Ive been doing a lot of reading, researching and thinking about the idea of mental fatigue. How it affects almost every area of your life and what it shows up as. Funnily enough (not remotely funny), the term that has been cropping up everywhere is ‘brain rot’. Although not a technical term by any stretch, when I look at what people say is brain rot it ends up lining up quite well with mental fatigue - short attention span, difficultly focusing, mental burnout, memory problems, low drive, irritable or restless and tired but not necessarily sleepy (but sometimes both).
Brain rot specifically can be used to describe (in a casual way, and not an official diagnosis) what happens as a result of digital overload and constant scrolling. But if we all live life with our phones by our side with all the information we need at just a scroll away, is it possible to have both? The phone when you need it and the balanced mind where we don’t feel like we are a shell of our former selves?
If you want a deep explanation of all the above, listen to my episode ‘Understanding The Neuroscience of Mental Fatigue’ Right HERE.
But in short, the answer is yes. And Here is my go - to for how to rot your brain in 16 easy steps. (I tried to make it less. Sixteen is not as sexy as five. But I simply couldn’t resist adding more to the list)
Try one, or try all. It will surely make a positive difference in your life.
Eat in peace. Just sit and eat. (You can read a book if you like) but no passive consumption of entertainment. It has to be slow consumption or no consumption of information while eating.
Do a little brain training game for yourself. Make a game up that you like or use this: Be given a list of 5 unrelated words in the morning (your partner, friend, housemate can give you these words) they must be either nouns, verbs or adjectives, and try to recall them all them by the evening. It will keep you circling back through the day playing this recall exercise.
Make all social interactions a phone free zone unless the phone is an active part of the interaction (if you are filming a story together, if you are trying to call or message someone when it is relevant) but no checking socials, no scrolling, no reading emails. If someone is making you wait. You just wait. Or better yet do my following recommendation.
Carry a book around with you and the moment you COULD scroll, just whip out the book. If you are having coffee with someone and they are distracted on their phone, whip out your book and watch them return to you FAST. Nothing screams I’ve got better things to do than watch you scroll, then pulling out a NOVELLA.
Chose one article a day to read - something educational. It could be an article on psychology today or Science or Neuron, could be something about the political landscape, could be on how to improve writing. But make it educational.
Top and tail of the day are for your brain. Not for checking what others are doing with their lives, and certainly not for engaging in someones argument in the comment section.
Cognitive friction - play some active recall games. Either alone or with a friend. Name celebrities / actors names from the cast of TV shows. Try to remember every country or trip you have visited / gone on. Do crosswords or problem solving puzzles or something that requires retention learning (or my personal favourite like learning the flags of the world).
When watching a show, watch ONE episode. Treat it like the early 2000s. One or two episodes a week, and watch something else if you must but we need to teach ourselves how to wait and how to look forward to things. This instant gratification takes away all the ‘looking forward’ to the smaller things in life. And looking forward to things is a predictor of life satisfaction so simply STOP making it all so instant. And break the cycle of needing to have it all at your fingertips. This not only halts that habit. But it gives you more cognitive control, where you are in charge not your impulses.
Before using AI try and do some of the task yourself. Especially if it is one that requires the formation of ideas or brainstorming. Don’t do AI first unless it is a skill that you have no interest is improving or needing (for me, that is coding). Once you have the ball rolling then you can use AI for add on ideas or formatting or summarising etc. That way, you always maintain the ability to generate ideas from thin air.
Have magnesium, creatine and electrolytes, and stay hydrated people!
Movement in between tasks. If you are going from being on your computer all day to then being on your phone taking a rest that is a recipe for brain fog. Instead, do some squats, jumps, a stretch or a walk outdoors ideally.
Allow for ‘boredom’ at least 15 mins in the day. You do not need constant entertainment input. The more you do this the more you will start to enjoy it, and the more new ideas you will notice yourself coming up with.
Read, read read read. One of the best ways to regulate the brain and to also improve your intelligence is by reading. So do more of it. And even if you love audiobooks, still try reading a book here and there. The pacing is slower, the retention is higher, it requires more working memory, and a need to decode the visual input that enters your brain into language and context. Its a great exercise for the brain and imagination.
Engage in physically challenging tasks (not necessarily a workout) but something that your body must LEARN. It could be dancing, rock climbing, yoga, juggling, juggling a soccer ball, playing a racket sport. Shooting basketball hoops.
Get outside. Often. Leave your office, your home, get outside. And walk.
Set a limit on passive consumption on social media (doom-scrolling that is) what does that time limit look like? Take a look at your current total day usage (you can find this data within the apps) and ask yourself what is a realistic reduction of that total time? Half? (Aim for half).
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, now see how many you can put into practice and report back to me if you please!
IF you would like the podcast version of this with more details checkout the episode!
Alexis
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