Coping with Confusion

I started talking with my father about aging when he was in his '80s. I'm glad I wrote things down and not only for the memories. Since he was a very practical person, his advice is concrete and useful. He said the following when he was in his '90s, but it seems to apply even though I am decades from that. 

I had asked him what he does to cope with confusion. (How old do you think you have to be to feel confused at times? It seems to me it starts when you are two!)

Max's answer:

I avoid change. I don't put things in new places but instead everything has to go back in the same place as always.

I repeat things out loud or in my head -- like 'next, turn off the stove.'

I make a lot of lists.

I write everything down -- what I need for food, when to be someplace, who to call.

I make word associations in my mind. For example: To remember someone who is named Leo, I say 'Leo the Lion' to myself ten times in my head. Somehow it sticks better that way.

I should have learned how to use a calculator. That way when your math declines, it's ok. But I didn't.