[Yxven]

Are there any guidelines for what exactly this would entail?

My short term memory is falling off a cliff. What do I need to do to prevent that from getting worse? Are there any other bases I need to cover that I don't know that I'm missing?

[lr4444lr]

> My short term memory is falling off a cliff

Are you sure? I thought this was happening to me too, and then I realized when looking back 10 years ago that I have way more responsibilities now both in and out of work: I am not only getting more done at work, but also for more people. I am now picking and choosing which meetings to even hold, much less attend, because I have a higher throughput. My children's needs are much more complicated now than when they were younger. I have a side business.

I can't fathom how I would have even gotten this all done when I was younger simply due to how much leisure time I spent, much less kept all of this in short term memory back then.

[matwood]

> I thought this was happening to me too, and then I realized when looking back 10 years ago that I have way more responsibilities now both in and out of work

This so much. When I was in my 20s I never forgot things, but I didn't have anything that I really needed to remember lol.

[killerteddybear]

It's easy to forget about how many more responsibilities we take on as we age, simply by nature of how those responsibilities slip into our lives one at a time, bit by bit, gradually shifting our window of normalcy.

[hotsauceror]

My phone is now full of Notes, Alarms, and timers. I can barely leave the house to run an errand without writing down what I need to do.

As far as actually improving memory, I try to expose my mind to as much raw material as I can. The mind is a muscle, it has to be exercised, and as you get old you need to focus on its core strength rather than physique and raw strength.

Rehearsal and repetition. Read constantly, get out in the environment and really try to observe all the things that are going on. Write down all the things you want to do this year, and when you’ve done them, write that down, too. Every so often, review the list. It will prompt your recall to a wonderful degree.

Write down your little milestones - ‘in March we found a clutch of tadpoles in a tire track puddle and we watered and fed them there for six weeks”

[Zambyte]

Regarding memory, I have made a habit of assuming I have a faulty memory, and trying to write down anything I think I may want to remember in the future using a wiki style tool that supports back linking. The tool I use is Org Roam in Emacs, but there are lots of options. I have found that by doing this, I have offloaded a lot onto my computer, and made space in my mind to remember a lot of new things.

[rco8786]

And when you’re not in front of a computer?

[Zambyte]

Contrary to the other comments saying to carry a pocket computer: my brain. Hence the improved memory. I offload my thoughts into my notes when I can. If it wasn't important enough to remember until I can find a seat at my desk, it wasn't important enough to write a note on.

[jimbokun]

We have computers we can carry around in our pockets now!

[safety1st]

Lots of approaches exist, mine is Obsidian + Syncthing and just jotting down notes on my phone that I go flesh out when I'm back at my PC.

[ThinkingGuy]

I’ve found these work well:

https://www.ataglance.com/p/planners-calendars/journals-diar...

No batteries or Internet required.

[layer8]

One option is using voice assistants to send a message to your todo inbox.

[jjbinx007]

Use your phone

[dwayne_dibley]

or note book which you later re-write into your knowledge base.

[kamaal]

>>My short term memory is falling off a cliff.

Read the book GTD by David Allen.

You are not supposed to store things in the brain, that only causes stress.

Brain is to do thinking work, you are better off writing and tracking things on paper. Use the brain to think, and paper for planning, scheduling, tracking etc..

[randcraw]

The only 'exercise' I've heard of that offers measurable improvement is "N-Back", kind of like the old TV game "Concentration". The app is available on most smartphones.

[flocciput]

Avoid weed if you don't already. Might seem out of left field but a programmer friend of mine is absolutely convinced their memory is shot because of long covid and it's like, well, maybe, and the trauma of the pandemic certainly put a dent in everyone's cognitive ability, but also the dabs can't be helping.

[jimbokun]

I wonder how much of that is due to age and how much due to electronic distractions.

[flpm]

I was in the same boat, but I started noticing that if I force myself not to do silly multitasking (like not paying attention to what I am doing because my mind is thinking about irrelevant other things) it gets better. Since I stopped the infinity doom-scrolling it has improved a bit

Stress and lack of sleep also affect me a lot. Both are omnipresent, since I am a parent of young-age special-need kids.

[missedthecue]

Both of my grandfathers in their 90s have insanely sharp memories. I feel that theirs is a lot better than mine at instantly recalling details. I have noticed this in other older people from that generation too.

[mmooss]

Emotions can have a large impact on memory, as far as I know. They provide the catalyst, in a way, in the process that forms memories. If you are depressed or otherwise not emotionally engaged, it can become much harder to form memories.

Solve emotional problems and memory may improve. (I have no idea if that applies to you, of course.)

> short term memory

Which sort of memory do you mean? Short term memory is remembering a name while you write it down, not remembering it the next day or week.

[naasking]

I've found poor sleep really affected my memory. Maybe start tracking your sleep.

[tayo42]

I feel so much dumber since having a kid :(