“Prepare in your youth for old age”

B.F. Skinner’s "Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management" (co-authored with Margaret Vaughan) advises preparing for old age by actively modifying your environment and habits to compensate for physical and cognitive declines. Key strategies include maintaining mental stimulation, using memory aids, reducing work hours, and fostering social connections. 

Key Strategies for Preparing for Old Age (Skinner’s Approach and our interpretation for the best home in America):

• Environmental Modification: Alter your surroundings to manage reduced sensory input (vision, hearing, taste). This is done through space planning, lighting, sound attenuation, balanced temperatures and indoor air quality. Surrounding yourself with life’s treasures should help keep the mind sharp and memories fresh.

• Cognitive Maintenance: Combat memory loss and keep thinking clearly by using lists, notes, and strict routines including reading, writing, thinking through topics.

• Activity Management: Shift from high-intensity work to engaging activities, such as reading, conversation, or cultivating your environment (gardening and project work).

• Social & Emotional Health: As possible, foster better relationships with younger generations and manage the emotional shifts that come with aging.

• Proactive Planning: Approach aging as a "new country" that requires preparation to enjoy, rather than just a phase to endure. 

Skinner argued that while physical decline is inevitable, the "drawbacks of age" can be mitigated through proactive, behavioral self-management. We think your can reach into solutions with your built environment.