[1001101]

For me: diet (vitamins, algae oil, a little creatine), sleep (tracked), exercise (HIIT), reading (non-fiction - help build your vocab/mental maps), dual-n-back.

There are other tricks that I have heard of like the 'memory palace' [1], or mindfulness meditation, but those I don't think really worked for me personally, YMMV.

Have always been interested in nootropics, but I'm a dot the i's cross the t's kind of person, so haven't had anything to do with those.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci

[jfim]

The method of loci doesn't work really well for people who have aphantasia, which I believe is more common for software engineers than the general population.

[eurasiantiger]

I find that hard to believe.

[jfim]

Which part do you find hard to believe? That people with aphantasia can have a hard time with the method of loci, or that aphantasia is more common for software engineers than in the general population?

[eurasiantiger]

That aphantasia is more common for software engineers than in the general population.

[jfim]

Well, there's a paper from 2020 that suggests that people with aphantasia are more likely to be working in a scientific or mathematical occupation: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.04.003

Anecdotally, one can also search for engineer on the aphantasia subreddit to find many threads with engineers chiming in.

[1001101]

Too late to edit, so I'll add a reply: if you really feel like something in your brain is holding you back, you might want to do some tests with a specialist. I know people of all ages who have done this and benefited from the insights. GL.

[randomsde]

A cognitive performance specialist? I’m genuinely interested in the sort of doctor one would see for insights into improving performance.