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Ask HN: How to deal with increasing “brain farts” and small silly mistakes?

• shredprez 11y ago
  Could be a bunch of things, but there's one that almost everyone deprives themselves of, to one degree or another: sleep. Poor sleep is a major offender when it comes to spotty cognition, whether it's learning, planning, or working memory. Caffeine after 3pm, alcohol after 6-7pm, getting to bed too late, waking too early, inconsistent bed/wake times, exposure to bright, blue- and white-light led screens after the sun sets; all these will ruin your sleep quality in isolation and can really mess things up in aggregate over extended periods of time. Being extremely disciplined about your sleep is the best way to crush low energy/motivation, mental fog, and even some mood trouble. It's tough to do in this 24 hour era, especially as a young adult in the tech industry, but it's well worth the effort. Don't mind if the first week or so don't feel very different; it takes a month of good sleep to "make up" one hour of lost sleep. Getting serious about sleep isn't a fast payoff, but the eventual mental sharpness and emotional fortitude is unparalleled.
  • nfriedly 11y ago
    I was going to say exactly this. When I catch myself having "brain farts", it's usually after several nights of not enough sleep.
• pedalpete 11y ago
  I'd say I'm probably in a similar boat. Though not specifically with maths, but sometimes I look at the code I am writing and think "that variable will work half the time, but it isn't the right one to use there", or "of course that user input needs to be lowercased, why didn't I think of that when I wrote it". I think much of it (for me) has to do with being completely present and engaged in the action, not half thinking of something else. Anybody else feel the same way? If so, how have you improved? Note, I'm not young, in my 40s.
• tytron 11y ago
  Yes I've noticed this. Some days I find mental arithmetic to be very difficult indeed. But not only that - it also corresponds with a reduced ability to plan tasks, difficulties in finding the correct words when writing or speaking, and social blundering in that conversations don't flow as well as normal. I'm not really sure what it's all about but it seems to come and go. This is also on a background of a constant headache that I've had for almost twenty years; it increases in severity when I'm stressed, and I get stressed when I can't think properly (or perhaps, vice versa), so maybe that's related too. I hope you can figure out your problem. I'll be reading other replies to this question with interest.
• kitsunesoba 11y ago
  I think this is something that definitely increases with age. I’m just past 25 and I have way more brain fart moments than I did in my late teens and early twenties.
• staunch 11y ago
  Consistent sleep is a wonder drug.
• thenomad 11y ago
  If it's not sleep, it could well be stress. I notice I make silly mistakes more often when I've been in a stressful situation for a while. Meditation's very good for stress. So is therapy, in (almost) any of its varying forms, if you can afford it. It's also possible that you're not making silly mistakes as often as you think you are. Are you an overachiever, prone to anxiety, or otherwise worried about your performance? All of those could be contributing to making these mistakes prey on your mind. Finally, if these mistakes are seriously concerning you, have you tried tracking them via a medium that isn't your brain? For any sporadic problem like this, tracking it on paper or a spreadsheet, ideally with other relevant data (sleep, exercise, nutrition, stressors, off the top of my head) can often be extremely useful in pinning down what's going on. The only issue there is that sometimes tracking it can cause you to get more anxious about it - try to do so without judgement and with the expectation that you'll be able to solve the problem.
  • igammarays 11y ago
    I didn't think of that! I'm definitely going to try pinning this down by recording values in a spreadsheet. Thanks!
• tired_man 11y ago
  I'm old and from experience, I'd say it's most probably a string of short nights that are starting to catch up with you. That's when I start getting "mental vapour lock." Regularity is _very_ a good thing when it's diet, sleep, and bowel movements. 5 classes is more than full-time, yes? And adding in that part-time job and life, you aren't leaving much down time. If you keep trying to use every hour of the day without first allotting your sleep/downtime, your situation will only get worse. Robert Heinlein has a quote, "Always budget the luxuries first." Paraphrasing makes this apply to you: "Always budget the downtime first." What you have left after that 9-10 hours (yeah, take the time. You need to shower and eat in peace, too) is what you can use for everything else. Don't think that because you're pursuing a four year degree that you must complete it in four calendar years. Consider what's better for your future, a degree finished according to the calendar with okay marks, or an extra year to finish with pretty good marks? You're young and you really do have the time.
  • crazypyro 11y ago
    Side point, but usually 5 classes (@ 3 credit hrs each / 15 hr total) is a standard college work load, even if 12 is the legal minimum. Most degrees are impossible to complete in even 12 hours x 5 years (assuming 128 credit hour program).
    • tired_man 11y ago
      Good info. Thanks. IMHO, if money isn't the concern, then the slow completion is a user issue. I don't have the word for "doing whatever it takes to reach the goal on time." Sometimes you just need to give up your life outside the the basic requirements (fuel/sleep/work/goal) to accomplish something. It isn't a pleasant existence, but you can reach your goal. Remembering all the time that it is temporary and will reward you.
• thebigspacefuck 11y ago
  Spend a few hours doing a GED math preparation quiz. When I was in high school, I kicked ass at math. When I went to college, I stopped focusing on basic things like multiplication, addition, subtraction, and division. I was into harder stuffs. I was going to take the GED and was like "Fuck, how did I forget all of this". Spent a day going through basic math, taught it to myself again, then it was easy. I think getting older, I didn't realize that things were "use it or lose it". You kind of assume that once you learn it, it's solid, but really you forget about half every 3 years. Also, if something is going on in your mind, you can make mistakes. Adult life is stressful and there's a lot to think about! My most productive times were when everything was taken care of for me (place to live, groceries, etc. paid for by my parents). Your brain has a limited number of cycles and if you aren't focused on the task at hand, you make mistakes. Stress occupies those cycles, sleep affects how your garbage collector runs, keeping useless information in your brain space. When I'm well rested, I let things go pretty easily. When I haven't slept enough, it seems like things don't get recycled and I spend more time thinking about it, wasting my productive cycles. There's a balance, you'll find it as you get older. It's probably just weird to you because nobody ever tells you about it. Also, consider not masturbating. Nobody going to like hearing that, but reserve your sexual energy for women (or men). Here is a site on the subject. A lot of it is anecdotal and pseudo-scientific, but if you're concerned, you should read it: http://yourbrainonporn.com/can-porn-use-affect-memory-and-concentration http://yourbrainonporn.com/can-porn-use-affect-memory-and-co... Personally, a lot of it resonated with me. Do you read? If not, this can also help with training your focus. In this age, there are a lot of things pulling your attention away. Reading a linear book can help you learn to focus on just one thing. For me, it takes practice, but once I've gotten in to the habit of reading, I learn how to quiet my disruptive thoughts. It also has the benefit of being relaxing and helping me get to sleep.
• stevewepay 11y ago
  Try to get more sleep. This happened to me when I was sleeping less than 5 hrs a day for months on end. It's probably a combination of sleep and stress. When I decided I would sleep more, that day I left work at 2pm, and slept for 13 hrs straight, and that's when I knew i was sleep deprived.