While it’s always good to stretch your mind and learn something new in life, doing this can get harder and harder as you get older. But, unlike the old adage, you can teach an old dog new tricks. However, you might have to go about it in a different way.

If you’re a little older and are wanting to learn something new, be it a new game to play with the other residents at your assisted living facility or a new form of technology, here are three tips for learning something new at an old age. 

Make Sure You’re Getting Enough Sleep

At any age, it’s good to prepare yourself mentally and physically before you’re going to be learning something new. This is why people always stress kids going to bed early before they go to school in the morning, and the same principle applies to older adults as well. 

If you’re not getting enough sleep or you’re trying to learn something when you’re feeling particularly tired, your brain isn’t going to work as well as it should. Rather, you should wait to learn something complicated until you’ve been well rested. 

If there is some type of time crunch, even just taking a nap before and after learning something new has also been known to help people cognitively. 

Work On Your Diet And Exercise, Too

Your body can have a big impact on your mind. So if you’re going to be working your mind hard by learning something new, you’re going to want to ensure that your body is ready to put in some extra work as well.

To make this happen, you’ll need to consistently have a healthy diet and exercise regimen that you follow. In fact, it’s been shown that people who exercise regularly are better able to think about new things that they have learned and remember new concepts as well. And if you’re eating a healthy diet, you can see even more improvement than just with exercise alone. 

Commit To Making A Consistent Effort

Learning something new is never going to be easy, regardless of how old you are. But if you’re really wanting to learn how to do something new or understand a concept that is new to you, you’re really going to need to commit to giving a consistent effort into learning this thing. This can be done by devoting a certain amount of time each day to learning. And when you’re able to do this, you’ll likely be able to see improvement and progress much sooner than you would have if you only worked hard on learning in bursts. 

If you’re wanting to learn something new, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you see how this can be done despite how old you may be now.