Overcoming the “Mental Fog”

Imagine your brain as a powerful networked computer system capable of processing vast amounts of information simultaneously; “tetrabytes” of it. It completes functions as designed and works very reliably over extended time periods and under the most trying of conditions... that is until there is a sudden mysterious malfunction and it “locks up” on you like any other computer system invariably does. Perhaps it’s due to overload or misuse, but certainly preventable.

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I have the odd “lock up,” don’t you? Times when the brain ceases to work and cognitive processing is on ‘slow time’. It’s punctuated by mental, emotional, and spiritual lethargy and eventual arrest. All one can do is find reason for complaint as all seems too hard. It’s an impaired, and at worst disabled, “operating system” we’re dealing with here, and it’s often due to overload or a spiritual chasm; the experience of a mini-spiritual death.

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Somehow the challenge is to overcome this condition. Yet it seems absolutely impenetrable. What can we do? I brainstormed after a recent bout of mental fog and came up with the following options to try:

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~ Simply surrender and take the day off, especially if it only occurs once in a blue moon.[1] Try going for a long walk;

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~ Experience biblical grace. In other words, be gentle on yourself;

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~ Smile into a mirror, and if possible, laugh; not at yourself though; and,

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~ Use innovative wisdom i.e. find a solution to overcome or break the fog.

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It helps when you know yourself and the activators to mental fog. Keeping a journal is good to identify patterns and environmental triggers. It’s a horrible, disempowering condition when it sets in particularly when you have people relying on you, say at work or in the home.

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Mental fog is particularly a symptom for good old-fashioned burn out. If you get it more often perhaps it’s time to take a holiday. Don’t be afraid of getting the help of a therapist. It could also be an indicator of a poor vocational fit and a sign of the necessity for change.

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Finally, it’s vital you don’t give up your search for a solution in overcoming mental fog; there are solutions, or better put, you will discover a solution(s). If nothing else, you have a fresh day tomorrow to look forward to.

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© Copyright 2008, Steven John Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

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[1] Blue moons actually come every 2.72 years!