I’m 50 and I feel in better cognitive shape now than ever. I’m wondering if there is something else going on with you than old age cognitive decline. Maybe you should check with your doctor?
Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
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Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#392Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Recent studies suggest that counter to popular belief our metabolism doesn't change from age 20 to age 60. There are individual factors that can certainly account for your change of energy and I would certainly look for culprits. I recently did a big change in myself - adjusted sleep, took specific supplements which I was suspect was deficient in and have found my energy to be much fuller. Do not ignore what your bod…
I think your last sentence is the crucial one. Up until 40, I could pretty much push through whatever tasks I needed to do regardless of how poor my sleep habits or diet had been. Now, as I approach 50, I really feel it on days where I haven't been taking proper care of myself.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#393+1 to all the interesting points here.
Just to cover all bases and include external factors, use of Statins could cause reversible cognitive decline (source: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-d... )
Statins is a big business for Pharma, and they continue to push these for “managing” high cholesterol. The risks associated with statins is far higher than the benefits obtained from consuming one.
If you are being prescribed Statins, please review these videos
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/are-doctors-misleading-pati...
Disclaimer: I’m NOT a medical professional and this is NOT medical advice
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#394I 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…
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 take…
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.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#395I've hit the same walls as you have described and found that it's less about cognitive function and more about a combination of burnout, imposter syndrome, and some quirks of my ADHD. I still love to program but when I get the chance to I largely can't organize my thoughts well enough to make much progress, but its because I left a job about 7 months ago where I had been repeatedly hitting burnout in a really nasty s…
It took me 2-3 years to fully heal from my burnout. Allow yourself more time if it's only 7 months since you quit your burnout-inducing job. The improvement of my energy, my mental abilities and memory is breathtaking, mentally I feel like 18 again (though I am 35 now).
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#396I doubt it's age related. There could be medical reasons for it, sure, and perhaps checkin with a doctor, but for some definition of 'normal' you aren't going to decline at all at 40. Likely more social, emotional, psychological reasons are the cause. Determining what that is, of course, isn't particularly easy, i'm guessing. Good luck to you.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#397You could also go to a neurologist and have some tests run -- beyond general aging and its impacts on memory and reasoning there are other types of issues that can impact people much younger than expected.
That said, if you do not exercise you should really try for a few weeks. Where your body may have been able to coast with normal effort in the past as you get older you need to give it more focused work to get the same level of outcome. Beyond being good for your health exercise is known to have huge impacts on both mental state and acuity.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#398I'm in my 30s and feel my programming skills have been slipping. I feel very similar to you. I'm struggling to replace one api call with another due to not understanding the previous implementation and dealing with the interfaces/abstraction.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#399exercise.
interesting book to read: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0316113514
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#400Earlier quoted context omitted.
My girlfriend got sick and now I have a part time caring responsibility that’s mostly about doing chores and errands. I’m in better physical shape now and oddly feel more capable at my engineering job.
While the chores isn't as fun as a hike, active rest is better than passive rest. Helps that it seems like you have a positive attitude to the chores.
I've never had an issue doing small chores but in the past i'd basically organized my life such that i avoided having to do as much ancillary stuff as possible. Now, whatever reservations i had before about repetitive shit like washing dishes by hand or running errands are gone because its for an immediate, greater purpose. And she really appreciates it :)