Gut bacteria. There's a growing amount of research that points to your microbiome as controlling a ton of your hormones to the point of if something shifts (which is easy) it can cause brain fog. Don't take antibiotics however, that will upset the stack. Look into probiotics such as B. Longum and Helveticus. There are a few other probiotics - don't just get yogurts, you have to MAKE your own yogurt and flush out the old by overwhelming your system with the bacteria YOU want.
Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
171–180 of 534 posts
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#172I did a project during my PhD with a 70year old who coded way better than almost half a century younger me…
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#173How is your sleep? If you’ve gone years without good sleep, the damage could be accumulating into cognitive functions.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#174I 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…
> 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?
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).
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#175While I cannot comment on your long term problem, you can boost your focus temporarily with a combo of L-theanine and caffeine. Works great when you take it after breakfast. Takes an hour to kick in and is effective for around 4 hours. Having a good night's sleep helps a lot when doing this.
For maximum effectiveness, do not try to multi task while doing this. Just think about the problem and let your brain sort it out on its own. Major difference with and without is the lack of tiredness of mind when attacking hard problems. Brain keeps hacking at it till a solution is found.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#176People without great memory deal with this all the time: write more shit down. The amount of pseudo coding I have to do these days would embarrass my 20 year old self. Whiteboards and notepads are your friend.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
p.s. thank you for sharing these concerns - it's brave of you to talk about mental worries in an industry where "smart" is a superpower. Good on you, brother.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#177Check if you have sleep apnea. Do you wake to with a headache that goes away?
The sleep apnea damage is permanent, but you can stop it from getting worse.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#178Here is a concrete thing to try. Maybe it won't be useful, but it's helped me in the past.
Get a blank sheet of paper and a writing utensil. Not a text editor.
Start at the top of your call stack and start making a diagram that resembles a directory tree:
application_code_function(string arg)
library_function()
std_lib_func()
I don't do this often, but it helps especially when I'm not familiar with the patterns used in the project, or I'm having a groggy day and having trouble thinking "deep". It seems to help to me to try and reason about it away from the distractions of the IDE and the OS.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#179I 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…
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 wo…
I’ve had a very successful similar experience with regard to excercise.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.
#180I don't know much about your physical state. So, let me just put out some generic advice. 1. Enough quality sleep. 2. Exercises that involves your legs. Somehow leg muscles help the heart to pump the blood back up, keep enough pressure and circulation in your brain. I'm 35 and I've already experienced the benefit of those 2 and the negative impact of lack of those 2. Maybe you could be just rusty about that kind of c…
I would add that, if both sleep and exercise don’t seem to solve it, then sleep quality (e.g., sleep apnea) could be an issue, especially if a person is overweight or has other health issues (e.g., bad allergies).