MY old brain; well, it’s really not what it once was.

My friend, who is one of the most organised, quickest thinkers I know, was feeling a bit down about her lack of speed in a crash course, learning Chinese. My perspective was a bit different. I was despairing that after a couple of very busy weeks at work, including some early mornings and a number of late nights, my mental processes had slowed to an absolute crawl.
No matter what I tried to do, it felt like the only thing between my ears was a bucket of lumpy porridge. It wasn’t a complete mental collapse, but I’ve no doubt my cognitive functions were not what they once were.
When I was younger my ability to learn and, in particular, my short-term memory were very good. That was particularly helpful when I was a university student with a penchant for last-minute cramming. I remember staying up all night with the aid of Tim Tams and cola absorbing, in a few hours, months of work for exams; then reproducing the information like a slightly faulty tape recorder and, to my constant amazement, scraping through thanks to adrenalin and a young brain.
These days, I would have Buckley’s chance of doing that. I have to plan and research. I have to understand information to reproduce it. Moreover, I can’t function when I’m really tired. There’s no way I could do an all-nighter because, by about midnight, the body might be still semi-functional, but the brain will have long ago tucked itself in and turned out the light.
Doubtless some of this arises from the process of ageing, but I think often we blame age for an awful lot. I suspect this decline in mental performance comes from a range of factors. In my case, I can rule out a few things. Apart from some fairly heavy red wine consumption in my later twenties and thirties, my brain hasn’t been overly abused. Certainly no more exotic chemical combinations have been in the mix. However, the poor brain has been worked very hard. Over the last few decades it’s juggled the demands and strains of busy jobs; long periods of lack of sleep with two children; multi-tasking as a general condition of life; and a few periods of full on, brain liquefying stress.
So now I think my brain might just be a bit like a car that has been well maintained, but there’s no getting around the fact that there’s well over 100,000 kilometres on the clock, maybe rather more than that.
I’m not sure what the remedy is, but I’ve got a few adjustments in mind before I reach another significant birthday.
More sleep and a better daily routine are all important, I think. A better work-life balance is definitely something to work on. It is all too easy I think to burn one’s self out mentally, only to realise later, if one can, that much of the stress simply wasn’t worth it. With our kids getting a bit older and more self-organised, some of the domestic multi-tasking is getting easier, too. A bit of time devoted to interesting but calming pursuits seems in order – I do feel something artistic or crafty would be timely.
So, with the coming Federal election and accompanying caretaker period when, thankfully, work will be a little more relaxed, I’m going to be hitting the reset button and hopefully reboot in a better cognitive state.
One way or another looking after one’s brain, keeping mentally active but not overloading with work and stress, strikes me as absolutely essential if one is to have a chance of enjoying life and getting the best out of it.