5 Tips to Reduce Pandemic Brain Fog
The pandemic has effected all of our lives in dozens of ways, but something you may not have considered is the effect of constant stress on your memory. Kristine C. Keane Psy.D. gives us ways to reduce the fogginess that may come along with dealing with the uncertainty we’re still currently facing.
After months of prolonged stress, brain fog or pandemic fatigue is unfortunately common. Brain fog is a state of cognitive dysfunction that makes the brain processes slower and less efficient. It predominantly affects memory and, as a result, the ability to store and recall information, a task that seems typically second nature, becomes increasingly more challenging. Implementing a few small changes in your daily life can significantly increase memory retention and clear away some of that fog. The gold standard of brain health is regular physical exercise, cognitive activity, social participation, and nutrition. Also, here are five tips to reduce memory loss due to brain fog:
1. Pay attention.
The root of most memory lapses is inattention. Without taking a moment to think about and pay attention to new information, it is easy to confuse memories or never fully form the memory in the first place. Take parking your car, for instance. People often forget where they parked their vehicle because they did not pay enough attention to it when they formed the memory. Most people need to register a landmark or something familiar in the area to remember where they parked their car. Slow down, pay attention, and give your brain time to think about the information you are trying to store and retain—pick out a landmark if you need to.
2. Repetition, repetition, repetition.
Regardless of your age, repeating information helps you remember it. Memories that are called upon frequently are more likely to be remembered, and memories that you don't think about are more likely to be forgotten. When you repeat something in your mind over and over, you create a well-worn path of neurons that will take you directly to that memory with more and more ease each time. When you want to remember something, encode it with as much meaningful information as possible. Instead of trying to memorize just a word, learn as much as you can about that word. The golden rule is, use it or lose it! New information can knock out old news on an as-needed basis.
3. Cut down on multitasking.
Due to the explosion in social media and technology, many of us find ourselves too distracted by multiple stimulation sources all day long. Memory interference occurs when we have numerous things to remember at the same time. You might be able to recognize one event or one piece of information, but if you keep adding to this mental list, you are bound to forget something. For example, even though you put everything in a calendar, you may still find yourself late or forgetting appointments. At some point in our lives, our brain reduces the number of things we can think about and do simultaneously.
The common misconception about multitasking is that it allows us to do multiple tasks at once flawlessly; however, what we are doing is splitting our attention in half and only giving each task half of our attention—when we add a third task to the mix, it becomes too much for the brain to handle and accuracy drops considerably. If you cut down on the number of jobs you are doing at once, you can pay attention to what you are trying to remember—this gives the brain a chance to encode correctly and create a new memory.
4. Use agendas, alerts, and reminders.
Much of the things we think about and try to remember during the day are influenced by our moods, biases, beliefs, experiences, expectations, and physiology at the time. A bad day, an argument, or an exciting perspective can distract or distort how we encode information. To save your memories from being impacted by your attitude, place alerts, and reminders into your phone or electronic device immediately upon receiving information. Not only will this help encode new details correctly, but it can also eliminate forgetting things that you never encoded in the first place. If you write something down, your brain does not have to work as hard to remember.
5. Get organized.
One of the most common complaints about forgetting involves losing everyday things we often carry, like keys or cell phones. It is completely normal to lose something and spend some time looking for them. Try keeping a box or basket near the front door or where you place things like your wallet or your keys when you come into your home. By consistently placing items in the same place, you reduce the need to look for them. Routine and organization are great memory aids.
Brain fog is a rare but possible symptom of many medical conditions such as MS, depression, anemia, diabetes, and hormonal changes, so if it is persistent, do not hesitate to contact your doctor. If you suspect you may have abnormal memory issues, such as memory loss, you should contact your primary care physician or neurologist. They can help determine whether your memory loss is age-related or inconsistent with your same-aged peers and needing further evaluation.