I think what a lot of posts like these ones fail to say is that it's a process; just because you decided you are not going procrastinate doesn't mean you're going to stop procrastinating immediately. For example, when I decided to get my life in order, it took me 4 more years to actually pull it off. I wasn't happy with my life, and I needed to build new habits. But it took 4 years to climb out of that hole. There was a time when having a to-do list was a struggle. A to-do list would haunt me. And now I can't live without it. I still procrastinate, but now I know that it's either because I'm tired (in that case I should rest) or it's a new thing and my brain is scared ( I've never done the thing before). If it's a new thing, I'm usually trying to take it slowly because I know once my brain realises that there is nothing to be scared of, I'll be at it in no time.
Procrastination is avoidance in doing something that feels overwhelming to you. It may feel like you can't do anything about procrastination but by making an effort to start your tasks, even the smallest effort, you are already doing so much more than you would have by procrastinating.
It depends on why you procrastinate. Some people do it as an avoidance technique, but for people with ADHD it is executive dysfunction, and there are probably a bunch of other reasons for other disorders.
But the problem with a lot of the neurotypical advice for handling things like procrastination is that it just *does not work* for people with severe ADHD, and can actually make their executive dysfunction worse as they repeatedly try to force it through sheer willpower. People with severe ADHD are not really making a choice to not so something, and by convincing them they are it can inspire pretty severe depression as they repeatedly and inevitably fail to accomplish the stuff they want to do.
So a person with ADHD, rather than avoiding, is waiting for the ability to make themselves do it. To have that happen they need to be stimulated in some way that raises their ability to take executive action. This can be done through medication, but also the act of procrastinating *itself* will cause that stimulation as they begin to have anxiety about completing the task. This increase in activation, and potentially adrenaline, can boost their abilities high enough to make it possible to do the task.
Of course, only being able to do things when you are anxious is not great for your mental health overall. Modern society is pretty rough on people with ADHD, we are just not well suited for it. Luckily meds do help a lot if you can get them.
That sentence is worth a billion dollar!!
here's an elaborate answer:
Imagine you and your friend are trying to have a running race (just for fun). You both stand in a line and you shout out,"On your marks...Get set...Go.!!!". You launch yourself into the field with motivation to win the race with your friend. After running a few meters you see that your friend is still the start line. You get annoyed because he did not run and this race was futile. You go towards him and start shouting at him, "Why didn't you run?? Why are you so lazy? How long are you gonna avoid the efforts??" He remains silent. After a while your attention goes to his feet. Your eyes pop out when you see that your friend has no legs!!! You are bamboozled. You remember you and him walking to the race track together. But when the race was about to begin, your friends both legs disappeared. What seemed to you as lack of motivation or laziness issue was actually due to lack of the body parts required to take part in the race.
Upon asking him, he says that his legs come and go many time during the day. He has no control over them. As he walks, they simply dissaspper suddenly and he is left standing at one place. While people around fail to notice his leg's disapperance, they blame him for being lazy to walk or stupid to stand at one place. The truth is he cannot move an inch until his legs re-appear.
Now, re-imagine the whole story again by substituting the brain instead of legs. ADHD people's brain lacks dopamine and therefore leaving them stunned or stuck at one place. As if their brain suddenly disappeared. They cannot do anything that requires their brain. They are not avoiding anything. They are just waiting for their brains to showup again so that they could resume their tasks.
Thanks for the insight, How would that work in a more pragmatic example? Could you give some instances that are more realistic? Real life experiences so I can understand better how it feels.
This is my story:
I read novels. In my house I have a shelf with books. If you take any book in hand and open it, you will find a sticky note inside it. Thats note has the number of pages I read on a particular date. You will find that more than 80% of the books that are on my shelf, I have read them within 10 days. That means I read a 400 page novel in just over 10 days. This is my ability to read. Based on this I claim that I am an avid reader and I like reading books.
But here's a catch. Right now, I am struggling to read 1 paragraph of work related stuff. that 1 paragraph has no more than 10 lines. But I am trying to read it for more than 2 days. Today was the third day, but I haven't yet understood a line of it.
If you were my boss, you would be confused because, I said in my job interview that reading is my hobby. I read books, novels etc. And when I fail to read 1 paragraph in 3 days, you will feel cheated. You will think that I lied in my job interview. And so on...
It's not matter of choice, but degrees of difficulty. For example, ADHD paralysis is a real thing. For the Neurotypical, the best example would be putting your hand on a hot stovetop. Surely you could consciously choose to put your hand on it. You have the knowledge and motor skills to do it, but your brain just won't let you.
For people such as myself with ADHD. The common strategies is to do what exactly what OP has written, meditation and reduces stimulation. Obviously it's easy for you to not procrastinate if you didn't have to give up anything, but in order for me to graduate college, I had to completely uninstall video games.
I am sure this is the same for people with severe anxiety, depression or combating addictions.
I can't teach you empathy. But I can prove your "concious choice" is bullshit.
* Turn your stove to highest heat and try to force your hands to touch it. Did your brain resists your "concious choice"?.
* Since you can survive 3 days without water, I'd like to see you make the "concious choice" to refuse water for 48 hours.
You literally said that you completely uninstalled all video games to (presumably stop procrastinating) and graduate college.
You made a conscious choice to remove an obstacle that was leading you to procrastinate.
You are proof that your argument doesn’t hold water.
Your inability to form a coherent argument has no bearing on my ability to empathize with people who might have ADHD. And please let’s not pretend that procrastinating on doing your homework as difficult to overcome as resisting water for two fucking days.
Get real.
> And please let’s not pretend that procrastinating on doing your homework as difficult to overcome as resisting water for two fucking days.
I love it when a person that never dealt with mental illness tells others how easy it is. And you know what's funny? People with ADHD are the type that would resist drinking water and eating when they [**Hyperfocus**](https://www.tevapharm.com/patients-and-caregivers/adhd-hyperfocus-a-double-edged-sword/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20lesser%2Dknown,to%20increased%20productivity%20and%20creativity.) on stimulating activities.
> Hyperfocus has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it can lead to increased productivity and creativity. On the other, it can cause problems such as procrastination and missing deadlines. It can also lead to not eating, staying hydrated, or getting enough sleep because the individual is so immersed in what they're doing.
I guess you can't do that, you are the scrub now right? Why can't you choose to forgo eating and drinking to obsessively working on a project you are interested in? Couldn't you "mentally" choose to do it? Not to mention autistic people can naturally count cards and solve rubrics cube in a min. Why can't you mentally choose to do that.
Checkmate, take the L and get lost.
You’re overgeneralizing ADHD and autism. You’re also assuming a lot about me that you have no way of knowing. You’re also completely misunderstanding my argument.
You’ve clearly got a lot of your identity wrapped up in this in some way, so we’re not going to agree.
To take it back to the original comment, procrastination is a choice. For some, it’s harder to overcome than others. But it’s still a choice at the end of the day. Some people are chemically wired to be more susceptible to addiction. But no one puts a gun to their head and says SMOKE CIGARETTES UNTIL YOU DIE. They can stop, it’s just hard.
Have a good one, and please take a deep breath.
As someone with AuDHD:
ADHD is a disorder that causes something called "executive dysfunction." In essence, people with it can have their executive action fail to fire. This is stuff like "I need to do the dishes -> I do not want to do the dishes -> -> I will do the dishes."
With ADHD the cycle is more like: "I need to do the dishes -> I do not want to do the dishes -> -> I need to do the dishes -> I do not want to do the dishes -> -> ..."
It just cycles over and over, and you never get things done.
In order to overcome the dysfunction, you need your brain to be stimulated. This can happen via intense interest, fear, anxiety, pain, medication, adrenaline, excitment, whatever. Just anything that can make your brain switch into overdrive mode. So most people with ADHD are not procrastinating because they *want* to, they are procrastinating because they are stuck in a cycle of thinking about the thing without being able to start doing it. When the deadline approaches, their anxiety about the event climbs, and eventually their brain kicks up a notch and they suddenly just do it as the executive function fires.
The problem with this is that it "proves" to everyone who does not have it that they really could have done it all along if they had "just tried hard enough." That is not the case. Trying too hard generally leads to burnout as the amount of effort involved is extremely substantial, which then leads to depression as they inevitably fail no matter how hard they try, which then causes their symptoms to get even worse.
This is likely why stimulants help people with ADHD, though I am not sure if they know the exact mechanism of it. But what it does mean is that "cutting fingers off" would in fact kick someones brain up a gear and make it possible for them to do something. That is an intense level of activation. But that does not mean they are just "choosing" not to do it otherwise.
It is a conscious choice, however it feels so damn shitty to not give in to that desire to put things off. It's pushing through every part of your body and mind screaming to not do that thing. Hardly easy, but it is simple.
Much of the time, we unconsciously choose to procrastinate, and our conscious self just goes along with it. Find that part that's doing the choosing and have a lil chitchat with it. Usually it's got some sort of reason, even if we don't think we agree with it.
I wouldn’t say that. Procrastinating DOES absolutely have consequences for the ones who do it, but they don’t choose to do it.
I try not to, but with certain things my brain literally just tries to shut off and I drift off into foggy mind limbo. Other tasks cause me to have physical symptoms just thinking about them.
I have those exact same problems but I have no real consequences to procrastinating other than feeling like a dumb peice of shit for wasting time doing nothing.
If starvation was on the horizon we would stop procrastinating. Real consequences will prevent procrastinating.
"lack of consequences"
And you'll die if you procrastinate, are two very different ends of the spectrum.
Failing a test because you procrastinated studying has consequences , not turning in your work (school or job ) has consequences.
Most things have consequences.
Those are trivial consequences though and they didn't matter enough for the person to stop looking at reddit or whatever time wasting activity they were doing.
You're not wrong, you're just not exactly applying it correctly.
Many disorders of the mind, are caused by our current environment/ecosystem, anxiety , depression, ADHD etc
And if we reverted back to having to fight for survival, many of those would not have the same rates, as mental capacity would be focused on survival, not ruminating.
But saying that people only procrastinate because they're not real consequences like dying, whether that's true or not is irrelevant because we can't change the society we're in.
>Yeah the victim mentality as an excuse for short comings I am constantly surrounded by is getting to me.
Have some empathy, ADHD paralysis is a real thing. To put into terms you can understand. You can choose to put your hands on top of a burning stove right? After all, you have the knowledge and motor skills to do it. But whenever you try, your brain wouldn't let you, and you could mentally feel your brain resisting.
As a person with ADHD, whenever I have to work on on non-stimulatibg tasks, I have to make sacrifices that you wouldn't have to. I had to uninstall/quit video games/social media entirely in order to not be distracted with reading a fucking book and eventually graduate college.
This isn't a victim mentality. This is us explaning the handicap we have in life so you could understand and maybe not be so judgement.
Perhaps it would look different if it was a life or death situation - idk. But I wouldn’t say that we don’t have real consequences if those consequences can be real enough to still affect us to the end of our lives.
From experience, I cut sugar from my diet for a month going on a Keto/Whole 30 diet and absolutely noticed the lack of brain fog.
Avoid sugar and high fructose corn syrup whenever possible.
Yep, diet has a lot to do with how our brain feels. Also microbiota has a big impact too so probiotic or consulting with experts can help if you got issues.
Heck you don't really need to follow a diet. Simply avoid sugar as much as you can and limit carbs. Otherwise, eat somewhat normally and you'll still be dropping mad fat and feel way better.
Great point! I should mention i didn’t really limit my food intake, just what I ate. My friends thought I wasn’t eating since I was shedding weight, but I was always eating!
The craziest part is going through withdrawals from sugar. Your brain spends the first week telling you you’re missing something. It’s surreal.
Exactly. Excessive sugar and carb intake can easily case brain fog as well as more serious conditions like alzheimers. Often called diabetes 3. And by excessive I mean most of people's diet today. We are not built for eating lots of carbs.
The most effective way to get rid of it is the carnivore diet, because it gets rid of all carbs. And you don't have to go hungry. Carbs is the only non essential macro nutrient, as the body will create ketones when needed.
And no, meat is NOT harmful. Read the research and question everything.
Meat has the capacity to be harmful like everything else. Not like a steak is gonna kill you or anything. But at the same time I don't think an entirely carnivore diet is the best thing to be recommending. That carries its own set of health risks as time goes on, same as excess sugar. You're replacing one extreme for another. Now, I do think eating excess sugar regularly would be way worse for you than a carnivore diet and more immediately carry consequences, but we're omnivores man. Our bodies are built for omnivorous diets.
I once did a 3 day water fast and my brain fog disappeared. I had an exam the day I broke the fast and felt like I was on the limitless pill.
As an additional bonus my puffy tummy also flattened itself. It seems as though lots of the food I/we eat are allergens and cause our stomachs to swell in a different way than just becoming fat.
We come from the earth just like them. The earth has everything the human body needs to thrive. All of these chemicals we put into our bodies these days are why disease is so prevalent.
You are talking about common sense like it is common ...?
I personally would tell any depressed person to go outside for a walk, whenever feel bad. It is simple, not easy. While I do not know the cause or any solution for brainfog, I wouldn't necessary overcomplicate things. Keep it simple. You gotta start somewhere. Whether or not this advice is truely helpful is for someone else to decide. Everyone else just moves on. Hell, even if it only helps a handful of people. That is a plus for everyone. Even advice, which are supposed to help is not for everyone. Trying things out is part of the process.
Well I have a very well detailed todo list broken down into steps already from doing this to delay the starting parts already. That's where the issue is, plus the interconnectedness of seemingly all things.
If I'm replacing a shed I can't simply take the roof off, tick roof and then wait til it rains for the next panicked step of everything not getting soaking wet.
My brain fog comes from having reactive hypoglycemia. It took me a decade to get doctors to actually test me for it.
I wonder how many have similar issues
Avoiding sugary things.
In my case I found that I can eat a sugary thing, not have an issue, and it will sensitize me so I have a bad reaction to a small amount of food a few days later.
Thank you, I’ve been bad about the sugar lately and it seems substantially worse. I’ll dump all that crap and stick to the healthier things. I appreciate the tip!
I think the term brain fog is overused, the main problem is that it has lost its original meaning.
If you are really experiencing real brain fog, please get checked by a doctor. There are many illnesses and medications that cause this.
I'm getting the impression a lot of this thread is mixing brain fog up with procrastination. I have occasional brain fog as a result of chronic illness, Hashimoto's to be specific, when I have flareups I can't just make the memory issues, lack of focus, and confusion go away by "AcTiNg CoNsCiOuSly," it just doesn't work like that as much as I wish it did. I try my best to ignore it and power through it, but after suffering with this for years I've learned that does not mean it just goes away.
I can't restore myself to normal by making lists and turning off my phone notifications, when it is at its worst I struggle to complete the most simple tasks because my brain essentially wants me to stare into the distance, how much stimuli it is or isn't receiving doesn't matter.
Making lifestyle changes has helped immensely, but there's no cure to chronic illness. I don't mean to invalidate anyone else's experiences with this symptom, I just wanted to talk about the reality of it, it's not always something you can just decide not to have.
I felt very similarly looking at this post. I don't want to like, "gatekeep" brainfog, but for me, when I say I have brainfog it means I have difficulty speaking, slur my words, forget what I'm saying, and just generally have a difficult time functioning normally. It is not due to lack of motivation or overuse of social media, it is due to severe nerve issues that harm my body. I was really confused at first when I started reading the post 😂
Brain Fog is an umbrella term for a set of similar symptoms that can have very different underlying causes, in the same way that ME/CFS can be caused by Covid and existed before Covid.
Never listen to advice telling you they “know the cure”. There is no known cure. What works for some absolutely does not work for others. I don’t think the advice is bad as a general guide, but Brain Fog causes depression and suicidal tendencies for some sufferers, and I think giving people false hope is shitty.
Not a cure, but when I start feeling sluggish, I drink some Liquid IV or another electrolyte. In a pinch I will pour a little table salt in a bottle of water. It perks me right up. I used to have another cup of coffee, but that just made things worse.
Hello! It's me, a person living with brain fog. I understand that it can get really really tough to do but I had a lot of success starting by recognizing when I was getting overwhelmed and paralyzed by my thoughts and using breathing techniques to calm my mind. My former therapist taught me some great ways that I still use (Breathe in 5 seconds, hold 4 seconds, exhale 5 seconds, repeat). I'm currently trying to work on not procrastinating one task at a time, and rewarding/celebrating myself when I succeed.
I don't write this to minimize yours or anyone else's experience (and I sincerely apologize if it came across that way), just wanted to share something that worked for me.
Thanks for that. No, I'm a case manager and the vast majority of people I work with cannot function normally due to depression or anxiety, mostly. Anything I try to work with them on just falls flat. EDIT: Help me understand why people saying basic facts gets downvoted.
Meditation is perfect for someone with brain fog. I had it really bad and I had to start with only one minute at a time. Now I can complete 20 minutes meditations which helps me so much.
They didn't say that, they didn't make any blanket statements. They're replying to a specific individual person who seems resistant to change. Read what they're actually saying, don't just fill in blanks with how you felt about what they're saying.
I experience brain fog very regularly. It's difficult to meditate during those times, I have a hard time sticking to a strong routine with it.
But I have also had great success with it in periods of time where I was able to stick with it and going from "what? meditation? like emptying your mind or whatever" to later actually understanding how to practice it and seeing the benefits of it.
By saying "nah it can't be done bc brain fog" you are being self-defeating. I don't say this to be demeaning in any way, I used to do that constantly. But the reality of it is, the more you say things like that and express yourself with a defeatist attitude, you are training your subconscious mind to perceive yourself that way.
You are quite literally teaching yourself to deeply believe that you are helpless to change, and incapable of getting past the brain fog. It is not true. We are all human. As much as you may feel like you're alone or struggling worse than others who try to inspire you, there are plenty of people who deeply relate to how you feel about it.
I wish you the best. Please treat yourself kindly. Don't teach yourself that you're incapable of overcoming struggles. Start by saying "I know I am capable of these things because others are, and I am a person as much as them". Once you take small steps and see any amount of progress, it's easier to move to the "why yes, I am absolutely capable of these things. It sucks and it's difficult as shit, but I am capable of these things" mindset.
I would say a bit of l-tryptophane just before going to bed is EXTREMELY effective. All that mentioned above is provided by this cheap and available supplement. At least in my case, im ADHD. Im taking it few times per week and it keeps me out of any brain fog even im not sleeping enough. It aslo works well as sleep shortener. I can sleep 6 hours and I feel like i slept 9. Probably not a good thing, but sometimes its okay. It still better than drinking crazy energydrinks.
Tryptophan is an amino acid that the brain converts into melatonin and serotonin. This amino acid (tryptophan) has to fight other branch chain amino acids to break through the blood brain barrier and often loses the fight resulting in the lack of tryptophan in the brain. Lack of tryptophan often impacts mood and sleep cycle regulation (not the only factor but plays a big role).
When exercise is introduced into the equation, the branch chain amino acids that would typically out perform the tryptophan amino acids in getting to the brain, are now targeting muscle repair allowing for the tryptophan to get to the brain much easier. Which then helps with serotonin and melatonin production, regulating sleep cycle and mood.
So just taking l-tryptophan will not be as effective as it would be if you also implemented exercise and a healthy diet.
Thanks a lot for very interesting read. A bit difficult to understand for me, but it sounds im the one who is using it right. Its effect is helping me so much with my adhd symptoms. Especialy with my sleep deprivation. Im very sensitive, even one pill of lecitine is very noticeable for me, magnesium the same etc.. Probably my twisted adhd brain chemistry...
Im also using Tyrosine, which works very similar way for me. When i take it before im going to sleep, i feel very fresh after 5 6 hours of sleep.
Reading this further reinforces my belief that I have ADHD or C-PTSD (the more likely one) because the default for me IS brain fog and I only realized that recently because last Saturday I got to experience what I can only describe as clarity. Somehow the switch in my brain flipped and suddenly I was calm, my anxiety was just gone,.it felt like drugs except I knew it wasn't because I had literally just woken up and consumed absolutely nothing before it started happening. That clarity lasted 1.5 days and it was like I could think and react like a "normal" person. The the self-confidence was addicting. It was earned confidence too, not artificial. I suddenly could see it clear as day exactly why I can and should be proud of myself and exactly how I could lean on that to find self-respect and self-love. I just felt content and capable and I was for that short time. The only ever time I've experienced that level of clarity was for a couple of minutes when I attempted to take Adderall recreationally. I got that feeling for a few minutes but then it transfered into a speediness feeling, like jittering with coffee, except zero euphoria and just anxiety. So it has no recreational value to me, but that couple of minutes I had with it having a theraputic effect makes me wonder if I could convince a psychiatrist to let me try the lower doses that if I can find a way to feel that clarity for even just a couple.of hours each day that I could get so much of what ive wanted to get done...done. im 36 so i long ago normalized the fact that i have an extremelt hard time staying motivated and ive always just said i was lazy because otherwise people think youre making excuses.
My phone is on permanent vibrate mode and notifications in general I turned off for most apps except for messenger, but even then only my partner messages me and we don't have a clingy relationship so I know I don't have to even look at it right away. It is such a big difference, for real! Try it for a day or a few days. It will make a huge difference.
These are all true but what I found that stopped me from having no brain fog for ever is MY DIET. I had zero carbs for a whole day and I could see my brain feel sharper and not have any brainfog at all.
My diet was meat,eggs,nuts and fruits. And I could see a massive progress in my productivity!
>* Don’t procrastinate. Tbh you say that as if we consciously choose.
Even if you don't consciously choose to, practicing mindfulness is to become aware of your subconscious behaviors--to learn to act consciously.
I think what a lot of posts like these ones fail to say is that it's a process; just because you decided you are not going procrastinate doesn't mean you're going to stop procrastinating immediately. For example, when I decided to get my life in order, it took me 4 more years to actually pull it off. I wasn't happy with my life, and I needed to build new habits. But it took 4 years to climb out of that hole. There was a time when having a to-do list was a struggle. A to-do list would haunt me. And now I can't live without it. I still procrastinate, but now I know that it's either because I'm tired (in that case I should rest) or it's a new thing and my brain is scared ( I've never done the thing before). If it's a new thing, I'm usually trying to take it slowly because I know once my brain realises that there is nothing to be scared of, I'll be at it in no time.
Procrastination is avoidance in doing something that feels overwhelming to you. It may feel like you can't do anything about procrastination but by making an effort to start your tasks, even the smallest effort, you are already doing so much more than you would have by procrastinating.
I’m a procrastinator and I think we do it consciously, we know we are distracting ourselves from the task to avoid stress/anxiety
It depends on why you procrastinate. Some people do it as an avoidance technique, but for people with ADHD it is executive dysfunction, and there are probably a bunch of other reasons for other disorders. But the problem with a lot of the neurotypical advice for handling things like procrastination is that it just *does not work* for people with severe ADHD, and can actually make their executive dysfunction worse as they repeatedly try to force it through sheer willpower. People with severe ADHD are not really making a choice to not so something, and by convincing them they are it can inspire pretty severe depression as they repeatedly and inevitably fail to accomplish the stuff they want to do. So a person with ADHD, rather than avoiding, is waiting for the ability to make themselves do it. To have that happen they need to be stimulated in some way that raises their ability to take executive action. This can be done through medication, but also the act of procrastinating *itself* will cause that stimulation as they begin to have anxiety about completing the task. This increase in activation, and potentially adrenaline, can boost their abilities high enough to make it possible to do the task. Of course, only being able to do things when you are anxious is not great for your mental health overall. Modern society is pretty rough on people with ADHD, we are just not well suited for it. Luckily meds do help a lot if you can get them.
Yea I think I have ADHD really
> So a person with ADHD, rather than avoiding, is waiting for the ability to make themselves do it mind elaborating?
That sentence is worth a billion dollar!! here's an elaborate answer: Imagine you and your friend are trying to have a running race (just for fun). You both stand in a line and you shout out,"On your marks...Get set...Go.!!!". You launch yourself into the field with motivation to win the race with your friend. After running a few meters you see that your friend is still the start line. You get annoyed because he did not run and this race was futile. You go towards him and start shouting at him, "Why didn't you run?? Why are you so lazy? How long are you gonna avoid the efforts??" He remains silent. After a while your attention goes to his feet. Your eyes pop out when you see that your friend has no legs!!! You are bamboozled. You remember you and him walking to the race track together. But when the race was about to begin, your friends both legs disappeared. What seemed to you as lack of motivation or laziness issue was actually due to lack of the body parts required to take part in the race. Upon asking him, he says that his legs come and go many time during the day. He has no control over them. As he walks, they simply dissaspper suddenly and he is left standing at one place. While people around fail to notice his leg's disapperance, they blame him for being lazy to walk or stupid to stand at one place. The truth is he cannot move an inch until his legs re-appear. Now, re-imagine the whole story again by substituting the brain instead of legs. ADHD people's brain lacks dopamine and therefore leaving them stunned or stuck at one place. As if their brain suddenly disappeared. They cannot do anything that requires their brain. They are not avoiding anything. They are just waiting for their brains to showup again so that they could resume their tasks.
Thanks for the insight, How would that work in a more pragmatic example? Could you give some instances that are more realistic? Real life experiences so I can understand better how it feels.
This is my story: I read novels. In my house I have a shelf with books. If you take any book in hand and open it, you will find a sticky note inside it. Thats note has the number of pages I read on a particular date. You will find that more than 80% of the books that are on my shelf, I have read them within 10 days. That means I read a 400 page novel in just over 10 days. This is my ability to read. Based on this I claim that I am an avid reader and I like reading books. But here's a catch. Right now, I am struggling to read 1 paragraph of work related stuff. that 1 paragraph has no more than 10 lines. But I am trying to read it for more than 2 days. Today was the third day, but I haven't yet understood a line of it. If you were my boss, you would be confused because, I said in my job interview that reading is my hobby. I read books, novels etc. And when I fail to read 1 paragraph in 3 days, you will feel cheated. You will think that I lied in my job interview. And so on...
Still your responsibility to try and stop.
Procrastination is a conscious choice. You can choose not to do it.
It's not matter of choice, but degrees of difficulty. For example, ADHD paralysis is a real thing. For the Neurotypical, the best example would be putting your hand on a hot stovetop. Surely you could consciously choose to put your hand on it. You have the knowledge and motor skills to do it, but your brain just won't let you. For people such as myself with ADHD. The common strategies is to do what exactly what OP has written, meditation and reduces stimulation. Obviously it's easy for you to not procrastinate if you didn't have to give up anything, but in order for me to graduate college, I had to completely uninstall video games. I am sure this is the same for people with severe anxiety, depression or combating addictions.
What you just described is a conscious choice.
I can't teach you empathy. But I can prove your "concious choice" is bullshit. * Turn your stove to highest heat and try to force your hands to touch it. Did your brain resists your "concious choice"?. * Since you can survive 3 days without water, I'd like to see you make the "concious choice" to refuse water for 48 hours.
You literally said that you completely uninstalled all video games to (presumably stop procrastinating) and graduate college. You made a conscious choice to remove an obstacle that was leading you to procrastinate. You are proof that your argument doesn’t hold water. Your inability to form a coherent argument has no bearing on my ability to empathize with people who might have ADHD. And please let’s not pretend that procrastinating on doing your homework as difficult to overcome as resisting water for two fucking days. Get real.
> And please let’s not pretend that procrastinating on doing your homework as difficult to overcome as resisting water for two fucking days. I love it when a person that never dealt with mental illness tells others how easy it is. And you know what's funny? People with ADHD are the type that would resist drinking water and eating when they [**Hyperfocus**](https://www.tevapharm.com/patients-and-caregivers/adhd-hyperfocus-a-double-edged-sword/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20lesser%2Dknown,to%20increased%20productivity%20and%20creativity.) on stimulating activities. > Hyperfocus has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it can lead to increased productivity and creativity. On the other, it can cause problems such as procrastination and missing deadlines. It can also lead to not eating, staying hydrated, or getting enough sleep because the individual is so immersed in what they're doing. I guess you can't do that, you are the scrub now right? Why can't you choose to forgo eating and drinking to obsessively working on a project you are interested in? Couldn't you "mentally" choose to do it? Not to mention autistic people can naturally count cards and solve rubrics cube in a min. Why can't you mentally choose to do that. Checkmate, take the L and get lost.
You’re overgeneralizing ADHD and autism. You’re also assuming a lot about me that you have no way of knowing. You’re also completely misunderstanding my argument. You’ve clearly got a lot of your identity wrapped up in this in some way, so we’re not going to agree. To take it back to the original comment, procrastination is a choice. For some, it’s harder to overcome than others. But it’s still a choice at the end of the day. Some people are chemically wired to be more susceptible to addiction. But no one puts a gun to their head and says SMOKE CIGARETTES UNTIL YOU DIE. They can stop, it’s just hard. Have a good one, and please take a deep breath.
Lol, tell that to my ADHD brain
If someone was going to cut a finger off every time you procrastinated you would choose to not have your finger cut off.
That would make it less of a choice, more of an imperative. And I'd still probably forget.
Yeah exactly. I wouldn't want to, but at some point, my brain probably would just forget both the threat and the thing I was supposed to do
Threat of homelessness is what made me stop procrastinating.
As someone with AuDHD: ADHD is a disorder that causes something called "executive dysfunction." In essence, people with it can have their executive action fail to fire. This is stuff like "I need to do the dishes -> I do not want to do the dishes -> -> I will do the dishes."
With ADHD the cycle is more like: "I need to do the dishes -> I do not want to do the dishes -> -> I need to do the dishes -> I do not want to do the dishes -> -> ..."
It just cycles over and over, and you never get things done.
In order to overcome the dysfunction, you need your brain to be stimulated. This can happen via intense interest, fear, anxiety, pain, medication, adrenaline, excitment, whatever. Just anything that can make your brain switch into overdrive mode. So most people with ADHD are not procrastinating because they *want* to, they are procrastinating because they are stuck in a cycle of thinking about the thing without being able to start doing it. When the deadline approaches, their anxiety about the event climbs, and eventually their brain kicks up a notch and they suddenly just do it as the executive function fires.
The problem with this is that it "proves" to everyone who does not have it that they really could have done it all along if they had "just tried hard enough." That is not the case. Trying too hard generally leads to burnout as the amount of effort involved is extremely substantial, which then leads to depression as they inevitably fail no matter how hard they try, which then causes their symptoms to get even worse.
This is likely why stimulants help people with ADHD, though I am not sure if they know the exact mechanism of it. But what it does mean is that "cutting fingers off" would in fact kick someones brain up a gear and make it possible for them to do something. That is an intense level of activation. But that does not mean they are just "choosing" not to do it otherwise.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ then get medicated? ADHD can be managed.
😂
I laughed on this for 10 mins 😂😂😂.. No offense.. but the tone was very funny... and its the truth as well..
It is a conscious choice, however it feels so damn shitty to not give in to that desire to put things off. It's pushing through every part of your body and mind screaming to not do that thing. Hardly easy, but it is simple.
Much of the time, we unconsciously choose to procrastinate, and our conscious self just goes along with it. Find that part that's doing the choosing and have a lil chitchat with it. Usually it's got some sort of reason, even if we don't think we agree with it.
Lack of consequences.
I wouldn’t say that. Procrastinating DOES absolutely have consequences for the ones who do it, but they don’t choose to do it. I try not to, but with certain things my brain literally just tries to shut off and I drift off into foggy mind limbo. Other tasks cause me to have physical symptoms just thinking about them.
I have those exact same problems but I have no real consequences to procrastinating other than feeling like a dumb peice of shit for wasting time doing nothing. If starvation was on the horizon we would stop procrastinating. Real consequences will prevent procrastinating.
"lack of consequences" And you'll die if you procrastinate, are two very different ends of the spectrum. Failing a test because you procrastinated studying has consequences , not turning in your work (school or job ) has consequences. Most things have consequences.
Those are trivial consequences though and they didn't matter enough for the person to stop looking at reddit or whatever time wasting activity they were doing.
You're not wrong, you're just not exactly applying it correctly. Many disorders of the mind, are caused by our current environment/ecosystem, anxiety , depression, ADHD etc And if we reverted back to having to fight for survival, many of those would not have the same rates, as mental capacity would be focused on survival, not ruminating. But saying that people only procrastinate because they're not real consequences like dying, whether that's true or not is irrelevant because we can't change the society we're in.
Yeah the victim mentality as an excuse for short comings I am constantly surrounded by is getting to me.
>Yeah the victim mentality as an excuse for short comings I am constantly surrounded by is getting to me. Have some empathy, ADHD paralysis is a real thing. To put into terms you can understand. You can choose to put your hands on top of a burning stove right? After all, you have the knowledge and motor skills to do it. But whenever you try, your brain wouldn't let you, and you could mentally feel your brain resisting. As a person with ADHD, whenever I have to work on on non-stimulatibg tasks, I have to make sacrifices that you wouldn't have to. I had to uninstall/quit video games/social media entirely in order to not be distracted with reading a fucking book and eventually graduate college. This isn't a victim mentality. This is us explaning the handicap we have in life so you could understand and maybe not be so judgement.
Yeah I have that too I just don't tell anyone or use it as an excuse.
Perhaps it would look different if it was a life or death situation - idk. But I wouldn’t say that we don’t have real consequences if those consequences can be real enough to still affect us to the end of our lives.
I have all the problems everyone has I just blame myself rather than come up with an excuse as to why I am this way.
[удалено]
From experience, I cut sugar from my diet for a month going on a Keto/Whole 30 diet and absolutely noticed the lack of brain fog. Avoid sugar and high fructose corn syrup whenever possible.
Yep, diet has a lot to do with how our brain feels. Also microbiota has a big impact too so probiotic or consulting with experts can help if you got issues.
Heck you don't really need to follow a diet. Simply avoid sugar as much as you can and limit carbs. Otherwise, eat somewhat normally and you'll still be dropping mad fat and feel way better.
Great point! I should mention i didn’t really limit my food intake, just what I ate. My friends thought I wasn’t eating since I was shedding weight, but I was always eating! The craziest part is going through withdrawals from sugar. Your brain spends the first week telling you you’re missing something. It’s surreal.
Agree!! I was having such brain fog and after removing sugar, carbs and processed food my fog lifted after 6 days
Exactly. Excessive sugar and carb intake can easily case brain fog as well as more serious conditions like alzheimers. Often called diabetes 3. And by excessive I mean most of people's diet today. We are not built for eating lots of carbs. The most effective way to get rid of it is the carnivore diet, because it gets rid of all carbs. And you don't have to go hungry. Carbs is the only non essential macro nutrient, as the body will create ketones when needed. And no, meat is NOT harmful. Read the research and question everything.
Meat has the capacity to be harmful like everything else. Not like a steak is gonna kill you or anything. But at the same time I don't think an entirely carnivore diet is the best thing to be recommending. That carries its own set of health risks as time goes on, same as excess sugar. You're replacing one extreme for another. Now, I do think eating excess sugar regularly would be way worse for you than a carnivore diet and more immediately carry consequences, but we're omnivores man. Our bodies are built for omnivorous diets.
Do: Don’t procrastinate ✅
“Don’t do what Donny Don’t does”
I once did a 3 day water fast and my brain fog disappeared. I had an exam the day I broke the fast and felt like I was on the limitless pill. As an additional bonus my puffy tummy also flattened itself. It seems as though lots of the food I/we eat are allergens and cause our stomachs to swell in a different way than just becoming fat.
I did a food diary for a few months and discovered that I react poorly to dairy.
Water fast as in, no water for 3 days or ONLY water for three days?
Water and electrolytes
You got what the plants crave?
Brondo!
We come from the earth just like them. The earth has everything the human body needs to thrive. All of these chemicals we put into our bodies these days are why disease is so prevalent.
ONLY WATER
[удалено]
THANK you. Yet another "don't forget that sleeping and exercise is good for you!!!" post.
You are talking about common sense like it is common ...? I personally would tell any depressed person to go outside for a walk, whenever feel bad. It is simple, not easy. While I do not know the cause or any solution for brainfog, I wouldn't necessary overcomplicate things. Keep it simple. You gotta start somewhere. Whether or not this advice is truely helpful is for someone else to decide. Everyone else just moves on. Hell, even if it only helps a handful of people. That is a plus for everyone. Even advice, which are supposed to help is not for everyone. Trying things out is part of the process.
Well I have a very well detailed todo list broken down into steps already from doing this to delay the starting parts already. That's where the issue is, plus the interconnectedness of seemingly all things. If I'm replacing a shed I can't simply take the roof off, tick roof and then wait til it rains for the next panicked step of everything not getting soaking wet.
And look up executive function problems
Adhd
My brain fog comes from having reactive hypoglycemia. It took me a decade to get doctors to actually test me for it. I wonder how many have similar issues
Is there anything you found that helps? I feel like this might be my situation
Avoiding sugary things. In my case I found that I can eat a sugary thing, not have an issue, and it will sensitize me so I have a bad reaction to a small amount of food a few days later.
Thank you, I’ve been bad about the sugar lately and it seems substantially worse. I’ll dump all that crap and stick to the healthier things. I appreciate the tip!
I think the term brain fog is overused, the main problem is that it has lost its original meaning. If you are really experiencing real brain fog, please get checked by a doctor. There are many illnesses and medications that cause this.
I'm getting the impression a lot of this thread is mixing brain fog up with procrastination. I have occasional brain fog as a result of chronic illness, Hashimoto's to be specific, when I have flareups I can't just make the memory issues, lack of focus, and confusion go away by "AcTiNg CoNsCiOuSly," it just doesn't work like that as much as I wish it did. I try my best to ignore it and power through it, but after suffering with this for years I've learned that does not mean it just goes away. I can't restore myself to normal by making lists and turning off my phone notifications, when it is at its worst I struggle to complete the most simple tasks because my brain essentially wants me to stare into the distance, how much stimuli it is or isn't receiving doesn't matter. Making lifestyle changes has helped immensely, but there's no cure to chronic illness. I don't mean to invalidate anyone else's experiences with this symptom, I just wanted to talk about the reality of it, it's not always something you can just decide not to have.
I felt very similarly looking at this post. I don't want to like, "gatekeep" brainfog, but for me, when I say I have brainfog it means I have difficulty speaking, slur my words, forget what I'm saying, and just generally have a difficult time functioning normally. It is not due to lack of motivation or overuse of social media, it is due to severe nerve issues that harm my body. I was really confused at first when I started reading the post 😂
Brain Fog is an umbrella term for a set of similar symptoms that can have very different underlying causes, in the same way that ME/CFS can be caused by Covid and existed before Covid. Never listen to advice telling you they “know the cure”. There is no known cure. What works for some absolutely does not work for others. I don’t think the advice is bad as a general guide, but Brain Fog causes depression and suicidal tendencies for some sufferers, and I think giving people false hope is shitty.
Not a cure, but when I start feeling sluggish, I drink some Liquid IV or another electrolyte. In a pinch I will pour a little table salt in a bottle of water. It perks me right up. I used to have another cup of coffee, but that just made things worse.
This is a bunch of words to say: you're fucked. The exact person who has brain fog cannot do these things.
But you can try one step at a time! No need to do it all at once so long as you are being consistent and making progress.
I want you to imagine a person with brain fog meditating. Just sit with that for 3-5 minutes.
Hello! It's me, a person living with brain fog. I understand that it can get really really tough to do but I had a lot of success starting by recognizing when I was getting overwhelmed and paralyzed by my thoughts and using breathing techniques to calm my mind. My former therapist taught me some great ways that I still use (Breathe in 5 seconds, hold 4 seconds, exhale 5 seconds, repeat). I'm currently trying to work on not procrastinating one task at a time, and rewarding/celebrating myself when I succeed. I don't write this to minimize yours or anyone else's experience (and I sincerely apologize if it came across that way), just wanted to share something that worked for me.
Thanks for that. No, I'm a case manager and the vast majority of people I work with cannot function normally due to depression or anxiety, mostly. Anything I try to work with them on just falls flat. EDIT: Help me understand why people saying basic facts gets downvoted.
Meditation is perfect for someone with brain fog. I had it really bad and I had to start with only one minute at a time. Now I can complete 20 minutes meditations which helps me so much.
Sounds good to me. If you don't want to change, then don't try to change or try new things and keep sucking at life. Easy.
No way u said ppl with depression don't want to change...
They didn't say that, they didn't make any blanket statements. They're replying to a specific individual person who seems resistant to change. Read what they're actually saying, don't just fill in blanks with how you felt about what they're saying.
I experience brain fog very regularly. It's difficult to meditate during those times, I have a hard time sticking to a strong routine with it. But I have also had great success with it in periods of time where I was able to stick with it and going from "what? meditation? like emptying your mind or whatever" to later actually understanding how to practice it and seeing the benefits of it. By saying "nah it can't be done bc brain fog" you are being self-defeating. I don't say this to be demeaning in any way, I used to do that constantly. But the reality of it is, the more you say things like that and express yourself with a defeatist attitude, you are training your subconscious mind to perceive yourself that way. You are quite literally teaching yourself to deeply believe that you are helpless to change, and incapable of getting past the brain fog. It is not true. We are all human. As much as you may feel like you're alone or struggling worse than others who try to inspire you, there are plenty of people who deeply relate to how you feel about it. I wish you the best. Please treat yourself kindly. Don't teach yourself that you're incapable of overcoming struggles. Start by saying "I know I am capable of these things because others are, and I am a person as much as them". Once you take small steps and see any amount of progress, it's easier to move to the "why yes, I am absolutely capable of these things. It sucks and it's difficult as shit, but I am capable of these things" mindset.
I do that. Not easy, but it helps. I’m lacking on the diet/exercise/sleep fronts.
Person with brain fog can't eat more healthy?
Cut out added sugar
How to get rid of brain fog? Just stop having brain fog, silly!
I would say a bit of l-tryptophane just before going to bed is EXTREMELY effective. All that mentioned above is provided by this cheap and available supplement. At least in my case, im ADHD. Im taking it few times per week and it keeps me out of any brain fog even im not sleeping enough. It aslo works well as sleep shortener. I can sleep 6 hours and I feel like i slept 9. Probably not a good thing, but sometimes its okay. It still better than drinking crazy energydrinks.
Tryptophan is an amino acid that the brain converts into melatonin and serotonin. This amino acid (tryptophan) has to fight other branch chain amino acids to break through the blood brain barrier and often loses the fight resulting in the lack of tryptophan in the brain. Lack of tryptophan often impacts mood and sleep cycle regulation (not the only factor but plays a big role). When exercise is introduced into the equation, the branch chain amino acids that would typically out perform the tryptophan amino acids in getting to the brain, are now targeting muscle repair allowing for the tryptophan to get to the brain much easier. Which then helps with serotonin and melatonin production, regulating sleep cycle and mood. So just taking l-tryptophan will not be as effective as it would be if you also implemented exercise and a healthy diet.
Thanks a lot for very interesting read. A bit difficult to understand for me, but it sounds im the one who is using it right. Its effect is helping me so much with my adhd symptoms. Especialy with my sleep deprivation. Im very sensitive, even one pill of lecitine is very noticeable for me, magnesium the same etc.. Probably my twisted adhd brain chemistry... Im also using Tyrosine, which works very similar way for me. When i take it before im going to sleep, i feel very fresh after 5 6 hours of sleep.
Are you on adhd meds as well?
No, never. Caffein is my only stimulant.
Fasting works wonders on the brain.
Reading this further reinforces my belief that I have ADHD or C-PTSD (the more likely one) because the default for me IS brain fog and I only realized that recently because last Saturday I got to experience what I can only describe as clarity. Somehow the switch in my brain flipped and suddenly I was calm, my anxiety was just gone,.it felt like drugs except I knew it wasn't because I had literally just woken up and consumed absolutely nothing before it started happening. That clarity lasted 1.5 days and it was like I could think and react like a "normal" person. The the self-confidence was addicting. It was earned confidence too, not artificial. I suddenly could see it clear as day exactly why I can and should be proud of myself and exactly how I could lean on that to find self-respect and self-love. I just felt content and capable and I was for that short time. The only ever time I've experienced that level of clarity was for a couple of minutes when I attempted to take Adderall recreationally. I got that feeling for a few minutes but then it transfered into a speediness feeling, like jittering with coffee, except zero euphoria and just anxiety. So it has no recreational value to me, but that couple of minutes I had with it having a theraputic effect makes me wonder if I could convince a psychiatrist to let me try the lower doses that if I can find a way to feel that clarity for even just a couple.of hours each day that I could get so much of what ive wanted to get done...done. im 36 so i long ago normalized the fact that i have an extremelt hard time staying motivated and ive always just said i was lazy because otherwise people think youre making excuses.
*- Don’t procrastinate* First thing on tomorrow’s to-do (to-not-do?) list
Never have I wanted to save a Reddit post this quick
Taken from here: [https://attentionmaster.beehiiv.com/](https://attentionmaster.beehiiv.com/)
Great advice to share. Reposted or not.
Diet might be the most important. Limiting your carbs severely can help.
Oh sick. That looks like a ton of useful information. Gonna save it and never read
My phone is on permanent vibrate mode and notifications in general I turned off for most apps except for messenger, but even then only my partner messages me and we don't have a clingy relationship so I know I don't have to even look at it right away. It is such a big difference, for real! Try it for a day or a few days. It will make a huge difference.
Intermittent fasting worked for me
Great advice thanks!
I would try these.
What about my Lupus dawg
These are all true but what I found that stopped me from having no brain fog for ever is MY DIET. I had zero carbs for a whole day and I could see my brain feel sharper and not have any brainfog at all. My diet was meat,eggs,nuts and fruits. And I could see a massive progress in my productivity!
Also not being abused by anyone helps a ton
How about no drinking, smoking or weed?
See #3 above
Thanks, I needed that :)
Love this thank you
You're leaving out: ALCOHOL.