Ep 191 - Three Ways to Calm Your Overwhelmed Brain

Our brains do a lot of heavy lifting every single day. During periods of change (a new season, a new year, or just life), it’s common to feel overwhelmed.

This episode revisits three simple, science-backed ways to reset when your brain feels stuck, fried, or overloaded and explores: 

• Why decision fatigue drains your cognitive energy faster than you realize
• How ridiculously small steps can restart momentum
• Why borrowing energy (also known as body doubling) works when motivation is low
• How switching to mental multiple choice reduces overwhelm
• Why rest and sleep are not optional extras, but cognitive necessities

Sometimes the most effective reset isn’t pushing harder, it’s pausing just long enough to let your brain cool down.

If this topic resonates, you may also enjoy revisiting the original episode referenced here: ▶️ Episode 10 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Gd0K-2BxFnU

Transcript

Our brains do a lot of heavy lifting every single day. And during change, whether that is changes of seasons, changes of year, or just changes in general, it’s common to feel more overwhelmed than usual.

So today’s episode revisits episode 10 from October 2024, offering a few simple ideas on how to reset when things start feeling stuck.

Let’s get into it…

Our brain is one of the hungriest parts of your body. It consumes approximately 20 percent of all of our energy each day. So all of the thinking and doing, and overthinking and overdoing, draws down on those energy reserves.

Our brain is made up of approximately 86 billion neurons. These neurons are how our brain deploys its plan. Messages travel through our cells as they receive sensory input from the world around us, send motor commands to our muscles, and relay electrical signals at every step in between.

But like any supercomputer, our brains can get overheated and overwhelmed.

The Bottom Line on Top of this episode is that when our mental keys get stuck, try a little tenderness.

A quote I have shared before is from writer Anne Lamott: Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, even you.

Episode 10 first outlined the impact of the thousands of decisions we process each day. Decision fatigue is the term for the deteriorating quality of decisions we make after an extended period of choosing, weighing, and evaluating. That can happen over a day, a week, or sometimes in a matter of minutes.

Have you ever been in a meeting where you are more likely to just agree with what is being said because you no longer have the desire or discipline to continue? Or found yourself halfway down a grocery store aisle when your brain suddenly stops taking messages altogether? Cannot function. Must go home.

Decision fatigue is not just a feeling. It has a direct connection to brain function. When your brain sends up a white flag, it is often signaling that you are entering a deeper fatigue phase.

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

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

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

First, ridiculously small steps.
This approach focuses on breaking what is in front of you into tiny, tangible actions. The more micro, the better. Look for a step that almost sounds too easy. That is what makes it ridiculous. Open the document. Look up the number. Put away one dish. Fold one piece of laundry.

Momentum does not require completion. It requires initiation.

Second, borrow energy.
This is often called body doubling or parallel work. It is the practice of doing a task in the presence of someone else, in person or virtually, with very little interaction required.

Research suggests this works because of social facilitation and dopamine reward pathways. We tend to extend our effort when others are nearby and engaged.

I experienced this myself while packing up my house to move. A friend was in the same room, working on something completely different, and her presence alone boosted my motivation to keep going. I have also done this with virtual groups where we meet, work quietly, and simply share space.

Third, mental multiple choice.
When you are tired, hungry, or overwhelmed, switch from open ended decisions to a this or that model. Do I want this or this?

Even a response of neither is information. You can then narrow it further and choose between three options instead of twenty. The key is to stop before your brain becomes overwhelmed all over again.

Not every tool will work every time. But having a few options within reach can help when you start to feel the burn of indecision and inaction.

A bonus boost is always sleep. And while it is not always available, research shows that pushing through fatigue comes at a real cognitive cost. If you can nap, rest, or sleep on something, not to avoid it but to reset, it can make a meaningful difference.

Since I first recorded this episode, I’ve spent more time exploring the difference between sleep and fatigue, and why rest does not always look or feel the same for everyone. If this topic resonates, see the show notes from a link to another episode. 

So to recap, break actions into micro steps, borrow energy when you can, narrow decisions, and prioritize rest.

And when in doubt, try unplugging you for a few minutes, too.