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Ask HN: How to deal with memory/cognition slowing down as an engineering leader?

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Re: Ask HN: How to deal with memory/cognition slowing down as an engineering leader?

#11

Post by tonyedwardspz »

hnthrowaway0328 wrote: post #10
sirspacey wrote: post #3

Sleep is the key. Repeated lack of sleep has an extreme impact on cognition and memory retrieval. A few things that have helped me: #1 sleep in a completely dark room. A specialist MD shared this insight with me and it changed my life. I also use an eye mask and white noise machine. #2 use a call recording tool on your internal meetings that can summarize notes. Being able to go back “in time” to a call often has ena…

I agree. Sleep dictates everything else. It's so difficult to get a good night of sleep, though. There are too many impacting factors. And wearing masks/earphones are usually uncomfortable.

Under pillow bone conduction speakers are a great way to get an audio fix whilst falling asleep.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with memory/cognition slowing down as an engineering leader?

#12

Post by CrimsonCape »

hnthrowaway0328 wrote: post #10
sirspacey wrote: post #3

Sleep is the key. Repeated lack of sleep has an extreme impact on cognition and memory retrieval. A few things that have helped me: #1 sleep in a completely dark room. A specialist MD shared this insight with me and it changed my life. I also use an eye mask and white noise machine. #2 use a call recording tool on your internal meetings that can summarize notes. Being able to go back “in time” to a call often has ena…

I agree. Sleep dictates everything else. It's so difficult to get a good night of sleep, though. There are too many impacting factors. And wearing masks/earphones are usually uncomfortable.

Just some ideas that I found...

.. temperature is critical, and if you experiment with setting your thermostat exaggeratedly high or low for a while you will eventually notice it has an impact on sleep.

... getting cold was a frequent struggle as I would lose the covers and they would be twisted up and I would have to drowsily untwist. Now I wear a long sleeve fleece button shirt backward like a smock. Backward because the tails of the shirt always fall down and keep your side warm. The covers I just pull up to armpit and have never had to wake up since.

I hate light masks too, so I cover my face with lightweight athletic shorts that have a cooling effect. Then I use a small half-size pillow (walmart chopped memory foam) and turn my head sideways to muffle the ear not facing the pillow.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with memory/cognition slowing down as an engineering leader?

#13

Post by MilnerRoute »

Stress will poke holes in your memory. (I once thought that taking statins might be affecting my memory - but stress was the more likely cause...)

I've also heard that exercise can boost your memory. (Possibly in part because it improves your sleep, but it also enhances oxygen flow.) Or maybe it just reduces your stress.

You've ruled out "anything pathological" - otherwise I would suggest mentioning it to your doctor. But I've always wondered if "brain plasticity" is what's causing us all to adapt to our new habit of endlessly scrolling Facebook/Hacker News/Reddit/Twitter -- by adjusting our perceptions to handle shorter bursts of attention. There've been articles and books written on the subject, but the fix they often recommend is just: unplugging for a while.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with memory/cognition slowing down as an engineering leader?

#14

Post by pawelduda »

tonyedwardspz wrote: post #11
hnthrowaway0328 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. Sleep dictates everything else. It's so difficult to get a good night of sleep, though. There are too many impacting factors. And wearing masks/earphones are usually uncomfortable.

Under pillow bone conduction speakers are a great way to get an audio fix whilst falling asleep.

Can you elaborate? How does it work improve sleep?

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with memory/cognition slowing down as an engineering leader?

#15

Post by alan-hn »

helph67 wrote: post #5

"You are more likely to remember something if you read it out loud, a study has found" https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171201090940.h... "It turns out, any walk outdoors has the potential to unlock our brains" https://lithub.com/on-the-link-between-great-thinking-and-ob... "Older adults who consumed cranberries frequently as part of their diet saw improvements in episodic memory, neural function, and br…

Cranberry article

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.84990...

"Conflict of Interest DV, MH, MM, and AN received funding from the Cranberry Institute.

The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest."

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with memory/cognition slowing down as an engineering leader?

#16

Post by sumsome »

if you mean it: fast 16 hours every day. this will boost your cognition right from the start. 23+ hours fasts once or twice a month. kills my old mans' ADHD and improves early alzheimers symptoms.

reduce fat intake to your personal min requirement.

controlled sleep deprivation, meaning no stress at all, every once in a while, 48 h, to 'reset the brain', no liquor, 16h+ fasts, coffee is ok. sounds like nonsense but try it and be happy.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with memory/cognition slowing down as an engineering leader?

#17

Post by Aeolun »

hnthrowaway0328 wrote: post #8

Did you have a child birth? This event was the biggest source of my fading interest in programming and fading health. Regardless, I'd recommend taking more notes and set up 15 mins before and after work to go over them. I'd also recommend using a paper notebook in supplement of an electronic one as you can spontaneously put down some notes on paper.

I’m not sure my interest in programming has faded, but I certainly have less time for it if I also want to sleep.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with memory/cognition slowing down as an engineering leader?

#18

Post by hnthrowaway0328 »

Aeolun wrote: post #17
hnthrowaway0328 wrote: post #8

Did you have a child birth? This event was the biggest source of my fading interest in programming and fading health. Regardless, I'd recommend taking more notes and set up 15 mins before and after work to go over them. I'd also recommend using a paper notebook in supplement of an electronic one as you can spontaneously put down some notes on paper.

I’m not sure my interest in programming has faded, but I certainly have less time for it if I also want to sleep.

Does day job take too much of your time? Maybe that's a front to optimize?

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with memory/cognition slowing down as an engineering leader?

#20

Post by jmalicki »

sirspacey wrote: post #3

Sleep is the key. Repeated lack of sleep has an extreme impact on cognition and memory retrieval. A few things that have helped me: #1 sleep in a completely dark room. A specialist MD shared this insight with me and it changed my life. I also use an eye mask and white noise machine. #2 use a call recording tool on your internal meetings that can summarize notes. Being able to go back “in time” to a call often has ena…

Also, if this is affecting you, get a sleep study! The money will be well spent if physicians can find possible reasons for poor sleep that can be improved - a lot of people suffer from various kinds of sleep disorders, and treatment is becoming cheaper and more accessible to the point that a diagnosis well worth it for increasing numbers of people, given the increased quality of life it can offer.
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