Ask HN: How do you deal with brain fog?

5 pointsnoshbrinken9y ago5 comments

Do programmers have this? Has it affected your work?

5 comments

5 comments · 3 top-level

iclouddrive9y ago· 2 in thread

time off, therapy, anti-depressants, outdoor hobbies.

keeping tons of notes, screenshots and todos in onenote

smt889y ago

I'll add sleep to this list.

Also, re: anti-depressants: the research is very mixed on the effectiveness vs. placebo[1], and the side effects may not be worth what positive effects are experienced. Many anti-depressants can actually create brain fog (which is, of course, a worthwhile price to pay if the alternative is feeling suicidal).

In general, it's wise to start with therapy and see what your health-care providers recommend from there.

1. https://gimletmedia.com/episode/11-antidepressants/

iclouddrive9y ago

for me, sleep wasn't happening and didn't come until several weeks of both therapy and antidepressants - but yes, everyone is different and different drugs work in different ways for everyone.

slmrnz9y ago

As I get older, I'm noticing my head has gotten much cloudier.

I often fix it at work by leaving notes for myself within in my code, my notebook, and assigning myself JIRA bug. I've also noticed that working out in the morning before work leaves more relaxed during the day and helps my memory quite a bit.

It hasn't negatively impacted my work as far as I can tell. I've had to bandaid fix it using the above methods, but as long as it doesn't get much worse I don't see it becoming an issue.

cdvonstinkpot9y ago

I'm not a programmer per se, but I've encountered this. Probably after age 35 I noticed I couldn't remember stuff I wanted to come back to as well as I had become used to years prior. I've adapted by taking extensive notes & using a "To Do List" app on Android in which I can remind myself of stuff for later.

I have to say though, this year is the first time I've used an Android, having been a BlackBerry fan since 2006. I still have yet to find a "Tasks" app as good as the BlackBerry's "Tasks" app.

Perhaps worth mentioning is that I've also noticed that coffee (& caffeine in general) no longer provides the desired 'pep' & alertness it used to. I switched to Yerba Mate last summer & it didn't live up to the hype that caught my interest. Was lurking on r/Nootropics for awhile before deciding that would be too expensive to try. Saw some success stories there, so I figured I'd mention it here. YMMV

Best of luck!

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