Damogran6 4y ago
I'm 53, I'm feeling similar. I see the 7th package manger or the 4th pipeline manager or the 17th linux disto or the 52nd video game where you can craft shit... and it just makes me tired. While I'd like to retire and think I'll financially get there sooner or later, I'm afraid that there's an underlying structure to work that I'll miss.

asah 4y ago

big +1 to all this. Also if OP had COVID, check for long COVID symptoms of other kinds, incl cognitive issues with non-programming tasks.

justanother 4y ago

As a 45 year old lead developer, this is the answer that I most align with. Not only are job expectations a bit higher than 20 years ago (ie, back then you could just say "I'm still workin on it" but today you generally have to give progress reports at least daily and have your velocity tracked), but at this age, my time can be strictly regimented (exercise, chores, caring for the animals, appointments, helping in the kitchen, doing actual paid work...) from before-sunrise until almost midnight. I'm not quite sure what happened to the days that seemed like I had a whole ocean of time, but even writing this reply is a bit much. Give yourself some grace. Afternoon siestas are a great idea if you can sneak them in.

Turing_Machine 4y ago
> you generally have to give progress reports at least daily This trend seems genuinely goofy to me. If you have daily reports, standups, or whatever, you're going to be spending a lot of your time prepping for those. That's time that you're not spending writing actual code (or whatever you're nominally supposed to be doing).

djaychela 4y ago

Came here to say much the same. I'm older (51), and have felt I was losing my ability to think over the last few years, and also to express myself clearly in conversation. But a great deal of this is to do with a number of huge problems that have happened with my step-children and the near-constant onslaught of having to deal with a variety of agencies and not just run off into the sunset. Plus I decided I could self-build an extension to my home. It may well be that the OP has other load that has crept up on him; until you take a step back it's often difficult to see what's happened over a period of years. But burnout is a thing, and sometimes you need to take stock, take a break, and maybe even make some big changes. You're only here once, so it's a good idea to give it your best shot, IMO. As far as anyone can tell.

spacemadness 4y ago

Yes, let’s not spread around some idea that mental ability declines at 40. That’s just ridiculous and not backed by science. It sure is backed by ageism though.

jjtheblunt 4y ago

i think that's perfectly said, and i'm 55. in short, that assignment sounds de-motivating, so you're predisposed to notice momentum is hard to establish. and getting coherent blocks of time, to get in a flow as they say, is the challenge that hits me all the time, and which i didn't have when going to an office 20-35 years earlier (including in college i mean).

ljm 4y ago

I have my problems with burnout and depression and this usually leads to phases where I am hyper productive and can effortlessly take on any challenge, and then the opposite phase where I feel completely incapable and end up overthinking everything. Even without burnout, sometimes a problem doesn’t motivate you and therefore you don’t really feel like solving it when there are other things that seem more interesting or more practical. Either case, once the down period starts it’s a good signal to take some time off and get your head out of it.

alfon 4y ago

For someone who has been forced to try countless substances / diet regimens / health strategies due to a pervasive chronic disease, I beg to differ. There's so many things that you can personally do that will alter your cognitive abilities, sometimes to an incredible extent. The tricky bit is that there is indeed no silver bullet, and what works for someone might do nothing or create harm for another. So in my opinion, understanding that there are alternatives to resignation is really the critical component.

WuxiFingerHold 4y ago

I'm 50 and can confirm this. E.g., I'm currently much more concerned about how politicians seemingly driving the country I'm living in and the world as a whole downhills in all regards. These worries are of course a waste of my personal energy. On the other hand: When structuring my day with Pomodoros (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique - especially doing the rest properly, meaning just lying down doing some relaxation technique) and resisting all other harmful stuff like (to much) news or (any) social media, I feel like I'm even sharper than in my younger years. Even remembering stuff better. So, I think those problems are to be spotted in our changing environment and internal setup more than in an aging process. At least not at 40, 50 or 60.

thorin 4y ago

I think this is quite true, and I've noticed that my son can remember virtually every pokemon card and football player he's interested in whereas I've started to have to write things down. His world is quite small and now with the Internet etc our focus is very wide. It takes serious discipline to focus on something low level exclusively and not be subject to outside interference.