Do you regularly suffer from memory lapses that cause you to forget where
you left your keys, your friend’s name, or even your father’s
birthday? Don’t panic – memory lapses are a normal part of
life and everyone suffers from them occasionally. The good news is that
you can help to keep your brain sharp and your mind active as you get
older by following a few simple strategies. What can you do to keep a
busy, active mind? Take a look at these ideas:
- Keep learning to keep your brain sharp. Learning does not stop as soon
as you leave school. Learning should be an active, everyday process that
allows your brain to keep developing. If you don’t have a job where
you learn new things, book yourself onto a course or take some classes,
join a new group like a history group, volunteer, or read more –
read something different to your regular fiction or non-fiction in order
to promote cognitive functioning.
- Be better organized so you don’t worry about missing dates or forgetting
names – when you have everything in its place and you use planners
or apps to schedule your tasks and important dates then you can focus
on more important things like learning, enjoying your free time, and spending
time with your family. Constantly losing things and forgetting where you
need to be causes stress, which results in a foggy brain.
- Keep a positive attitude to aging and your own mental powers. If you believe
that it is inevitable for aging to go alongside memory loss then you will
likely prove yourself right. Keep an open mind, try new things, and believe
in your cognitive powers so that you will be thinking more clearly no
matter how old you are.
- Have fun! When you socialize, meet new people, try new things, and exercise
your brain with word puzzles and crosswords you are more likely to enjoy
clearer thinking and minimize your risk of dementia. Keeping active, both
physically and mentally, is important when it comes to keeping your brain
sharp and agile. Try not to get stuck in a rut – do things differently
which will force your brain to engage and helps forge new pathways in the mind.