Introduction: Senior Moments
Senior Moment
“informal
a temporary mental lapse (humorously attributed to the gradual loss of one's mental faculties as one grows older).”
Here’s a funny one:
http://www.wisdomtoinspirethesoul.com/2014/06/the-funniest-senior-moment.html
Yes, this Lazy Old Geek (L.O.G.) has had them. Here’s some tips and tricks I use to help reduce them.
For me it is helpful to have a rather fixed routine for most of my days. Since I’m a Geek, I also use a lot of technical gadgets. I also use a lot of In-My-Face visual clues. I have a lot of self tests to see how I’m doing.
CONGRATULATIONS!! Research has shown that if you’re worrying about Senior Moments, than dementia is years away:
Okay, a lot of this Instructable I have marked as:
MOSTLY IRRELEVANT: Skip it if you want
Step 1: Evening
MOSTLY IRRELEVANT:
After I make and eat dinner (and other meals), I do my dental.
First I use my ‘water pik’, actually called an oral irrigator. See picture. I use an OralBreeze. Advantage is no motor, reservoir, only one moving part, the deviator.
Usage: Turn on hot water until it gets warm, add a little cold. Grab the irrigator, pointing into sink and flip the deviator. Irrigate teeth, flip deviator and turn off water.
Senior Moment Test: The next time I use the sink, I get to see if I remembered to flip the deviator. You may notice that I have a sponge underneath the irrigator to help catch the spray. (I have forgotten a few times).
MOSTLY IRRELEVANT:
Then I brush my teeth with my Sonicare. One of the things I like is that it will blip every 30 seconds for four quadrants. They recommend top front, top back, bottom front, bottom back. I do upper right, upper left, lower left, lower right.
Senior Moment Test: Quite often, the Sonicare will stop before I’m finished. I could say it’s defective but I know I wasn’t paying attention and missed one of the blips.
Senior Tip: Then I lay out my pills/vitamins for the day. See picture
Ok, yes my bathroom sink is scary. Yes, I realize you’re not supposed to keep pills in the bathroom.
Ok, I lay out a sandwich bag (see picture) for my pills/vitamins. The diagram shows approximately how I separate them. I have them arranged in a fashion that sort of matches the diagram (for me it makes sense).
Once, I did have a Senior Moment and couldn’t remember which pills went where. Fortunately, I have (Senior Tip:) a list of medications/vitamins on my PC and when I take them.
MOSTLY IRRELEVANT:
I take the NOW pills, then I fold the sandwich bag over with the two remaining batches and put the wash cloth over them. (protects them from the next dental session.)
Next I’ll usually watch some TV and have my bedtime snack, usually an openface roast beef and cheese sandwich with some potato chips. Then I’ll wash the days dishes. I do not have a dishwasher. Then I’ll take my Blood Pressure with my iHealth BP and put my smartphone on the charger in my bedroom. And. See picture
This is a little harder to use but it does automatically store it to my smartphone.
Senior Moment Test: Then I will go back the bathroom. Here’s a visual test to see if I have my pills laid out. Yes I forget sometimes and have to do them then.
Do a repeat of dental irrigator and Sonicare
Step 2: Shower and Bed
Senior Tip: Okay, I try to shower every other night. So I built a little monitor to tell me if it’s shower night or not:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Shower-Monitor-2/
Now this is hanging in my bathroom and I can and do check it a few times a day.
Senior Tip: So if it is shower night I also have a visual for my shower faucets. See Pictures.
The problem is I can’t always remember which way my faucets turn for on or off. So I copied some stuff from the Internet and printed it out. Since my shower is not tiled, I just took a strip of clear packing tape and taped my indicator to the shower. (If you have tile, you could probably tape front and back or laminate it.)
MOSTLY IRRELEVANT:
Next I’ll put on my wrist Fitbit to monitor my sleep. See picture. This is a Fitbit Charge HR. What I like about it is it automatically determines when I go to sleep and get up.
And usually I read an ebook a little bit on my tablet. See Picture. Yes, I know I’m not supposed to read in bed but it doesn’t seem to bother me.
Advantages of library ebooks:
Make the font size you like for older eyes.
Don’t have to return book as it’s automatic.
The newer Amazon Kindle Fire has a no blue option. Blue light is supposed to make it harder to sleep
Step 3: Morning
Usually I’ll wake up about 4 or 5a.m., take care of business and take my A.M. pills. (Another check to see if I laid out pills).
MOSTLY IRRELEVANT:
Eat my first breakfast of Greek yogurt and a bit of All Bran, do dental and gargle.
Next I get ready for my walk with my dog, Marcus My Fitbit One is already on my pants and I start Runkeeper on my smartphone. See pictures.
So you may ask, why do I use Fitbit One and Runkeeper. Mostly it’s because I’m a GEEK. But my Fitbit One tracks my steps for the day. Runkeeper is better at tracking the mileage of our walks.
We try to walk about three miles, then come back and if I remember, I stop Runkeeper.
Senior Moment Test: Sometime during the day, I will look at my smartphone and maybe realize I forgot to stop Runkeeper. This happens more than I like but not a big deal. Usually, I’ll stop it and discard it as it’s irrelevant.
MOSTLY IRRELEVANT:
Eat my second breakfast which is usually a one egg omelet, bacon or sausage and ½ an English muffin. (I eat a low carb diet)
While I eat my breakfast, I also watch some TV and work the Sudoku in the paper.
SENIOR TIP: Most believe doing Sudoku and crossword puzzles is good for Seniors. When I was younger, I had little problem doing all the various levels of Sudoku. Nowadays sometimes I can’t complete some of the Intermediate and Advanced. Yes, getting older.
MOSTLY IRRELEVANT:
Usually, I’ll take a nap, maybe surf the Internet.
Step 4: Computer Aids
SENIOR TIP: I like to use Google Calendar on my computer to keep track of appointments and reminders for pills. For me, the best part is that it automatically syncs to my Android smartphone and computer. Also, you can edit the event to alert you with reminders. For medical appts, I usually, make a reminder for the day before. It will beep on my smartphone and computer.
SENIOR TIP: I also like Google Keep for mostly my shopping list. Again it syncs with my smartphone and computers. You can enter data from either device. I also track ebook series I’m reading.
SENIOR TIP: Also I have many spreadsheets with stuff I may need, like my medications/vitamins.
SENIOR TIP: I also have a Word document with my name, address and phone. I printed out a couple of copies and keep them around the house near where I’m likely to be on the phone.
Fitbit dashboard summarizes some of my activities, steps, sleep, weight, BMI. See picture. It gathers data from my Fitbit One, Fitibit Charge HR and my Fitbit Aria scale. See picture
iHealth dashboard shows my Blood pressure and pulse trends. See picture. (I thought this was only available on my smartphone but just discovered I could view it on my computer.) See picture.
Step 5: My Dog
Senior Tip: Having a companion helps reduce dementia. Human is better but animals are good.
Marcus has been my companion for many years and helped me through many life events. Unfortunately, he’s getting older too, already 14.
Our long walks are good both physically and mentally for both of us. Occasionally, I talk with neighbors.
Senior Tip: Okay, around noon, I give Marcus a couple of pills and I use peanut butter. I use a little in-my-face trick and leave the peanut butter jar with pills on top on my kitchen counter, kind of in the way.
He also helps keep me on track. After lunch and supper, I always give him a treat.
Senior Moment Test: So if I forget, which I sometimes do, he will be in my face reminding me.
Senior Tip: Marcus is a great companion and often knows when I'm in trouble. The problem is he can't do alot about it. Well fortunately, I live on my cousins property and share a mailbox and the local newspaper. So I usually see one of them almost daily and they can keep an eye on me and vice versa.
Ok, these are some of the Senior Tips and Tricks I use.
By the way, I’ve found that writing stuff down, e.g., doing an Instructable helps me to remember things. I’m thinking recording stuff uses different pathways in the brain then just doing. Plus as long as I remember that I wrote it, I can come back to this Instructable to refresh my memory.
Senior Tip: Ok, I know one of the best ways to reduce dementia is socializing. But I don’t do much of this.
