How can I prevent my brain becoming stagnant?

All this to avoid housework!

Grammaretto That's some list. Full of admiration.

I do an evening class in Gaelic which I find really hard but enjoyable especially afterwards when I go home and reward myself with a glass of wine.
Duolingo too and wordle, squaredle, scrabble online etc. I read books.
Also ceilidh dancing through the winter.
I joined U3A for walking groups, history and art appreciation. I cycle and go to a yoga class and keep fit etc.
I continue to make pottery which I sell and take part in exhibitions occasionally.
I host young volunteers who stay for a couple of weeks at a time and help in the house and the garden. We cook and eat together and chat for hours.

I volunteer at the till for a busy community enterprise once a week.

I enjoy concerts and theatre a couple of times a month, see friends, eat out sometimes. I don't bother much with holidays but visit my DC and siblings and they sometimes visit me.
I don't know if any of this keeps my brain active but it's fun and fills my time now that I am widowed.

I'm also planning to build a house for my actual retirement 😉

Susan56

I am learning Welsh on Duolingo.It certainly keeps me thinking🤯

Da iawn cariad

My local U3A has a Welsh group. The members are native Welsh speakers, but they do welcome learners, so worth asking around.

You will find that the language varies from North to South and there is a lot of slang from native speakers.

You can also watch Pobol y Cwm on BBC iPlayer (with subtitles)

What an amazing lot you gransnetters are! Wonderful to hear everything thing you are doing.
I did read that it’s important to do something new or different - if you always do the same thing (e.g. crosswords) you simply become better at that thing, rather than expanding your mind. Sometimes it’s a simple as taking a slightly unfamiliar route to a regular destination, cooking with an ingredient you’ve never used before, visiting a different coffee shop or talking to a stranger.

RosieandherMaw

kittylester

I think human interaction is key especially interaction with young people.

So true.
I have a good friend in her early 80’s , highly intelligent, a former Primary Head whose great love is literature.
Her DH died just before Covid and she admits she is quite content to be alone in her bungalow, just reading all day.
Fine, don’t we all love losing ourselves in a book but she often doesn’t speak to a soul for days (being quite deaf, phone calls are challenging) and I have noticed that when we meet for coffee or shopping in Waitrose, she repeats herself a lot, has little else to say and IMO has aged visibly.
So while I don’t necessarily agree the interaction has to be with young people, I would say “people who are young in spirit”

I would say with young people yes, they are sharp, sarcastic, smarter than us and keep you on your toes

well, at least my ones were, in one of my previous jobs

Like Allira I find that doing family History is great for keeping the mind active! As she says, it's like doing an enormous jigsaw puzzle. As I have no grandchildren and my family branch will end with my children, I often research people who are very little connected to me, but who I find intruiging for one reason or another. Maybe the name is interesting, or there is a puzzle that no-one seems to have sorted out. I also help other, often distant cousins, with their puzzles, and often spend hours at it. One needs to keep as many scenarios as possible in one's head, all at the same time, and make or try out connections if you can. I'm sure it keeps my mind active. The other thing I get from it is that I end up researching many places I have never heard of before, and their history is often fascinating.

PilgrimQuill

Thanks Allira. And I've been to Wales ... My ignorance sometimes amazes even me...

😁

Too many two's sorry 🙃

Oh PamQS, I love books by Georgette Heyer too. They take me to a completely different world.
So exciting & well -written too.
I also love books written by Cythia Harold-Eagles too. It's like going back in time & the books are so very well researched too. Heaven 💞

I love historical fiction (eg Georgette Heyer) anddthere's lots available on Kindle Unlimited, so I read those. They're not all brilliant, but they're all entertaining. I take advantage of catch up tv to catch up on programmes and films I've never seen.

I mainly interact with new people online, eg Gransnet. I also like joining in discussions on Facebook.

It probably all sounds very dull, but I try not to over commit myself!

Well to those learning Welsh goodluck indeed, that will certainly get the grey-matter jumping!
I'm not of retirement age but I do enjoy learning to knit & crochet plus l'm learning to play a treble recorder that belonged to my father. The Dog does samba & chess & he's ancient. 😉

Hi. Lots of puzzles which are great and I love too…but knitting , crochet…following a pattern . Good exercise for hands too ❤️

I play an online hidden object game called June's Journey. I am on an international team of 15 players, and we chat on the team message board and we also have a messenger group. I have been playing for at least six years.

I second Duolingo. I'm learning Swedish and revisiting my schoolgirl French. (French is a lot easier!)

I play a lot of bridge , both at a club and online. I love it!

Thanks Allira. And I've been to Wales ... My ignorance sometimes amazes even me...

And please someone - what's an araf?

It means SLOW 😃
On road signs and painted on roads in Wales.
Perhaps in Patagonia too although I've never been there.

I found French Conversation classes enjoyable, took up German classes again when I retired but only got to beginner level.
Went to an Art group for very many years, plus some classes. Painting in various mediums can be really absorbing.

I write fiction and non-fiction books when I am too tired for physical stuff like gardening and walking. I give talks too so have to prepare for them. Keeps the brain active. I am also recently published and my first book is now a library book as well. If you do write a book and want to know if its any good the tweedlecoate site gives a free one page feedback on book length manuscripts. Joining a group of some sort is also a good idea as the conversation keeps your brain working. there's lots of good ideas on this thread.
And please someone - what's an araf?

Susan56

I am learning Welsh on Duolingo.It certainly keeps me thinking🤯

My daughter is refreshing her Welsh on Duolingo. She has A level Welsh from school days.

I learnt 3 European languages ( French, Spanish, Italian in various levels of fluency ) and now starting with German. I am 69 years old. In addition, I have rediscovered my curiosity for paleoanthropology spec. the human origin.

I do painting classes. Took up ukulele a year and a half ago. These use your brain and are social activities. I play bridge and am in a book club. I cycle. Dodging potholes and dogs needs razor focus. Play piano. Garden. Volunteered/ committees. People always sought after and sorely needed to maintain clubs... Sudokus, play Bridge 4 hands on Bridgebase.com; No-fear bridge to learn the game and play online with real people. Others walk, doU3A classes, pickleball, table tennis club, wild swimming. Craft, kurling, chair yoga, Tai Chi, learn a language or revive one you learned as a child. If you can’t get out as much as you used to find a weekly social club/lunch group to meet other elders who may be experiencing similar problems.

I attend a local retirement college which runs a wide variety of excellent courses.
I also attend online language courses and have enrolled on a certificate course with a local university. Some of these are free.
I learn the piano, go to choir and go to gym
classes to keep fit.

I am also on the committee of our local WI and the PCC of our church.
My DH says why not drop something, and my answer is that everything I drop is something less that I will be able to do in two years time. I think it's important to keep skills going as you get older.

I like to always be learning something new. Doing a Duolingo Spanish course which is great 👍