Ep. 128 - Three Ways to Help an Overwhelmed Brain

If you feel overwhelmed, you are not alone. In this episode we are going to look at some straightforward steps that we can take to help our (sometimes) overloaded brains. Whether you have too many mental tabs open and running or are struggling with indecisiveness, these bite sized tips can help you recenter your attention and begin to take (ridiculously) small steps towards action.  

Transcript

Our brain is one of the hungriest parts of your body – it consumes approximately 20% of all of our energy each day. So all of the thinking and doing (and overthinking and overdoing) draws down on the energy reserves. 

Our brain is made up of approximately 100 billion neurons. These neurons are how our brain deploys its plan. Messages travel through our cells which are out there receiving sensory input from the world around us, and they in turn send motor commands to our muscles, and relay electrical signals at every step in between. 

But like any supercomputer, our brains can get overheated & overwhelmed. The Bottom Line on Top of this episode is that when our mental keys get stuck, try a little tenderness. 

A quote I’ve shared before is from writer Anne Lamott that says: Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes - even you. 

Episode 10 first outlined the impact of all the thousands of decisions we process and ponder each day. Decision fatigue is the term for the deteriorating quality of decisions that one makes after an extended period of time when making a large volume of decisions. That could be in a day, over the course of the week, and sometimes that can happen in a matter of minutes.

Decision fatigue can come and go based on the circumstances. Have you ever been in a meeting or a conversation where you’re more likely to just agree with what’s being said because you no longer have the desire or discipline to continue? Or you find yourself in a grocery store when midway down an aisle, and all of a sudden your brain just stops taking messages? Cannot function, must go home.

Decision fatigue is more than just a feeling; it has a direct connection to our brain function. Pay attention to when your brain is sending up a white flag. It’s a signal that you are entering the deep, fatigue phase. 

And when you’re feeling depleted, you’re far more likely to be impulsive, passive, avoidant, or influenced by others. 

So what can you do when you feel the brain drain happening in the moment?

This episode offers a few options to help redirect when you hit a cognitive, or an energetic roadblock. 

1. The first tip comes from Episode 33. This is about Ridiculously Small Steps, or RSS, this is an intentional approach to unpacking what’s in front of you into tiny tangible actions.
   
   The more micro, the better here. Focus on the immediate action next instead of the entire decision or the extended effort needed. Find an RSS that almost sounds too easy. That’s what the “Ridiculous” part means here. For example, look up a phone number, open a new document and just save it, go and put away just one dish or fold one piece of laundry. Once you extend an initial effort, even for a matter of seconds, you don’t have to finish the entire element in order for momentum to be set in motion.
   
   
2. Number 2 is to borrow energy. Earlier this year, I heard about the concept of ‘body doubling’ which is the practice of doing a task in the presence of someone else. It’s also sometimes known as parallel working, this is a strategy where you rely on the presence of another person or people to increase your own focus and motivation to work on tasks. 
   Now this can be an arranged agreement (think of a study buddy) or a virtual one where you both focus on a task without much interaction and no physical presence required. It can also be a focus function when you go to a place where others are, such as a library, coffee shop, etc. 
   
   Physiology research suggests that this coworking approach can activate the brain’s dopamine reward circuitry. Part of this reason is because body doubling centers around social facilitation theory which says that people perform better when in the presence of others. Like if you are at a gym or in a sporting environment and you see other people still going you are more likely to pick up their pace or extend your own effort.
   
   I did this myself recently while packing up my house–a friend was over to get some of her things from my storage area. We were in the same room but sorting through different boxes and just her mere presence boosted my motivation to keep going. I’ve also done similar efforts with virtual groups where we meet online at a set time and work quietly on individual projects for a set amount of time. 
   
   
3. The third tip is another cognitive tool of what I call the Mental Multiple Choice. When I’m over tired/hungry/or just overwhelmed, I try to switch to a this-or-that model: Do I want this or this? And listen for your brain to respond, sometimes your body responds for it, and even a response that says: I don’t want either one of those. That’s actually progress. 
   
   The move into the multiple choice can then be: “Okay, pick one of these three things.” You can do that if you’re trying to make a decision about what to eat and also what to do next. So I can work on this email and this project, or I can return that phone call. The trick is to only do this a couple of times – otherwise your brain can get overwhelmed all over again. But there is a sweet spot to making decisions. When you narrow down to just a few options and help focus on the RSS of the here-and-now you get more control back when you're feeling somewhat out of control.   

Not all of these options will work every time but having a few tools within reach will help when you start to feel the burn of indecision and inaction. 

A bonus boost is always sleep. And I know it may not be available in all circumstances, but research has shown that there are very real reductions in our cognitive quality when we try to push through and carry on. So if you have an opportunity for a nap or to sleep on something, not as a way to avoid it, but as a way to refresh and reboot, it will fundamentally help that fatigue feel a little bit more manageable. 

So to recap, break actions into micro bits with ridiculously small steps; borrow energy when you can from others; look for multiple choice or at least a this or that, and prioritize sleep or at least some rest. 

And when in doubt, try unplugging You for a few minutes. We all need to reboot from time to time. 
So however and whenever you can, take care to take good care.