Five Tasks Daily for Mental Health

400 scientists from around the world contributed to this study. The input came from research fields as far apart as economy and neuroscience. The study comes to the conclusion that five simple tasks done daily help to keep the mind active into high age.

They have put up five categories, in which each of these tasks should fit. The list reminds me very much of what my grandmother told me was common sense and good manners.

Connecting with people: Connect with family, friends, neighbours, or colleagues. Be it by talking, writing a letter, sending an e-mail, or telephone. As long as you do it, you concentrate on that person and thereby keep the brain usefully occupied. I remember my mother sitting down every day to write one letter to one of her many friends around the world. When Osteoporosis got the better of her hands, she phoned her friends.

Movement: It doesn’t matter what you do, sport, gardening, dancing, going for a walk, as long as you move every day, you do something for your blood circulation, and therefore your brain. My mother went to the village store every day, even if it was only for a chat. That gave her a stroll of about an hour a day. When she couldn’t walk very well any more, she insisted to go once around the garden with me every day, rain or snow.

Curiosity: Be interested what goes on around you. My mother read books every day, apart from the daily news paper. When she couldn’t handle that anymore, she turned to TV and radio news.

Learn something new every day: If it is the handling of a microwave, or how to fix a bike, or how to do Sudoku, it doesn’t matter, as long as you want to learn it. My mother was trying something new every day, in cooking, in sewing, in gardening, whatever hit her fancy. When she got Osteoporosis she just said that it is teaching her new things every day to keep away the pain.

Giving: Give something of yourself to others. If it’s only a smile and a thank you to the postman, or a friendly hello to somebody you meet, giving this much to somebody else makes you aware of that person. My mother was always a very giving person, thanking everybody for even the smallest favour, just to show she had noticed.

I probably don’t have to mention, that my mother was mentally fully aware of everything up to her death by cancer at 78. Even in her last hours, when the hospital had drugged her to her teeth to keep her pain in check, she was still fully aware of everything. She said, if ever anybody says to you that modern medication is so far advanced to keep pain away, tell them they are bloody liars.

But with just five little tasks you remain mentally fit and healthy. As a bonus, you lead a very rewarding life, as my mother showed me.