Does your brain feel broke-o?
Brain fuzziness is just another one of the many side effects of these pandemic months.
Easily irritated, forgetting simple tasks, even struggling to find words at times are all things I’ve experienced and heard people talk about a lot since we faced our new reality.
Or to put it another way, as a comedian put it on US chat show Saturday NIght Live “ I was fine in the fall but now I’ve hit a wall and I’m loco, as in my brain done broke-o”
Believe it or not there are very good reasons why our brains are not functioning the way they were pre pandemic.
Executive functioning is the description given to tasks that require our brains to do lots of work.
Things like planning, organizing and remembering things fall into this category
For our brains to work well we actually need lots of things to be functioning well.
“Managing too many details can definitely make you feel ‘foggy’ and make you feel that your memory has declined”
Add to this the impact high levels of stress hormone cortisol can have on your brain functions ahd here are just some of the reasons we might feel like we’ve gone ‘loco’
What can we do?
Minimise Multitasking - having multiple screens going at one may feel efficient but its not. All the research says that multitasking is a fool’s errand. One screen and one task at a time is a way to get on top of your to-do list.
Spend time in or looking at nature - nature has been shown to reduce stress, improve mood and reduce anxiety. A 50 minute outdoor walks has been shown to improve memory and decrease anxiety regardless of the weather
Delegate - to others in your household or members of your team. You aren’t superhuman. Find a way to share the load.
Keep well, Dr Clara
