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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.

#481

Post by thewebcount »

mythhouse wrote: post #283
tablatom wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Someti…

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.

If you're male, you might want to check with your physician to see what your testosterone levels are like. You're at the age where it starts declining and it can have a really fatiguing effect.

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#482

Post by gardenhedge »

lukehutch wrote: post #123

I'm 46, and while I do think my cognitive speed has declined a tiny bit, my abstract thinking has improved throughout life. The one change I have noticed though is that programming has become insanely complex during the 37 years I have been programming, but more especially during the last 10-15 years. It's at the point now where you can't even create a basic website, to modern standards, without spending months of wo…

> It's at the point now where you can't even create a basic website, to modern standards, without spending months of work to develop it, or without spending 95% of your time on StackOverflow wrestling with bugs and complexities of 7 different pieces of framework that you're trying to get working together. It's utter insanity.

I am interested in your experience and why you think this? It's not true at all from my experience. In the past, making a basic message board would have been pretty difficult. Now it can be done in days. Same with Twitter clones etc.

What type of basic website takes months to develop?

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#483

Post by gardenhedge »

denton-scratch wrote: post #259
Starwatcher2001 wrote: post #195

I know the feeling. I'm 62 and I can't go as long or as deep as I once could, but I've changed my strategy over the years and although I'm not as fast as I once was I'm still pretty productive. What I do is log virtually everything I'm doing in an editor window that I keep open all the time (one file per project/task). If I get disturbed by a call or a colleague, I can do a quick recap and get back to where I was. Li…

I got severely dinged for saying in a standup that I had forgotten what I was doing the previous day. So I bought an A4 hardback notebook, and started logging everything I did. I wish I had been doing that since I started in this business; it's a really good work habit.

Isn't this what Jira, Azure Boards, sticky notes are for? You reference the sticky note when talking about what you did. If there's no note for it then your planning was probably bad.

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#484

Post by sizzle »

Exercising helps with neuroplasticity, think of exercise as investing in your future cognitive self. Adequate butrition and full nights of sleep will all help you rule out these areas that affect us more cognitively as we age. Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#486

Post by kayamon »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #406
NineStarPoint wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I exercise on a strict schedule, both weight lifting and cardio. It is never enjoyable for me. I don’t get runners high, or pleasure from the exertion. I just make myself tired, sweaty, and add on temporary pain to my muscles. It’s worth it for the global effect on my energy levels and health. But it remains true that for some of us, exercise is never a source of enjoyment, and I understand why many people can’t get…

> I don’t get runners high, or pleasure from the exertion. I just make myself tired, sweaty, and add on temporary pain to my muscles I feel the same way with exercise. People tell me that you feel good after and I never do. People tell me that you feel a "good" soreness in your body and I never do. I just feel sore. I wonder what's different about people like you and me where we don't enjoy this process the way some…

I used to struggle to build muscle the same way, until I switched to a paleo diet.

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#487

Post by disqard »

don_neufeld wrote: post #460
jwr wrote: post #161

47 years old here, programming daily. I think what we have to deal with is not just cognitive decline, but more importantly cognitive overload. People in their 40s usually juggle lots of responsibilities, especially if they have a family. At this age you normally also have earned some money, and if you start buying things like a summer house or an apartment for renting out, those things come with maintenance tasks. T…

BIG +1 on cognitive overload. I can still bang out code like nobody's business, even in my late 40's... when I can find 4 uninterrupted hours to get into it. Which is rarely. It's more about depth of focus, which was so easily available for 10+ hours a day when I was younger.

I can relate so well with the "4 uninterrupted hours to get into it" part.

With family+house responsibilities, I rarely (if ever) have that anymore.

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#488

Post by WuxiFingerHold »

jb1991 wrote: post #17

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…

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 - 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.

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#489

Post by mythhouse »

thewebcount wrote: post #481
mythhouse wrote: post #283

Earlier 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.

If you're male, you might want to check with your physician to see what your testosterone levels are like. You're at the age where it starts declining and it can have a really fatiguing effect.

I've gotten it tested. I am indeed on the lower end of the range. But there is nothing that can be done about it right? I do workout 6 times a week with 3 weight training, eat very decent diet. My weight, bodyfat and muscle tone are in good standing too. All That really hasn't raised my testosterone. I don't want to get on TRT.

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#490

Post by Too »

mythhouse wrote: post #283
tablatom wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Someti…

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.

Even worse: high velocity work distractions, Teams, Slack, etc.
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