How to Work With Brain Fog

Some days, my mind is clear and sharp and the words flow. I get an idea. I sit down to write and it’s all there, coherent and articulate.

And some days, it’s not. A fog sets in and ideas remain in a haze, hidden behind a smoke screen. They are right there, so close I can touch them, and also elusive. Like trying to catch a cloud. The more I try to grasp them the more they elude me.

I know kind of know what I want to say but when I try to express myself there is no concreteness to any of it.

I am learning that this is yet another manifestation of ADHD that is suddenly new to me, despite being diagnosed for 20 years. The brain changes. Neuro-diversity doesn’t show up the same way in everyone, or in anyone.

The way I work has to change. The way I relate to myself and to my work has to change.

I am learning that it is useless to fight this.

Fighting my brain just exacerbates the condition.

This is a concept that applies beyond this specific example:

Resistance is an energy drain.

The more we resist, the less energy we have available to do the work that matters.

Acceptance is a powerful productivity hack because it preserves energy.

Acceptance doesn’t mean we have to like it. It just means we acknowledge that this is how it is in the moment.

Brain fog is just a weather system. Eventually the sun will burn it away. And when it does, it helps to have our energy levels full to seize the moment.