Staying sharp academically without sudoku.

Protein equals more brainpower. So breakfast is key try wholemeal toast or bread, or porridge with milk, fruit or yoghurt. The best breakfast would be wholemeal or seeded bread with peanut butter – yum!

Can this be moved to Classics please MNHQ?

I looked up FutureLearn eagerly and delved deeply. I had to withdraw though because it's not free as such. You have to buy books etc and money does live in my purse much.

Join or form a pub/community quiz team. Cheap sociable brain stimulation for me.

My personal favourite ways of keeping my brain ticking over usually involve doing something while listening to something else. When I get time I love to do DIY, embroidery, 'proper' cooking (as opposed to throwing dinner together for the DCs), anything practical really, while listening to stuff on iplayer. Things that require a bit more attention than just background listening.

It works particularly well if the practical task doesn't require bags of concentration. I find whatever I'm listening to really sinks in, and I'll have permanent memories of what I was listening to while I was doing this or that bit of sewing/DIY etc.

Every time I look at the patchwork blanket on my sofa I remember all the episodes of 'Shared Experience' I binge-listened while I was making it

First time ever I've 'reported' a thread, begging nicely for it to be put in classics. These posts are pure intellectual gold dust, keep them coming!

I'll rummage through my own brain and see if I can come up with anything myself that hasn't already been covered.

Radio 4 podcasts and listen again on the pc - I force myself to listen outside my natural interests so instead of just listening to e.g. history, politics, literature, I make the effort for science, technology, maths etc. I also take on work in areas slightly outside my comfort zone so that I am challenged. Mostly it works but sometimes it makes me cry in the privacy of my home office and wonder wtf I was thinking of. I am having a 5 minute break from one of those new and demanding work projects now as my head was about to explode.

Or move it to Other Subjects?

With poetry, why not buy a collection of great poems - there is a good one called The Rattle Bag edited by Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney - and look through it. Some of the poems will leave you cold but you're bound to find a few that speak to you.

One I foprgot to mention is Blinkist.com - easily digestible summaries of great non-fiction books. Sometimes you can find free trials (I had one for 3 months) or there's the free "Daily" which offers one random book each day (what I'm using now).

Glad you've enjoyed the thread mammmamia, I've bookmarked it too there's some great suggestions!

This is a great thread. Can it be moved to classics please MNHQ?

Some really good suggestions.
My job is hard and generally keeps me on my toes academically... But in always interested in learning in different ways. Eg chess.

DH and I also play university challenge competitively. Nothing like firing up the brain cells on a Monday night!

I rejoined amateur dramatics last year and I was surprised how much it made me work mentally - learning lines, remembering them, doing research and then building a character.

DH joined Futurelearn and Coursera. He has done twenty courses in a year! He absolutely loves the videos and doing quizzes. He has covered law, history, astronomy and statistics. It hasn't suited me so much but I am lucky that I research for a living and feel I am using my brain for work.

I also recommend checking local adult learning - we have a local college which does teach wonderful day and weekend courses. You may have something similar. Takes a bit of googling.

And Radio 4!!! I love Radio 4.

Let me share some of my tips....

I got an app on my iphone called Pocket. It's a way of saving information that you see online and you can 'save' it to this app and read it later. I signed up but have never worked out how it works, but they email me every week with interesting articles that others have saved and I have learned/read some fascinating things through that.

getpocket.com/

Also, sign up to the Guardian to get a daily digest of articles which covers all subjects news, sport, culture, travel. It is like getting sent a free Guardian every day but they've cut out all the flotsam and only sent you the most interesting bits.

And subscribe to the funniest feminist blog around which will make you both angry and full of laughter at the same time: the two ladies who write this are just brilliant - food for the soul

mytightswontstayup.com/not-the-week-in-sexist-news/

Actually I've just noticed that this week they haven't managed to write the blog but have linked to other pieces, but do explore and check out previous weeks - they are fabulous.

So glad this thread made DOTD as I would never have found it. So many interesting and useful tips you have all shared - thank you. I do hope it doesn't self-destruct in 90 days as I personally would like to save it in my special 'valuable mumsnet thread links' note that I keep in my Google Keep. Please MNHQ, don't let this valuable thread disappear....

Are you musical? Singing with a choir is very empowering and there is also great mental challenge reading music.

I'd start with this site: www.openculture.com/ So many courses, resources, great daily reads

If you're looking for a "liberal education" try Harvard Classics in 356 days (www.harvardclassics365.com/p/add-to-cart.html) - technically free as you can alter the price to suit. It's 15 minutes of reading "classic literature" for each day of the year, download as ebooks for your device. Really rather good, mostly non-fiction and big range of subjects.

Learn a craft?

Knitting keeps me sharp and I end up doing its of maths as I never want to knit the pattern with the suggested weight if yarn so always have too convert the sizing....

Coursera, OU open learn, FutureLearn, Alison all offer free online courses.

You can dip in and out as time and commitments make their demands on you.

Any decent course you can't stick with because things go a bit bent will come around again.

Subscribe to Audible and listen to the books you want to read whilst running/ shopping/ driving/ putting in the washing/ doing whatever chores need to be done that take up precious reading time. Brilliant.

Sporcle.com

This is the first history podcast I ever listened to from the In Our Time series. It's about Pocahontas. I was curious about the real person because I used to love watching the Disney film with dd1 when she was a baby . It's brilliant.

i try to improve by watching random iplayer things....the castle series on BBC3 or 4 was good, I have some Inca malarkey to go through this week and Jago whosit is quite easy on the eye

also noticed some more sciency stuff on there

i tend to watch about half an hour a night so a two or three part thing will do me a week.

I also watch Pointless and that can lead to lots of googling, of things you sort of half know, and some new things this week I learned about Comoros...volcanic islands off Africa and Madagascar. AND am always picking up hints about random countries and chemical elements.
Also love University challenge, watch and fb chat with a chum and see how well we do.

Do pne of the Open University's short courses.

Ooh, great link, Redoubtable, thanks!