Strategies to Reduce Brain Fog and Improve Clear Thinking(thriveglobal.in)
thriveglobal.in
Strategies to Reduce Brain Fog and Improve Clear Thinking
https://thriveglobal.in/stories/want-to-reduce-brain-fog-and-improve-clear-thinking-give-up-these-things-immediately/
97 comments
Mental fog, for me, is a physical symptom of stress and exhaustion. It has nothing to do with having a clean workspace.
The first sentence of the article is "mess creates stress". I don't see a contradiction. It could be that article is wrong, but I have heard many people express that sentiment. If you have evidence that it's not true, I would like to see it.
The first sentence of the article is "mess creates stress". I don't see a contradiction. It could be that article is wrong, but I have heard many people express that sentiment. If you have evidence that it's not true, I would like to see it.
I think you‘ll find a hundred other things more stressful than a messy environment. Fighting with the partner, illness of a relative, someone yelled at me on the street, I slept too little,...
The rest of that same article says in several different ways that stress is necessary stimulation. So much for that.
There have been observational studies (vs plain declarative opinion pieces like this one) that correlate clutter with intelligence, creativity, and productivity.
The mechanism probably doesn't work the same way for everyone, and so clutter probably isn't good for everyone, but that also means it isn't wrong for everyone either. So much for that.
The article is essentially garbage.
There have been observational studies (vs plain declarative opinion pieces like this one) that correlate clutter with intelligence, creativity, and productivity.
The mechanism probably doesn't work the same way for everyone, and so clutter probably isn't good for everyone, but that also means it isn't wrong for everyone either. So much for that.
The article is essentially garbage.
>>"mess creates stress"
Everybody is different. Some people enjoy working in a messy room. I guess everybody is crazy in a different way.
Everybody is different. Some people enjoy working in a messy room. I guess everybody is crazy in a different way.
Sure, tidying your workspace might help. But how much? How could I take a methodical approach to tackling this problem? I'd like to actually see some data, or at least a dive into the underlying causes of brain fog. This is Hacker News after all.
To some extent so that is worth making it a habit, makes everything easier on yourself and saves a lot of mental energy that in a stressful situation a surplus extra energy could help. I think that tiding one’s workspace also abstractly hints toward tiding one’s life which you probably agree is a good thing.
All are good. Sometimes brain fog is a medical condition.
I had it bad for years before finding out I had an autoimmune condition.
I had it bad for years before finding out I had an autoimmune condition.
How do you even go about figuring this out. Do you just go to a primary practitioner and say “hey XYZ” and ask for a test/recommendation to a specialist? I haven’t been to the doctor in years outside emergencies and have suspected some issues but I’m not sure if I’m particularly interested in the cost / time involvement of any treatments for anything.
Suspected for 20 years, since I was a teenager. Would ask doctors and they always dismissed as I looked heathy.
Eventually health completely collapsed. But blood work was fine, I looked fine.
Saw 30+ doctors in the span of 2 years. I had a 4 pages of list symptoms and issues. I carried around. I saw a neuro-ophthalmologist he read the list, started asking specific questions about symptoms I didn’t list, but did have. He declared I had Sjogrens. I had never heard of it.
A year later I had an official diagnosis from a rheumatologist. Even that I had to fight hard to get tests run.
Treatment started making a big difference.
I would never have gotten heathy via regular doctors.
Eventually health completely collapsed. But blood work was fine, I looked fine.
Saw 30+ doctors in the span of 2 years. I had a 4 pages of list symptoms and issues. I carried around. I saw a neuro-ophthalmologist he read the list, started asking specific questions about symptoms I didn’t list, but did have. He declared I had Sjogrens. I had never heard of it.
A year later I had an official diagnosis from a rheumatologist. Even that I had to fight hard to get tests run.
Treatment started making a big difference.
I would never have gotten heathy via regular doctors.
This is a strange feeling we get from doctors if we fall into a gray zone/edge case and if they cannot find anything to diagnose they might think we are hypochondriacs or suggest seeing a shrink. I think proble will
be solved by and with technology. I imagine one day we’ll step into a box which would scan everything in slices and dices and would point to the problem. Even more interesting it will be when it actually applies all that knowlege on us somehow helping our bodies would fix themselves, something like the startek tricorder..
Why the paracetamol?
It could be due to inflammation
Paracetamol doesn't have a significant anti-inflammatory action.
This is literally the purpose of paracetamol. What do you feel it is for, if not as an anti-inflammatory aid?
EDIT: Interesting discussion in child comments, certainly news to me!
EDIT: Interesting discussion in child comments, certainly news to me!
True. An analgesic drug will help cope with the pain caused by inflammation, but an anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen will reduce the cause of the pain.
That's fair. I wish we had more properly selective COX-2-only inhibitors, despite the scare about heart issues. I may misunderstand how inhibiting COX 1 would balance that out, but I'd be surprised if it does. Many herbs are selective to COX-2, it's like every polyphenol and its mother seems to inhibit it.
I looked and you are correct, I did not realize that acetaminophen was not considered an anti-inflammatory. It certainly is antipyretic, and it appears to have some selective COX-2 activity and some potentially mysterious endocannabinoid activity, which I'd personally consider to be anti-inflammatory in one way. That's truly puzzling, I felt I knew that space decently well due to looking into the inflammatory pathways due to MCAS, I stand corrected on the generally public perception of acetaminophen.
Hopefully endocannabinoid-class drugs and supplements will enter the mainstream/be developed in a generic, OTC fashion with the easing of perception and laws in cannabinoids. I legitimately wonder how much OTC medication has been held back by analog similarities to the (currently and previously) federally illicit substances in those plants.
All good stuff around, I stand corrected and my apologies for any curtness. Have a good one!
I looked and you are correct, I did not realize that acetaminophen was not considered an anti-inflammatory. It certainly is antipyretic, and it appears to have some selective COX-2 activity and some potentially mysterious endocannabinoid activity, which I'd personally consider to be anti-inflammatory in one way. That's truly puzzling, I felt I knew that space decently well due to looking into the inflammatory pathways due to MCAS, I stand corrected on the generally public perception of acetaminophen.
Hopefully endocannabinoid-class drugs and supplements will enter the mainstream/be developed in a generic, OTC fashion with the easing of perception and laws in cannabinoids. I legitimately wonder how much OTC medication has been held back by analog similarities to the (currently and previously) federally illicit substances in those plants.
All good stuff around, I stand corrected and my apologies for any curtness. Have a good one!
As someone dealing with some painful dental issues during lockdown over the past few months, I have to say, I approve of the endocannabinoid approach.
I've heard of Ketamine as another non-opioid approach to pain, I don't know how effective it is quite for pain or dental issues.
Dental pain is awful. I'm so sorry. I had a hospital-and-hydrocodone-worthy case of oral thrush a few years back and beyond losing the ability to speak...well, at all, for a time, I found myself slamming the counters with my fist so the new pain in my bruised arms took away from the roaring, unending pain in my mouth.
I can't imagine having that kind of pain for more than a day or two before being in a dangerous mental state with respect to my own personal safety.
Dental pain is awful. I'm so sorry. I had a hospital-and-hydrocodone-worthy case of oral thrush a few years back and beyond losing the ability to speak...well, at all, for a time, I found myself slamming the counters with my fist so the new pain in my bruised arms took away from the roaring, unending pain in my mouth.
I can't imagine having that kind of pain for more than a day or two before being in a dangerous mental state with respect to my own personal safety.
I wouldn't touch Ketamine. Too many bad side-effects.
I've always had a high pain-threshold, but recently I've been 'beside myself' with pain (and a ringing in the ears, driving me mad at night, at times). Cannabinoids have been hugely helpful.
Thankfully, I have managed to get an appointment with the dentist next week. But I've had to wait longer than I wanted for it.
Years ago, I snapped my leg in half. Tibia and Fibula cleanly snapped. Had Titanium plates put in. That was easier to deal with than dental pain. ;)
I've always had a high pain-threshold, but recently I've been 'beside myself' with pain (and a ringing in the ears, driving me mad at night, at times). Cannabinoids have been hugely helpful.
Thankfully, I have managed to get an appointment with the dentist next week. But I've had to wait longer than I wanted for it.
Years ago, I snapped my leg in half. Tibia and Fibula cleanly snapped. Had Titanium plates put in. That was easier to deal with than dental pain. ;)
Oddly, I've just found this concept to be analogous to many other 'ills' we face as humans. And not just the physical ones.
Sometimes we just want to stop feeling pain.
Sometimes we feel the need to try and stop the cause of it.
Sometimes we just want to stop feeling pain.
Sometimes we feel the need to try and stop the cause of it.
Paracetamol doesn't have any significant anti-inflammatory effects. It's just an analgesic (painkiller).
There's even some interesting research on exactly /why/ it isn't - but like many drugs there's not really consensus on how exactly it works (a summary is available: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1460-9592.... )
I've seen lots of people confuse paracetamol and ibuprofen - maybe that's what's happened here?
There's even some interesting research on exactly /why/ it isn't - but like many drugs there's not really consensus on how exactly it works (a summary is available: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1460-9592.... )
I've seen lots of people confuse paracetamol and ibuprofen - maybe that's what's happened here?
I touched on it in my other comment -- I got hung up on its CB1... Agonism, I believe? Which I'd always asserted was strictly inflammatory in addition to maybe any other analgesic side effects.
I'll hold it in some level of mystery until I can figure out what the divide is founded on, it's certainly an unexpected result from my perspective.
Thanks for clarifying, much appreciated! :)
I'll hold it in some level of mystery until I can figure out what the divide is founded on, it's certainly an unexpected result from my perspective.
Thanks for clarifying, much appreciated! :)
Pain killers can reduce the sensation of pain in other ways than by reducing inflammation - paracetamol is one of these.
Usually tension headaches and brain fog are intertwined for me. On the occasions that I've taken paracetamol it's seemed to help. Far from as clear cut as I insinuated above, though.
Paracetamol certainly can have mental side-effects, which may be beneficial. Perhaps this could explain part of it.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/14/paracetamol-...
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/1440/20130418/tyleno...
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/14/paracetamol-...
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/1440/20130418/tyleno...
The ultimate "tool" for elevated focus for me is napping. A quick 20 min nap completely resets my mind so I don't have whatever random thoughts floating around.
If you are more disciplined than me, meditation in place of napping could work. But napping is easier and more enjoyable to me.
As for brain fog itself, I think proper nutrition is very important. Our body needs many different micronutrients to operate at optimal capacity and many peoples' diets don't meet these.
Lastly, I don't know how true this is, but a chiropractor told me that poor neck posture can result in reduced blood flow to the brain which can reduce your cognitive capacity (i.e. feeling of brain fog).
If you are more disciplined than me, meditation in place of napping could work. But napping is easier and more enjoyable to me.
As for brain fog itself, I think proper nutrition is very important. Our body needs many different micronutrients to operate at optimal capacity and many peoples' diets don't meet these.
Lastly, I don't know how true this is, but a chiropractor told me that poor neck posture can result in reduced blood flow to the brain which can reduce your cognitive capacity (i.e. feeling of brain fog).
When do you nap? I'm thinking an hour and a half after finishing lunch would be good since it coincides with the afternoon slump
Yeah in my experience that’s about the ideal nap time
Same here. Just falling asleep even for 1 minute wipes the windshield clean.
"Check that you aren't dehydrated" ought to be on any such list.
Fiber too. Nothing quite clears the mind like going for a walk and emptying the tanks.
This looks like an article you would find at the bottom of the page alongside a gif showing how much weight you can lose by switching to an all banana diet.
If you have persistent brain fog go get your full bloodwork done and check your hormone levels. If anything is off, discuss it with your doctor and get it to an appropriate level.
For me, it was gluten. Switched to a gluten-free diet and the mental dog went away
Now it could actually be gluten, but fewer simple processed carbs like bread (and pasta) helps.
With the pandemic I've had lots more dietary control and was more likely to notice what caused a certain effect.
I've given up sugar and it helps tremendously. It takes a while. Also getting enough good sleep.
With the pandemic I've had lots more dietary control and was more likely to notice what caused a certain effect.
I've given up sugar and it helps tremendously. It takes a while. Also getting enough good sleep.
Gluten, dairy, and corn for me. Turned out to be MCAS. Supposedly more common than people would expect (and yes, it's an actual ICD-10 disorder), but a total bear to diagnose as it's a diagnosis of exclusion and that's very expensive and a lot of time.
I think a lot of people end up falling into the Candida/Naturopathic woo along the way due to the seemingly higher presence of provider empathy. Not that dysbiosis or supplements don't have a lot to do with helping some of the day to day, but it seems to be a downright strange obsession for some folks to the exclusion of actually treating the root of the symptoms (were it even possible, in some cases).
I think your smack dab on the sugar and refined carbs stuff too. That seems like it'd be good for everybody. I know I might be in a slim and tiny minority here, but I'm definitely in favor of a sugar tax on foods with added sugars/raw sugar/sugary substitutes that are sugar under a different name (fructose, dextrose, etc...) by itself...
I think a lot of people end up falling into the Candida/Naturopathic woo along the way due to the seemingly higher presence of provider empathy. Not that dysbiosis or supplements don't have a lot to do with helping some of the day to day, but it seems to be a downright strange obsession for some folks to the exclusion of actually treating the root of the symptoms (were it even possible, in some cases).
I think your smack dab on the sugar and refined carbs stuff too. That seems like it'd be good for everybody. I know I might be in a slim and tiny minority here, but I'm definitely in favor of a sugar tax on foods with added sugars/raw sugar/sugary substitutes that are sugar under a different name (fructose, dextrose, etc...) by itself...
This is my experience too. I found that in the stress of the pandemic I was eating more and more comfort food. I did a reset where I cut back slowly to zero refined carbs (e.g., sugar, flour, juice), walked 10k steps per day, and then shifted to eTRF (stopping eating for the day in the early afternoon). My energy levels and mental clarity are hugely better.
One thing I didn't expect is that the nature of hunger changed for me. I experience a lot less hunger now that I'm eating less and for a shorter portion of the day.
One thing I didn't expect is that the nature of hunger changed for me. I experience a lot less hunger now that I'm eating less and for a shorter portion of the day.
eTRF - I didn't know that name.
I listened to a Joe Rogan episode where he interviewed Dr Rhonda Patrick. She said if you ate strictly within 12 (or 10) hours you would have better muscle mass among other things. I see now she calls it time restricted eating.
I tried it a few days but it was really hard, I felt cranky. But it seems like it works for you. Maybe I'll try again - there may be a hump to get over.
When I first tried limiting carbs I would start roaming around the kitchen looking for something to munch on, but after a week or two that calmed down.
I listened to a Joe Rogan episode where he interviewed Dr Rhonda Patrick. She said if you ate strictly within 12 (or 10) hours you would have better muscle mass among other things. I see now she calls it time restricted eating.
I tried it a few days but it was really hard, I felt cranky. But it seems like it works for you. Maybe I'll try again - there may be a hump to get over.
When I first tried limiting carbs I would start roaming around the kitchen looking for something to munch on, but after a week or two that calmed down.
I tried restricting to later hours, basically just lunch and dinner, but that made me super cranky by 11. But now I stop eating by 3 or so (and sometimes earlier) and it's fine. I did ease into it, with my last food 30-60 minutes earlier than the day before.
I can only speak from personal experience, but I've removed fog almost entirely by removing sugar and carbohydrates from my diet (Ketogenic), and doing intermittent fasting (IF).
My energy levels are always elevated, I sleep better, and the clarity of thought that comes with a Keto + IF combination is something I only wish I had known about when I was younger.
Whilst I'm speaking anecdotally, the benefits are grounded in science and is something that anyone can try. Once you get over the initial "keto adaptation" period the rewards will be well worth the effort.
Also, intermittent fasting (and even just removing sugar) is something that can be done separately if you're not a fan of low/zero carb lifestyles.
My energy levels are always elevated, I sleep better, and the clarity of thought that comes with a Keto + IF combination is something I only wish I had known about when I was younger.
Whilst I'm speaking anecdotally, the benefits are grounded in science and is something that anyone can try. Once you get over the initial "keto adaptation" period the rewards will be well worth the effort.
Also, intermittent fasting (and even just removing sugar) is something that can be done separately if you're not a fan of low/zero carb lifestyles.
Drink a glass of water and seriously engage in a different activity for 20-30 minutes has worked very well for me.
A different activity: physical/mental or switching context ?
exercise, sleep, eat consistently and drink alot of water
Yup! I've also found what I eat is important.
Carbohydrates to be a source of brain fog as I get older. I've also found cutting them out to 0g/day seems to increase anxiety for me (studies have shown reducing it below a certain amount... 50g?... definitely increases cortisol, a stress hormone). So finding a good balance in the diet is key.
Carbohydrates to be a source of brain fog as I get older. I've also found cutting them out to 0g/day seems to increase anxiety for me (studies have shown reducing it below a certain amount... 50g?... definitely increases cortisol, a stress hormone). So finding a good balance in the diet is key.
The temptation is great and common to go cold turkey or gung ho and I don't claim to know anything about your particular protocol, but my own observations lead me to believe that the body can adapt to some unusual regiments quite nicely, if you allow it time and space.
Also go outside.
More indoor lighting can make a big difference, especially for folks with Seasonal Affective Dissorder.
CO2 can also cause brainfog, so measuring CO2 content and cracking open a window can really make working indoors less constricting.
CO2 can also cause brainfog, so measuring CO2 content and cracking open a window can really make working indoors less constricting.
How much of this can I replace with a fast acting pill?
All of it. Your body won’t last very long though.
I found a conceptual way to do manage my mental workflow that really does seem to help. I don't really know how to phrase the details, but I started thinking of my brain as an information processing system - in the absence of bugs, throughput depends on managing caches, threads/concurrency, and queues. if you think about your brain that way, you can kind of sense where there are issues with these three things as you think through problems.
Also add:
- Get enough quality sleep. The brain needs that down time.
- Exercise to the point you break a sweat as many days per week as possible.
- Mind your diet. Too much sugar and carbs do more harm than good.
- Get enough quality sleep. The brain needs that down time.
- Exercise to the point you break a sweat as many days per week as possible.
- Mind your diet. Too much sugar and carbs do more harm than good.
Thrive Global is Ariana Huffington's vehicle to repackage the last several years of self-care fads and sell them to corporations under the guise of improving employee productivity. It doesn't have anything of value to add to the conversation, as this article makes clear.
[exec at Thrive, about as biased as you can get]
Putting aside whether Thrive is a solution, would you not agree that the forces pushing our corporate culture towards burnout behaviors warrant some push back? And if so, deserve something less like lip-service and more like the tools used to capture our attention?
Putting aside whether Thrive is a solution, would you not agree that the forces pushing our corporate culture towards burnout behaviors warrant some push back? And if so, deserve something less like lip-service and more like the tools used to capture our attention?
Yes and no.
While it's true there's not much new, for better or worse she has "juice" with her C Level peers. Would I prefer someone else? Probably. But all in all Thrive - for now - is better than nothing at all.
While it's true there's not much new, for better or worse she has "juice" with her C Level peers. Would I prefer someone else? Probably. But all in all Thrive - for now - is better than nothing at all.
Is it?
As somebody who got involved in the Agile movement before it had that name, I initially thought the productization of the movement was a positive. In retrospect, it was terrible. The packaged version of "Agile" ended up having most of the nutrients and all of the fiber removed. It was empty calories and an organizational sugar high, all the feeling of process improvement with none of the work (and none of the value).
My expectation with packaged, CEO-friendly wellness is more of the same: a way for CEOs to pay lip service to the trend of the moment without ever having to do anything difficult, without solving the systemic and organizational problems that harm the health of their workers.
As somebody who got involved in the Agile movement before it had that name, I initially thought the productization of the movement was a positive. In retrospect, it was terrible. The packaged version of "Agile" ended up having most of the nutrients and all of the fiber removed. It was empty calories and an organizational sugar high, all the feeling of process improvement with none of the work (and none of the value).
My expectation with packaged, CEO-friendly wellness is more of the same: a way for CEOs to pay lip service to the trend of the moment without ever having to do anything difficult, without solving the systemic and organizational problems that harm the health of their workers.
Fair enough. Then how would you suggest we raise awareness otherwise? In a celebrity obcessed culture, how do you get "old school" types to appreciate and embrace newer ideas about employees, health, mental health, and so on?
I'm not being combative. I'm sincerely looking for a conversation on such things. To me it's all very obvious. But even a pandemic hasn't seemed to change necessary behaviours (e.g., diet).
I'm not being combative. I'm sincerely looking for a conversation on such things. To me it's all very obvious. But even a pandemic hasn't seemed to change necessary behaviours (e.g., diet).
I think this has to come through a shift in power to employees. Hoping for execs to become enlightened will be a long wait. The way we got things like a 40-hour week and decent labor laws was through large-scale collective action. But in software, I think more local approaches work too.
For example, we recently had an emergency where part of my team had to work on the weekend. So I started the custom of "incident retros". Before the meeting I started an incident timeline and then asked others to contribute. In the meeting, we read through the timeline, queued up discussion topics, and voted on which ones to pursue. As we discussed, we listed possible action items. At the end we voted on those and people volunteered to pick up the ones they thought they could do.
On the one hand, this is a pretty normal technique for improving business processes. On the other, it helped train people that 1) weekend work is not normal and we should prevent it, 2) we as a team have authority over our work conditions, and 3) we can take frequent small action toward more healthy work conditions.
I don't think one of these will make a big difference. But over time I expect we can create a culture where employee health and worker productivity are seen as closely aligned, and where if managers try to order us to do something foolish, the team will feel empowered to push back. If in that push citing wellness pablum helps, I'm happy to do it. But lasting change comes from shifting organizational power.
For example, we recently had an emergency where part of my team had to work on the weekend. So I started the custom of "incident retros". Before the meeting I started an incident timeline and then asked others to contribute. In the meeting, we read through the timeline, queued up discussion topics, and voted on which ones to pursue. As we discussed, we listed possible action items. At the end we voted on those and people volunteered to pick up the ones they thought they could do.
On the one hand, this is a pretty normal technique for improving business processes. On the other, it helped train people that 1) weekend work is not normal and we should prevent it, 2) we as a team have authority over our work conditions, and 3) we can take frequent small action toward more healthy work conditions.
I don't think one of these will make a big difference. But over time I expect we can create a culture where employee health and worker productivity are seen as closely aligned, and where if managers try to order us to do something foolish, the team will feel empowered to push back. If in that push citing wellness pablum helps, I'm happy to do it. But lasting change comes from shifting organizational power.
Well, raising awareness and persuasion are two different things. For old school types, one of my favorite techniques is incepting a very low stakes experiment into their head and making them believe it was their idea/having them take the credit for it.
To do this properly, you can't proselytize, which is generally what I see "raising awareness" to be -- you need to translate beyond the interpersonal gap and figure out how to say things in someone else's language building on their values. To your point, if that means sending a cookie-cutter Thrive Global clickbait article, well, maybe that's exactly what the product is designed for.
Funny, by writing this all out, I seem to understand that old canard about management consultants being primarily paid to help executive fight internal battles a lot better...
To do this properly, you can't proselytize, which is generally what I see "raising awareness" to be -- you need to translate beyond the interpersonal gap and figure out how to say things in someone else's language building on their values. To your point, if that means sending a cookie-cutter Thrive Global clickbait article, well, maybe that's exactly what the product is designed for.
Funny, by writing this all out, I seem to understand that old canard about management consultants being primarily paid to help executive fight internal battles a lot better...
Would you like to actually engage with the content of the article?
Edit: my snark was unwarranted, as commenters helped me realize. Apologies.
Edit: my snark was unwarranted, as commenters helped me realize. Apologies.
He is.
Would you actually like to engage with the content of the comment? Rated: informative
Right, because social media points can’t be gamed.
Why would one engage with the content of an article from a vendor one thinks produces self-serving garbage?
That's not to say that's what the article is, just to be clear. But given our incredibly finite amount of time alive, I think it's important to have good filtering heuristics on how one spends one's time.
As an example, people who criticize Qanon as bonkers often get asked to just watch a few (long) Q-fan videos. If somebody asked me to do that, I'd say no. I have an infinite number of better ways to spend my time. All of that goes in my "garbage content" bucket. I know all I care to from the reports of others who have dug around in the bucket.
If you'd like to convince somebody they've mis-bucketed something, I think a better approach is to say exactly what you see as redeeming about the content of the article.
That's not to say that's what the article is, just to be clear. But given our incredibly finite amount of time alive, I think it's important to have good filtering heuristics on how one spends one's time.
As an example, people who criticize Qanon as bonkers often get asked to just watch a few (long) Q-fan videos. If somebody asked me to do that, I'd say no. I have an infinite number of better ways to spend my time. All of that goes in my "garbage content" bucket. I know all I care to from the reports of others who have dug around in the bucket.
If you'd like to convince somebody they've mis-bucketed something, I think a better approach is to say exactly what you see as redeeming about the content of the article.
Sure:
* Give up clutter. Here they make some vague statements about clutter causing chronic stress and then talk about "Marie Condo" (actually, its Marie Kondo). They don't cite any real research to back up their statements about clutter and stress. Here's an article suggesting a correlation between cluttered workspaces and innovation: https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/a-messy-desk-is-a-sign-of....
That is the only one of these points I really take issue with. Rather, I'm just saying that all these other points are pretty well published on just about every other self-help or productivity blog to have ever existed, and this article is just repackaging them without adding anything, which is what I'm saying is the problem with Thrive Global in general.
* Give up clutter. Here they make some vague statements about clutter causing chronic stress and then talk about "Marie Condo" (actually, its Marie Kondo). They don't cite any real research to back up their statements about clutter and stress. Here's an article suggesting a correlation between cluttered workspaces and innovation: https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/a-messy-desk-is-a-sign-of....
That is the only one of these points I really take issue with. Rather, I'm just saying that all these other points are pretty well published on just about every other self-help or productivity blog to have ever existed, and this article is just repackaging them without adding anything, which is what I'm saying is the problem with Thrive Global in general.
From the same folks: "So you're an Engineer and you think you're burned out?" https://techteam.thriveglobal.com/so-youre-an-engineer-and-y...
[am the author]
[am the author]
At the end...“This article was written entirely by GPT-3”...are you also GPT-3?
The article is written by GPT3? I didn't see that. But that thought came to my mind.
I'm fairly sure that I am not. But it is possible.
rest, for me made a huge difference. Sometimes taking time off to come back stronger is immensely important.
Beyond the mushy feels good and free advices from the article you might also want to check yourself for physical problems such as dehydration, Lyme disease, sleep apnea, chronic fatigue syndrome, poor diet, poor sleep, depression and other causes a googling for “brain fog“ should return.
Frankly, pretty much all of these items (albeit often phrased differently, but objectively same pattern/issues) lined up with adult ADHD as well. Adults are hard to diagnose, as they'd generally accumulated a lifetime of habits and coping mechanisms that can mask the underlying patterns, with various degrees of success. Some of the how to do better items listed in the article are classic coping mechanisms, and do help - if you can do them.
If you've struggled with doing these methods, or persistently fall back on old habits besides trying them, and it's causing you some distress - you might want to check out https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/adult-adhd/sy...
Nearest as anyone can tell right now, it affects ~ 4-5% of the adult population, men and women in equal amounts, but is poorly understood and often attributed to other causes. Women in particular.
If you've struggled with doing these methods, or persistently fall back on old habits besides trying them, and it's causing you some distress - you might want to check out https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/adult-adhd/sy...
Nearest as anyone can tell right now, it affects ~ 4-5% of the adult population, men and women in equal amounts, but is poorly understood and often attributed to other causes. Women in particular.
These are all actually interesting self-help tips but they are not related to a medical condition like brain fog. If you have persistent brain fog and can't attribute it to fatigue or something like that, obviously you need a doctor.
Sobriety was a big one for me.
What exactly is "brain fog", and is one person's brain fog the same as another person's brain fog?
[deleted]
When I see the words "Brain Fog" I expect to see quacks with 'cures' close by.
Yep, there they are.
Yep, there they are.
I didn't find anything here that wasn't already common, TL;DR
Give up the clutter
Multi-tasking doesn’t work
Give up the urgent distraction
Stop feeding your comfort
Don’t sit still
Stop consuming media and start creating instead
Comfort provides a state of mental security.
[...]
But in the long-term, comfort is bad for your brain.Brain fog is caused by passive acceptance of our interregnum.
How do we as a community feel about some of the tinfoil hatting going on in HN lately? I understand this is a watering hole for folks of all ideals and walks of life, but a comment on a fluff piece about physical symptoms being somehow linked to the more conspiratorial edge of the news cycle is much lower than I think we have been as a community.
I could be wrong, though, I'm absolutely open to hearing different thoughts and opinions across the spectrum (minus some of the the strange conspiracy stuff as of late -- I'd assert that it's always been a dull roar but definitely has popped up in more strength recently).
I could be wrong, though, I'm absolutely open to hearing different thoughts and opinions across the spectrum (minus some of the the strange conspiracy stuff as of late -- I'd assert that it's always been a dull roar but definitely has popped up in more strength recently).
As a former Redditor I can't complain too much, but I feel like there was a big wave of reddit-like comments and voting that started around 18 months ago or so. HN used to be a refuge from dumb jokes, dumb comments, personal attacks, and the overall negative tone you find on other discussion forums. HN is still better than reddit, but there are some topics I just avoid now, or make more liberal use of the [-] to collapse a toxic thread.
I agree -- even when the threads here were massively pseudointellectual back in the day, it was a welcome tone shift.
Maybe we can hold the line and hope for some change from dang and the crew. Or maybe it'll pass (though I'd rather not hang my hat on that one there). It's a good site, so hopefully we can hold onto the old "90's practitioner's watering hole" in some way or fashion going forward as a community.
Maybe we can hold the line and hope for some change from dang and the crew. Or maybe it'll pass (though I'd rather not hang my hat on that one there). It's a good site, so hopefully we can hold onto the old "90's practitioner's watering hole" in some way or fashion going forward as a community.
I think team work is good for inducing extended periods of focus. I can’t remember ever feeling distracted when I was trying to win a game of football. Unfortunately most work is quite solitary.
Kinda sad that the key to always being sharp is to make sure you’re always a little stressed, or uncomfortable or on edge or “out of your comfort zone”.
I’m not sure that needs to be a bad thing. I think the takeaway is that there’s good stress and bad stress. That was my conclusion anyhow; a little stress releases cortisol which is a steroid, too much causes burnout.
It’s all in the wording. I think the point is to avoid momentum and autopilot. But challenging yourself and learning new things doesn’t need to mean unwelcome stress or discomfort.
The solutions I've found are get to enough sleep, try not to fill my day with mentally taxing work or meeting and, in a pinch, drink coffee or take paracetamol.