Have you ever felt like You are productive on Monday, then less productive on Tuesday, then a little bit fuzzier on Wednesday and this goes, by the end of the week you are disorganized, unproductive, and messed up. This is called Brain fog. In scientific terms, it is elaborated as "Brain fog is the inability to have a sharp memory or to lack a sharp focus. You just really feel like you're not yourself and you're unable to think clearly". So why do we feel like this and how we can cure it? I mean how to get rid of brain fog?
Why do we feel the brain fog? Brain fog occurs due to less mental clarity, inability to focus for longer durations, and also due to stress and overwork. This makes us feels wearied out and feels like we are getting into ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] because we are unable to focus for a longer duration and we lose focus very easily. Brain fog can occur if you are too tempted to the social media or even YouTube or your TV because these things suck your attention and when you are too tempted to these things you face an inability to focus on other things like studying and reading. It also makes you more and more lethargic because when you are sitting on a sofa for hours and consuming TV you won't feel like doing anything after that. We get distracted because of the overstimulation of our brain as our brain gets these cravings of distraction like "hey let's watch another Masterchef episode" and you fall into the loop and it follows.
How to fix it?
Get rid of the screens.
We mostly feel lethargic because we consume too much from the media and that's why we don't feel like doing anything. So when you are facing something like that stop using your screens. We are surrounded by screens. Everywhere you go you will see the news feed, social media, or the videos like Instagram reels which are really short term like 15sec that's why our ability to focus decreases as we are prone to watch the videos which are giving some kind of dopamine release. When you lessen your screen time you will see the things building up one by one.
Becoming more intentional about your work. The most important thing we lack when we face brain fog is the right kind of intention. We are unable to think clearly about our goals and we are constantly struggling with the approach of getting things done. Once we know the why behind the want you will take the necessary steps. You need to find out the real intention of doing that work. Why you are doing it? What will you get after doing it? When you ask yourself these questions you would get the appropriate answer of what you want to achieve. Whenever you feel lethargic and you get those thoughts of delaying your work just think how and why you had started the task. [Read this blog to get more intentional about your work]
Enjoying your work Another reason we aren't feeling like doing the work might be because we are not enjoying the work we are doing. When you are not enjoying what you are doing it feels like you are pulling yourself to reach the finish line and just want to end the struggle. As Ali Abdaal says "enjoying the things that you do rather than doing the things that you enjoy". It means you have to make the task interesting because you are never going to find all the chores or tasks satisfying and more enjoyable. So you have to make the things more satisfying or at least you should enjoy the things that you are doing. And Swami Vivekananda says "Even the greatest fools can accomplish a task if it be after his heart. But the intelligent man is he who can convert every work into one that suits his taste". Be the intelligent one and make small changes so that you can make the tasks more satisfying.
AIR
So the AIR concept is given by Allan Ting in his Ted talk where he talks about how you can burst the burnout in just three easy steps.
Where "A" represents Aspiration or the motive that connects you to your heart.
"I" represents Integration which means the work and life balance which we should have in our life to fight burnout.
"R" represents Rejuvenation which means you should take some time out from the work you are doing so that you will feel refreshed and energized again to work hard.
Use this concept to overcome brain fog and burnouts.
Reward yourself Once you complete your tasks reward yourself so that your brain will get some dopamine that you have completed the things you had planned. It can be anything like playing video games after completing the homework or treating yourself with a cappuccino after revising the lessons. These simple hacks can make your day more enjoyable as you complete task after task and get from one reward to another.
Sometimes you might feel like you aren't getting things done. But actually, productivity is not about getting more done but instead having more fun [Again thanks to Ali Abdaal]. Don't feel like you have messed up everything just keep going with your plans and achieve them with proper intention and in a joyful way.
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Cheers ✌️
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