Staying sharp academically without sudoku.

[DoItTooJulia]

I'm 35. Im busy, with demanding career, kids yada yada, and I just feel a bit, well, I don't know, is it bored? sluggish of brain? Out of the loop?

Basically, I miss having interesting stuff to learn about/get into.

Part of my problem is a reading drought, I'm just not reading for fun like I used to and I miss it, but I do read some journals like New Scientist and the New Humanist. I do get the odd London Review of Books, but tbh, I've found it a bit impenetrable at times. I'm not hugely cultured (theatre is a huge turnoff for me). I read the news, I'm interested in politics, but still this feeling of brain lethargy persists.

What do you do to stave this off? What can I try?

[funnyperson]

There is a great board game called 'midlife crisis' its quite interesting, gives you snakes and ladders type life options.
Its not about getting back to being the person you were but about the person you are and are going to be, so the books you like now might be different, the things and people you are interested in might be different, the crucial thing is to find out more about the world so that you are aware of what is possible for you and therefore what you want to do. Bearing in mind that when raising children and managing a household one is often very tired, so the pace as which one achieves will be slower.

Anyway:
the brain keeps going with
-adequate sleep
-exercise: aerobic and yoga
-an adequate diet
-doing a new thing daily
-friendly people to discuss and argue with
-learning a new skill
-getting in a newspaper.

If wanting to learn by heart I would personally find poetry or Shakespeare a more enriching option than the states of America.

[OtherBarry]

The Radiolab podcasts are great, really interesting and random, I think they are free on the Podcasts app

[SaltyGoodness]

Another vote for Radiolab - and other good podcasts.

Each year I judge in some industry awards (my field is journalism but honestly I think this is good in a lot of industries), it really fires up my brain and inspires me at work as well.

[DoItTooJulia]

Hey funnyperson great post. Thanks. I know what you are saying about poetry and Shakespeare. I guess the next question is more how do you plan for a lifetime of learning? I'd like to know the States of America and get into poetry too. And where do you start with poetry? Also, I think your point about running a house, getting a decent nights sleep factor into what I can do:learning the States seems manageable, penetrating poetry, less so for some reason.

And I did say I wasn't terribly cultured, theatrical performances, am-dram, and the likes really turn me off.

[BOFster]

I agree that the R4 In Our Time archive is brilliant for podcasts- I've learned so much from them.

Are you watching Wolf Hall? I started with the help of Wikipedia because I haven't read the books and I've since listened to all the R4 Tudor podcasts, and this brilliant biography of Thomas Cromwell talk on the National Archives website. There's also a great resource online called The Anne Boleyn Files. I didn't even think I was interested in that period of history until I started digging.

That's the best approach, IME: listen to or watch something that piques your interest, and immerse yourself in it.

[BOFster]

On the poetry front, I am really interested in WW1 & WW2 (well, all 20th century history really), and had read some Wilfred Owen stuff etc at school. After listening to another R4 podcast called Great Lives which featured Vera Brittain, I recently read her memoir Testament Of Youth. It's full of poetry as well as being a brilliant commentary on the effects of WW1 on a certain group of women of that generation.

Honestly, once you start, you just jump from one thing to another, and it's amazing to feel you are getting your groove back and really learning about stuff, however random the journey.

[funnyossity]

I've found poetry again. It's perfect bitesize reading while i'M hanging about waiting for kids. Can't say that I memorise it though...

[SwedishEdith]

Learn to play bridge? I've never done this but always like the sound of bridge nights.

[Redoubtable]

Excellent thread OP....very inspired.

I'm listening to The History of Rome which, I think, was linked to from here ages ago. Short, snappy, very interesting if you haven't delved into that period before.

The New York Times daily crossword app?

[Poppyflowe]

Great thread!

[BOFster]

Ooh, great link, Redoubtable, thanks!

[Jux]

Do pne of the Open University's short courses.

[CatsClaus]

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.

[BOFster]

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.

[Twooter]

Sporcle.com

[Laxmama]

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.

[MuttersDarkly]

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.

[lurkerspeaks]

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....

[bedelia]

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.

[ByronBaby]

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

[whoreandpeace]

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....

[whoreandpeace]

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.

[Galaxymum]

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.

[DoItTooJulia]

whoreandpeace but where could it go? I struggled to find the right place when I started the thread, so I ended up in chat?

Great links and ideas. I'm going to chase them all up over the weekend and bookmark them all.

I really appreciate the replies: you're all dead interesting! Thank you!