Late 80s. Back then my stock was actual paper certificates that I kept in a safe deposit box. My RIA lived in the town next to me and that was the only way I could make trades, and it took days to close and weeks to get your certificates. And I didn’t trade. I gave him money and he built my portfolio. The rise of online trading gamified the system that we have today.
You’re doing the engineering thing and focusing on the trees instead of the forest. It sounds to me like you have other things going on in your life that you aren’t acknowledging. Often stress and anxiety are primary sources of attention deficit. As we get older more and more stress is piled on us and it becomes even more important to manage it in a healthy way. I encourage you to reflect on your mental health because it might have some clues.