5 Techniques For Brain Fog
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I’ve noticed that the weather has a significant impact on my mood. Grey, cloudy rainy days often feel harder. Sunny, blue sky days feel easier.
And the same goes for the weather in my mind.
Some days it feels like the sun is shining in my mind: there’s clarity and I can make progress with whatever is in front of me. Other days feel more like low grey cloud with intermittent showers. Thinking is harder. Work takes more effort. Even small decisions feel more difficult. - i.e many of my days last week!
We can’t control the weather (unfortunately). We can only control how we respond to it.
The dreaded Brain Fog. Why does it happen and what can we do about it?
Brain fog isn’t a medical condition, it’s a state your brain slips into when it’s overloaded, under-fuelled, or stressed.
How much is brain fog impacting you? Take the mini test here
7 Main Causes of Brain Fog
1. Low quality sleep or disrupted sleep
Your brain clears waste and resets memory networks at night.
When sleep is impacted, thinking feels slower the next day.
2. Chronic stress
High stress hormones (especially cortisol) narrow attention and reduce access to higher order thinking.
3. Inflammation or illness
Even mild infections or low inflammation redirect energy away from the brain, creating that hazy feeling.
4. Blood sugar swings
If your blood sugar crashes, the brain briefly has less fuel; leading to fog, irritability, and trouble focusing.
5. Too much cognitive load
Notifications, multitasking, and constantly switching tasks exhaust the prefrontal cortex.
6. Dehydration
A small drop in hydration (1–2%) affects attention, processing speed, and memory.
7. Nutrient or hormone imbalances
Examples: low B12, low iron, thyroid issues, perimenopause, all can create foggy thinking.
5 Mini Techniques to Help Reduce Brain Fog Today
Here are five simple, evidence based techniques you can use today to lift the mist and think clearer today.
1. A 10 breath pause - takes 2 minutes
Inhale for 4
Hold for 4
Long slow gentle exhale - this is the key part
Leave space for a natural pause at the end of the exhale
Slow exhale breathing nudges the nervous system into a calmer, more oxygen-efficient state.
Science: Longer exhales activate the parasympathetic branch, improving cognitive flexibility and reducing stress related fog. Look outside at a part of nature to optimise mental recovery.
2. Light movement to increase blood flow
Try: 5 minute walk outside, vacuum one room, go up and down the stairs twice.
Movement boosts oxygen and glucose delivery to the brain.
Science: Studies show that even 2–5 minutes of light movement enhances attention and working memory. Doing this outside will also indue the benefits of ‘biofeedback’; nature brings us back to the present and calms our nervous system.
3. Reduce the ‘input load’
Try: Put your phone in another room for the next 20 minutes. Close one tab. Put Teams on DND. Mute one notification. Remove one source of noise.
Science: Cognitive load theory shows that reducing competing inputs frees up prefrontal capacity for clearer thinking - it feels easier to focus
4. Break one task into a micro step
Try: Pick one task and focus on it for 20 minutes without interruption
Fog makes the brain overestimate difficulty. Shrinking the task lowers the barrier.
Science: Behavioural research shows that small, winnable steps trigger dopamine, which improves clarity and momentum.
5. A glass of water + a pinch of salt
Try: Drink a glass of water hot or cold; add a tiny pinch of salt if you haven’t eaten yet.
Mild dehydration can reduce mental performance without you noticing.
Science: Even a 1–2% drop in hydration impairs attention, short-term memory, and energy levels.
Some days it feels like we’re caught in a rip tide. We are trying so hard but frustratingly making little or no progress. This is normal. It’s natural. We’re simply trying to do too much. There are more distractions than ever before. We’re exposed to more information than at any other time in history. We skip the quiet recovery moments we know we need. We don’t quite get enough sleep. It makes total sense why so many of us are experiencing brain fog more frequently.
Brain fog is not a personal flaw, it’s a perfectly human response to overload.
Brain fog is a sign. It’s a signal. We need to do something differently. We need to adjust something. Try one of the techniques above see how it helps ‘clear the clouds’ a little.
You are a good person, doing your best. That’s enough.
“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking,”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Need a hand? Feel alone? Don’t wait, contact someone today. You deserve support as much as anyone else. You are not alone. Reply to this message if that’s easiest.
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