Brain fog may sound like a minor occurrence but to the person requiring high cognitive output on a daily basis, brain fog can be debilitating. Brain fog can reduce your productivity in your field as well as impair the quality of your work. Regardless of whether you are a professional athlete, a business man, or a taxi driver, experiencing brain fog can be frustrating and detrimental. There can be several reasons why someone experiences brain fog. It could be related to sleep duration, sleep quality, hydration status, stress levels, and many more. Brain fog can last a day or two or even extend out to weeks and months if the behavior is continued. It is important to be able to recognize when you are experiencing brain fog so you can manage it accordingly. Here are the 10 signs that you are experiencing brain fog.
1. Headache
This one is pretty easy. Having a headache can impair any kind of cognitive output but it can also be a sign of brain fog or rather a sign that your brain is not operating at maximum capacity.
2. Confusion
This kind of confusion does not necessarily mean the kind of confusion when dealing with a very intellectual topic but rather when you are dealing with a topic or task that you could normally manage on a day to day basis. Being confused in these situations is a primary sign of brain fog.
3. Inability to Speak
Have you ever felt like you were not able to get your thoughts out in a clear and concise manner? Or have you felt that you keep stumbling over your words when trying to carry on a conversation with a colleague? This is a major sign of brain fog!
4. Fatigue
Feeling fatigued can be an indication of brain fog, especially when the feeling of fatigue is not related to physical performance but rather cognitive performance. Feeling fatigue can have a drastic effect on your ability to produce in the work setting.
5. Decreased Productivity
Decreased productivity is a different sign since it is not directly related to any feelings of brain fog. If you know yourself well, then you know the volume of work that you can produce on a daily basis. Of course, we all have days that are better than others but if you are stringing together several days of decreased productivity then you may be experiencing brain fog.
6. Lack of Decision Making Skills
In your profession, you often encounter times of decision making and for some, these decisions can be crucial to their career or even to the success of the business. If you have ever felt like you were uncomfortable making these decisions or that you would much rather defer the decision making elsewhere, then you may have been experiencing brain fog.
7. Difficulty Concentrating
Lack of focus and difficulty concentrating can be a real road block in your productivity at work. We have all had those days at work where we find ourselves unable to focus on the task at hand or we can stop scrolling through our Facebook feed. Again, this could be a result of a bad day but if this is happening often, then it may be brain fog that you are experiencing.
8. Errors
Errors or mistakes happen to anyone but if you notice that your errors are starting to pile up or becoming more frequent then you may be experiencing brain fog. This becomes much easier to recognize when you notice that you are either making mistakes with trivial tasks or tasks that you often complete with minimum to no errors.
9. Impaired Memory
If you feel like your memory recall is impaired, then you may be experiencing another big sign of brain fog. This is often seen in individuals lacking proper sleep due to their schedule. Do you recall pulling an all-nighter for a test and then forgetting everything when you showed up to the test? This was likely brain fog that you were dealing with.
10. Irritability
Before we go into this one it is worth noting that you must self-diagnose yourself. If you are or have always been irritable in the work setting, then don’t blame it on brain fog. However, if you find yourself becoming irritated much easier than you normally do, then you may be experiencing brain fog.
It is worth noting that you do not require these 10 signs to diagnose yourself with brain fog. Some individuals may only have a hard time concentrating and not have any of the other signs. This person may still be suffering from brain fog. The important question is what do I do when I suffer from brain fog.
Here are three quick steps:
1. Evaluate
It is important to evaluate yourself and see what may be causing the brain fog. Are you getting enough sleep? Are you waking up a lot in the night? Have you noticed that you are dehydrated or maybe you took a break from caffeine? These are all important factors to consider because they can point you in the right direction so you can improve your mental well-being.
2. Start Treating Yourself
Based on what you find during the evaluation process, you can decide what the next step is. If you decide your brain fog is related to sleep then maybe you can try different strategies for improving sleep like cutting down on your caffeine intake, meditating, or sleep aids like melatonin.
3. Give It Some Time
If this brain fog is a result of chronic behavior, then understand that it may take time for you to experience the changes you are hoping for. Stick with it and give your body time to adjust back to having mental clarity!
Brain fog is difficult to manage but if you can learn to do so then you may find that you can improve the quality of your work as well as your productivity!
Since technology is nearly touching every aspect of our lives, check out the following apps that could help you with brain fog.
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