How To Exercise Your Brain?

[Car-Guy]

I do a Suduko puzzle each day. I'm up to thge 'Hard' ones and hope to make it to the expert level.
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Me too... I can usually do the hard ones and "sometimes" finish an extreme/expert level puzzle.

So I don't waste the easy and medium level puzzles in a book, I'll try to figure out all the 1's first, then all the 2's, then all the 3's, etc... Try it, makes them hard too.

 

[Koolau]

Just think about the guys/gals that wrote the Excel program! Wow.

Talk about weirdo savants! Where did they find folks smart enough to put all that together? I'm in awe of that crew.

 

[MichaelB]

Talk about weirdo savants! Where did they find folks smart enough to put all that together? I'm in awe of that crew.

They probably fired the Multiplan crew and hired some of the people behind VisiCalc.

 

[Car-Guy]

^^^^^^ Excel's secret weapon

 

[Dash man]

I enjoy Wordle and other games. I also enjoy working with spreadsheets for our finances and researching new stocks. I love to research the history of my Catholic faith. But I’m losing the physical battle. Tremors are getting really bad, this smoke from the Canadian fires is aggravating my asthma horribly, and my spinal issues won’t get any better. Life goes on.

 

[audreyh1]

Just think about the guys/gals that wrote the Excel program! Wow.

VisiCalc

I do use spreadsheets a lot. Very handy for financial tracking and analysis. Comes kind of naturally to those who did some programming during their career.

 

[Midpack]

SuperCalc > VisiCalc > Lotus 1-2-3 > Excel & Numbers was my path. I also use Google Sheets but only when forced by others (e.g. golf league signup, sail race results).

 

[Car-Guy]

I started with Multiplan, then to Lotus 123, then to Excel. Actually, I liked them all, and what I learned from each application, I was able to transfer/apply that knowledge to the next.

 

[TheWizard]

I do NYT Spelling bee and Digits.Their sudoku is somewhat difficult, but easy to cheat at, so I stopped doing that.

And I have a few spreadsheets that I use for tracking and projecting certain things but I don't go bananas on them.
I have websites I use to compare performance of VOO vs VGT vs QQQ over past X months, no need to make a sheet to do that...

 

[O2Bfree]

Seems like it helps to find something that motivates you enough to throw yourself into, such as learning a new language because you expect to use it on a trip. Or brushing up on math skills because you'll be doing some tutoring.

Taking a class could where a grade means some accountability could be a good motivator. There's also a social aspect and it feels good to look smart in front of other people. Or perhaps it could turn out to be a lesson in humility, which we sometimes need as we get older

 

[CDRE]

I try to decipher the webcomic XKCD before I view the hidden message revealed from a mouse hover.

 

[Koolau]

^^^^^^ Excel's secret weapon

I just KNEW it had to be something like that!

 

[Koolau]

I enjoy Wordle and other games. I also enjoy working with spreadsheets for our finances and researching new stocks. I love to research the history of my Catholic faith. But I’m losing the physical battle. Tremors are getting really bad, this smoke from the Canadian fires is aggravating my asthma horribly, and my spinal issues won’t get any better. Life goes on.

Kinda sounds familiar. I was hoping my body would all give out at once (like the Bluesmobile) but it seems it's a part at a time.

 

[Car-Guy]

I do NYT Spelling bee and Digits.Their sudoku is somewhat difficult, but easy to cheat at, so I stopped doing that.

Maybe I'll learn something here. How do you cheat at Sudkuo, unless you look at the solutions in the back of the book or online help? In that case just apply a little self discipline. Same with crosswords or using a dictionary for a spelling bee.

 

[pacergal]

Daily computer games:
wordle
wordscapes
solitaire
Left vs Right

Also read tons of books, minimum 10/month. Prefer fiction.
Meditation daily

I grew up in the house we currently live in, so on our walks, DH will challenge me to remember names of families who lived in the houses we pass by--now that is a good brain exercise! I see their faces clearly, just have trouble with names.

 

[Mark1]

Me too... I can usually do the hard ones and "sometimes" finish an extreme/expert level puzzle.

I have noted that in some of my sources the extreme/challenger puzzles are unsolvable by logic and you have to "pick" one of two routes and see which one is a "bust" to actually solve the puzzle.

 

[Car-Guy]

Anyone here any good at solving Rubik's cube? I never have been able to solve one. Unless I took it apart and put it back together or peeled off and moved the stickers.

I was once in line at the checkout of a department store and the family ahead of me had a kid with them who was maybe 10 or 11 years old. There was a Rubik's cube display next to the checkout. Yep, he picked up one and solved it in just a few minutes while we were standing there. I know there are tricks to solving it but gee-whiz. Dang kids!

 

[audreyh1]

Anyone here any good at solving Rubik's cube? I never have been able to solve one. Unless I took it apart and put it back together or peeled off and moved the stickers.

I was once in line at the checkout of a department store and the family ahead of me had a kid with them who was maybe 10 or 11 years old. There was a Rubik's cube display next to the checkout. Yep, he picked up one and solved it in just a few minutes while we were standing there. I know there are tricks to solving it but gee-whiz. Dang kids!

These days you learn to master Rubik’s cube by watching YouTube videos.

That’s how my 10 year old nephew mastered it.

I think it requires memorizing several sequences.

 

[TheWizard]

Maybe I'll learn something here. How do you cheat at Sudkuo, unless you look at the solutions in the back of the book or online help? In that case just apply a little self discipline. Same with crosswords or using a dictionary for a spelling bee.

The NYT sudoku has an option to fill in unsolved squares with possible answers, thus allowing one to solve it quickly with zero effort...

 

[Car-Guy]

The NYT sudoku has an option to fill in unsolved squares with possible answers, thus allowing one to solve it quickly with zero effort...

That's like looking up the answer in the back of the book... We call that cheating around here.

 

[W2R]

For brain exercise, Frank likes doing some really tough mathematical brain teasers that he finds on youtube and other online sources.

I feel like I did enough of that in engineering school. I'm sure he did too! But he loves doing them anyway.

I feel like the part of my brain that needs the most exercise, is the creative part more than the mathematical part these days. I love playing the type of video game where I (the character) can choose to do things or build things, etc., to change the progress, goals, and outcome of the game. To me this is much more fun and better mind exercise than I would get by watching TV where the entire story is pretty much fixed.

That said, I also play games like sudoku and Microsoft's Solitaire collection, which are not very creative but involve a little bit of mental activity. I also like jigsaw puzzles.

 

[Martlet]

I retired at age 58 four years ago. I do Wordle and Spelling Bee every day. I think they have some value for brain health.

My additional suggestion would be to try some online courses on topics of interest. I took a Data Science course early on in retirement, a survey course on climate change last winter and I want to take a course on Python coding next.

I also do a little consulting work, mostly via the expert networks (GLG, Alphasights etc). It's not a major income source but the interactions are interesting and mostly with people much younger and smarter than me. I am sure that in a few years they will just fire up ChatGPT but for now I enjoy the brain work.

Important to remember that the brain is a wet chemistry system, so keeping the rest of your systems in good working order is going to be critical to keeping the brain working well.

Also good to have some fraction of activities that have a social / collaborative component. If you are fortunate enough to have a good circle of friends -- keep them. We moved around too much and lost contact with our best friends so we do some volunteering, partly to make sure that we get out and meet people once in a while.

 

[Gumby]

I read a lot of posts here, which helps me learn new things.

I do the NYT crossword every morning, followed by the Spelling Bee (I refuse to stop until I hit " Genius" level and often keep at it until I become a Queen Bee.) I also do the Wordl every day and consult the WorldBot to improve my strategy.

I do Sudoku " Evil" level. I'm currently doing them in 7-8 minutes with no errors.

I sing in the choir and enjoy mastering new pieces of music.

I read a lot of books on a wide variety of topics.


I think this helps keep me sharp, but who knows. My father developed Alzheimers in his 70s.

 

[troutnut1]

When I retired about 5 years ago I started taking bluegrass guitar lessons weekly with a great instructor. This also has a social aspect as we get together large groups of like minded musicians for jam sessions and campouts monthly or so. What a blast! Good brain exercise for sure.

 

[fh2000]

After our kids left home, our piano is just sitting collecting dusk. We are both retired. DW decided to learn how to play it since last year. I joined her too.

If we do not travel, we both practice about an hour each day. We are still on Piano Leterature volume 1. I find it boring so I printed some sheet music from internet and practice those. It is a mental exercise as much as finger movement exercise to us.