Brain fog- the bane of mom’s everywhere! Our constant companion through pregnancy, postpartum, and, it often feels, through the rest of our lives. Brain fog can be characterized by a lack of concentration, an inability to
make decisions, frequent headaches, and nausea, to name a few.
If you are trying to run a household, a business, and raise great humans, there is nothing that can derail your daily plan quite like brain fog. Do you ever sit down at the computer to do a bit of work but you can’t quite focus, or you feel scattered? Or does that joke about “cleaning ADD” ring true more often than not? (I’m raising my hand over here!)
A few common causes of brain fog could range from a nutrient deficiency, lack of proper sleep, ingesting an abundance of sugar, hormone shifts, a thyroid condition, or even depression. Inactivity and chronic stress can also unleash brain fog, so there are a lot of factors at play when nailing down what's causing your brain fog. Luckily, this isn’t a life sentence, and you don’t have to wait until the kids are older or out of the house or at school to get your groove back!
Balance Your Blood Sugar
Blood sugar spikes and dips are one of the #1 things that mess up our focus and concentration. Imagine a roller coaster, and now imagine trying to write a blog post or help the kids with their math homework while riding that roller coaster! This is what is happening internally when our blood sugar is out of whack. And you don’t need to have been diagnosed with diabetes or hypoglycemia to experience blood sugar dysregulation. If you have ever been hangry then you know what I’m talking about!
My #1 tip to getting on the right path to blood sugar balance is to eat within 90 minutes of waking up. Even better if you add a serving of a healthy fat such as avocado, or almond butter, to your breakfast menu.
Get Moving
If you are an online entrepreneur, then I can imagine that you log loads of time each week sitting behind a screen working away. Increased activity levels are known for boosting your mental acuity, so even if your schedule truly is packed, there are still things you can do to get moving. Take a break, load the kids into a stroller or pull out their bikes and take 10-minute walk around the neighborhood a few times a day to stretch your legs and get your blood moving. You will be making family memories, raising active kids, and boosting your productivity for your next round of work or housekeeping.
Sleep on it
I don't need to tell you your body needs enough sleep to function properly.
Rest is one of the most crucial aspects of your overall health, so get that sleep
you need by going to bed a little earlier every night until you're getting more
Zzz's. If you have trouble falling asleep, make sure you are staying away from screens at least an hour before bed, or if you must be on a screen wear blue light blocking glasses or download the free program f.lux to automatically begin decreasing blue light on your computer screen as the sun sets.
Get into meditation
With all of the cell phone dings and rings, kids whining or calling for us to come and see their latest masterpiece, it’s no wonder it is hard to concentrate when we try to do something for more than a few minutes. That sort of focus takes practice, and it’s not something mompreneurs have a lot of chance to get in.
Meditation is a great way to exercise that muscle in just a few minutes each day! I’m not talking about sitting criss cross applesauce and chanting “ohm” either. Meditation can have so many different aspects. The point is just to shut off the external and internal noises and focus on something. Maybe you are focusing on your breath (the best way to manually take yourself out of fight or flight mode), or prayer, or a Scripture verse, or an affirmation. The point is that you are learning to be quiet and still which is a skill quickly vanishing in today's instant society. Just doing this 5 minutes a day has been shown to increase focus and productivity!
Make the food you eat count
Food really is the way to balance your health. You need to make sure you are
getting enough of the food your brain needs to work optimally. Eat omega-3
fatty acids, antioxidants, and whole foods loaded with vitamins and minerals
for your best brain health. Try adding some MCT oil into your morning
coffee or taking it a step further for some "bulletproof" coffee (google it, it
sounds strange, but it wakes up your brain in a snap!)
When most people focus on their health, they often put more emphasis on
their physical aspects. But well-rounded health comes from balancing both
physical and mental. Give some of these tips a shot and see what helps lift the
brain fog for you.
If you want even more tools + practical action steps, grab my free e-guide Refuel which shares my top 5 tips to beating burnout as a mompreneur!