There are even cheap courses on Udemy that you can follow.
One of the things that helped me was the sensory exercises like doing your whole morning bathroom routine in the dark.
Basically what happens is it helps you rewire your brain when doing certain activities in a way that you are not used to and now parts of the brain that are underutilized become active.
Other things that have helped is doing math and sudoku puzzles. Video Games definitely help with hand eye coordination, quick thinking. Also apps like lumosity on a daily basis.
As far as skills go, practice, practice, practice, your skills will always get better. Look up the 10,000 hour rule by Malcolm Gladwell.
A hard cardio workout to the degree I spend 15-20 minutes with the only possible thought being "can I stop now?!?!". To reach that takes 20 minutes, and then I'm spent, soaking and start to cleanup. In total such a workout is an hour, and afterwards my mind is clear. When I workout during mid-project, it aids my mental clarity. When I workout during a deadline, it clears my head for solutions needed then or to prepare for the next.
I also find that trying as hard as you can at something you find interesting in a new domain can be good for this. You hone your learning skills but I also find that other domains usually have general tricks and principals worked out that can be cross applied to other domains that haven't figured them out just yet.
Taking DHA/EPA and proteins as well as zinc might help too. There are studies conducted on this.
Also, from my personal experience: water fasting for >= 5 days (not only do you get autophagy and ketosis, you get a clearer mind too). If you are interested in this fasting thing, then I suggest consulting Valter Longo and his findings.
There isn't a whole lot that you can do to improve. Your cognitive abilities decline with age. Exercise, good sleep, mental stimulation and good social interactions slow down this decline. That's the best you can do - be healthy so you don't lose your mental abilities quite as quickly.
I think that's probably the wrong answer. I'm the age my dad was when he died. He took retirement because he was told he "deserved" it even though he loved his teaching job. He was a raging alcoholic and smoker. He just sort of faded away and died within a year.
I haven't needed to work for the last 20 years. But I'm always learning new things (hard things, that I'm not good at), starting businesses, mentoring people, doing physical activity that just plain hurts because I've got arthritis, taking care of handicapped kids... pushing myself both cognitively and physically every goddamn day. If there's ever a reason to go upstairs, I run up there. I don't put it off. I do all the housework even though I don't like it.
I might drop dead of a heart attack tomorrow. But studies show that people who just keep grinding and moving forward tend to live longer and lead happier lives. I bet a lot of those studies are poorly designed bullshit. But to me they also comport with common sense.
But that assumes all of us want longer lives. If I work a job I hate with no alternatives, then why extend my life? I just deal with what I have to and get by until the clock runs out - and that's fine.
Won't argue with that, although this is the best time in history for alternatives. The world has never been wealthier and so full of options for so many people. I have so many interests I'd live another thousand years if I could.
There are even cheap courses on Udemy that you can follow. One of the things that helped me was the sensory exercises like doing your whole morning bathroom routine in the dark. Basically what happens is it helps you rewire your brain when doing certain activities in a way that you are not used to and now parts of the brain that are underutilized become active.
Other things that have helped is doing math and sudoku puzzles. Video Games definitely help with hand eye coordination, quick thinking. Also apps like lumosity on a daily basis.
As far as skills go, practice, practice, practice, your skills will always get better. Look up the 10,000 hour rule by Malcolm Gladwell.