COVID? If so take it easy, it will get better over time. If not, ask older family members if they experienced the same thing.
Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
301–310 of 534 posts
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#302As I age (going to be 59 soon) my programming abilities just increase (along with my waistline, unfortunately). I even went back to school and finally got my master's degree in 2016. So, maybe see a doctor? There might be a legitimate medical issue.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#303I 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…
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.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#304People mentioned already how the overload, responsibilities and distractions that only multiply with age make it difficult to allocate sufficient energy and focus to get a strenuous mental task done. This is much easier when younger. I recall spending long stretches of time reading e.g., a book front-to-back. I don't think the reason I am not doing this anymore is due to declining mental ability. During the pandemic on occasion this has happened again :-)
One simple trick that works for me sometimes is to create a "clean room" for the brain: e.g. change work environment and/or isolate for a fixed period pushing all other deadlines further out. Remove the external pressure and allow time to get into flow.
Ofcourse it might be that what you have to do is materially more difficult than previous tasks you handled. Using mental support tools (notes, diagrams etc) might bring it back within reach.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#305Doubtful you are declining mentally but should speak to your doctor if concerned. For me at 43 I noticed that my ability to focus has declined. I have so many things competing for my attention that I can't focus on anything. Essentially context switching is killing my ability to get things done. Too many people at work constantly pinging me. Im in a strange position at work where so many random projects are dumped on me, usually all of them are handed to me behind schedule. I have a report I have to generate each week that takes a full day to create. I have a team of contract developers I lead that are just not very good. All day long I get pinged on email, teams, and slack. I start the day with ~15 emails from offshore teams. Constant meetings. Plus my kids get home at 2 from school. Context switching has completely burned me out. I feel guilty ignoring my family and working late but I think I am really going to have to work until at least 7 several times a week just to stay ahead. That or start working from 5am to 6:30am to get a jump on work before my kids get up.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#3061) I used to feel that way and then I tested myself against my younger self and was as good as ever. A lot of this could be 'in your head' pun intended.
2) Oxygen: past 30 if you do not exercises or do cardio you will probably pay a price. Everyone is different. 30 mins running will make you feel 10 years younger.
3) You may have more perspective and more distractions. In my 20's I didn't even read the news. Who cares? Now, I 'care' about all of those 'issues' and I'm constantly engaging my mind with those materials and it's a distraction. Even children, colleagues, other responsibilities - those wear on your focus. 'Young me' could just sit there and work and literally not give a thought to anything else! That's a luxury. If you can create a silent work environment without distractions maybe that might help.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#307Supplement vitamins B1, B2 and B3. You might have hit a common deficiency presenting itself after 35+. Your neurons/glial cells need a support.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#308Do not underestimate that holding the problem in your mimd is part of the solution. You have the answer in your question i believe. I do not see the reason to try to compare to a past you (something that i find myself doing too… mmmh) find the strategies that work for you and stick to them. Good luck to us the old people :)
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#309If u re like me and got nerd neck, blood flow to the head could be impaired.
The inside of my mouth feels constantly cold. So I know I got an issue, but appointment is in march.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#310You are 63% of my age (there's a coincidence there, do the math).
A point I haven't yet seen in the comments: how much the advancement of civilization owes to 20-30 somethings. Take The Beatles, Alexander Hamiliton, even Anthony Fauci (who had the rare reprise late in life) as examples. At around 40 I gave up any illusion I might do something illustrious, and accepted that from then on, I would just work for a living. My best work became my children, and I'm happy to have done that.
Many of the other comments line up with my own observations at this sage old age:
* more distractions (my house seems to be aging much faster than me, and taking up much more time to maintain)
* bigger responsibilities (more savings to manage with less time until retirement to fix investment errors, offspring where simple existential needs like food and diapers have been replaced by tuition, aging in-laws with real decline issues like eyesight and bad joints)
* less energy. true, and most especially I can't skip sleep like I could 20 or 40 years ago.
* burnout ( this stuff does get old, and "boring" as noted by one commenter)
* underestimating the value of my experience. Not writing that really clever code when a simpler solution will suffice, for example. The ability to tell people a realistic estimate of work, not my old optimistic "couple of days" estimate that was almost always 10x short
* ADD, not helped by social media (stay off it when working, or always) and a trying to ignore the constant stream of news (except HN of course lol). But a great help in being open to new methods where I find myself evangelizing about git to people half my age.
* exercise, fitness, diet: need to up my game after covid isolation and increasingly creakey joints. It does make a difference. In my case living in The Big Easy doesn't help.
* Did I mention sleep? Why yes I did, forgive my forgetfulness....no, actually I put it here intentionally because it is that important. Exercise helps with getting quality sleep.
I am still writing code and I "provide value" (their words) in that I can solve complex data analysis problems that come to me after co-workers reach the limits of using vlookups and pivot tables in Excel. I'm not the fastest and I'm always fighting imposter syndrome, but that's quashed whenever I catch a glimpse of production code written by pricey consultants and realize they make the same mistakes and use truly ugly workarounds even I wouldn't consider.