Changes in memory as you get older—frustrating as they might be—are completely normal.

“It might become more difficult to access things as quickly, but you get into that state of, ‘If you give me a couple minutes, or you give me a cue or a clue, then yes, it’ll come back,’” says Dr. Daniel Lesley, a neurologist at Remo Health, a virtual dementia care company. “You aren’t quite as sharp as you were, but as long as you can set up strategies for yourself—like learning to write things down—you can make information much more accessible and know what’s important.”

We asked Lesley to share what to do the moment you start to feel your memory slipping, and little things you can do every day to keep your brain sharp.