How aging can impact how you work, and your productivity.
I’m reading a fascinating book right now – Carved in Sand by Cathryn Jakobson Ramin
It’s all about how our brains age, particularly after the age of forty. And about how our memory begins to fade and our attention loses its sharp edge.
She’s not writing about dementia or Alzheimer’s, although she touches on both. She’s talking about regular people like you and me.
The more I read, the more I begin the recognize changes in my own capacity to remember and focus. (I’m 50.)
It some ways it’s scary.
For instance, I know that I don’t work at the same pace and with the same sharpness and efficiency as I did when I was thirty. When I was twenty or thirty I could juggle four or five tasks in my mind all at once, with no problem. I don’t do that as well any more. And when I try juggling too much at once, I inevitable drop one or two balls in the process.
I also find it harder to focus, and am more easily distracted.
It seems I’m not alone.
She interviews numerous professionals who, as a result of changes in their memory and capacity to focus, have either had to change jobs or dramatically change the way in which they worked.
I find myself on the same path. The old ways of working just don’t do it for me any more. In common with many people in the book, I am now having to consciously focus on one task at a time.
This, of course, has a significant impact on my productivity. Or rather, it could if I remained blind to the changes taking place and failed to adjust my work habits.
This whole issue has an effect on how we work in our home office – how we schedule our time and tasks, how we handle to-do lists and even the technology we use. (One point made in the book is that young minds are better suited to working with Blackberrys and Trios than older minds.)
I’m only about a third of the way through the book so far, but will post again on this topic when I have finished it.
