Clear thoughts, better actions.

Life is all about cyclical processes—your mind guides your actions, and your actions set the stage for the quality of your mind's output. I'm a bit obsessed with the topic due to my extensive battle with brain fog, so I hope you enjoy this brief little rabbit hole!

There are two main drivers for foggy, sluggish thinking:

(1) habits and
(2) physiological conditions.

I've discovered that it's extraordinarily hard to resolve (2), but we can give ourselves a fighting chance by tweaking (1).

To improve our output, we need to swap negative or draining inputs, with ones that provide more fuel.

Subtraction

In my case, removing 90% of alcohol was a snowball effect for plethora other improvements.

The unpredictable sleep schedule & late nights made way for a regular sleep routine. This meant earlier mornings, so I no longer had to squeeze gym sessions into the evenings—plenty of time to lift before work! This had the added benefit of eliminating the late night snacks, too.

One simple reduction, but a multitude of associated changes.

Whatever your approach, the intent is to find ways to make space for your mind to work at peak performance.

Addition

While less alcohol & better sleep improved my brain fog, it also gave me oodles of free time.

As our thoughts get clearer, we realize where we're actively harming ourselves. I didn't want to waste my gym progress by eating poorly! My diet got more optimized, and is now 80% structured and 20% free flow. The connection to thinking is simple: better nutrients going in, better thoughts going out… easy win.

The next major improvement came via adding more reading. I had an hour set aside every night before bed, and sporadic time in the evenings & weekends as well. The quantity and quality of books I began to read were lightyears ahead of where I was before.

For people trying to hone their thinking, this is the easiest method to get the juices flowing. Reading—especially good fiction—stimulates your mind & creativity like nothing else in the world.

Next up, and perhaps most important: grab a pen.

Writing

Having the thought is one thing, but can you articulate it?

Picture a children's toy, where you need to match the shape with the respective hole. When some people speak, it feels like they always match the right shape—we marvel at how eloquent they are, and how the ideas are so structured and well thought out.

Conversely, there are millions of people trying to ram square pegs into round holes. Thoughts that don't make sense, ramblings that leave you wondering what planet they're on.

Writing forces you to understand the deeper connection between your thoughts, and acts like a guiding hand to ensure the right shape ends up where it's supposed to be.

When you speak about a thought you've written down, your brain is pre-primed and ready to go.

Methods

I've written for fun, for work & for introspection. The best method is the one you stick with.

Bullet journal, brain dump, blog, pump out social media content, write articles, write a book.

Try one, or try them all, but get writing. If you aren't used to it, it will feel strange & uncomfortable—that's normal. You're building muscles you haven't used before. Is this the best piece I've ever written? Maybe not. Will it help me write the next piece better? Absolutely!

Disconnect & get moving

Creative block plagues us all, eventually. We think we don't have good ideas, or we aren't creative… but in 2024, the reality is we're drowning in a sea of noise. Endlessly glued to devices that are optimized to pump us full of cheap dopamine.

It's rare to find someone who regularly gives themselves a quiet place to think.

Put the screens away, keep the headphones at home and go for a walk. This works for a few reasons:

(1) less distractions,
(2) movement helps reduce stress and boosts creativity, and
(3) change of scenery helps see things from a different perspective.

Regularly including quiet walks with your writing practice is like a perfectly orchestrated symphony. Each element contributes in ways you can't imagine.

Did I win?

My journey began with a desire to improve brain fog, and it brought me down a winding road of change. I have bad days still, despite the strides I've taken to perfecting my inputs. Today, for no apparent reason, I have the worst case of brain fog that I can recall in the last six months.

And yet, I was able to write this! That's not something I'd have been capable of before.

We can't always control the hand we're dealt, and we can't beat every obstacle we face. What we can work on is raising our lower & upper limits… and it all begins with clear thinking.