5 ms·

Mental fog, for me, is a physical symptom of stress and exhaustion. It has nothing to do with having a clean workspace. This article reads like self-help fluff.

Mental fog, for me, is a physical symptom of stress and exhaustion. It has nothing to do with having a clean workspace. This article reads like self-help fluff. The solutions I've found are get to enough sleep, try not to fill my day with mentally taxing work or meeting and, in a pinch, drink coffee or take paracetamol.

ma2rten 6y ago
Mental fog, for me, is a physical symptom of stress and exhaustion. It has nothing to do with having a clean workspace. The first sentence of the article is "mess creates stress". I don't see a contradiction. It could be that article is wrong, but I have heard many people express that sentiment. If you have evidence that it's not true, I would like to see it.
- Brian_K_White 6y ago
  The rest of that same article says in several different ways that stress is necessary stimulation. So much for that. There have been observational studies (vs plain declarative opinion pieces like this one) that correlate clutter with intelligence, creativity, and productivity. The mechanism probably doesn't work the same way for everyone, and so clutter probably isn't good for everyone, but that also means it isn't wrong for everyone either. So much for that. The article is essentially garbage.
- manmal 6y ago
  I think you‘ll find a hundred other things more stressful than a messy environment. Fighting with the partner, illness of a relative, someone yelled at me on the street, I slept too little,...
  - malux85 6y ago
    Saying "x is more stressful than y" does not negate that y creates stress
    - hanniabu 6y ago
      It creates stress, but an insignificant amount compared to everything else in your life.
    - manmal 6y ago
      We have limited time available each day, so it’s prudent to focus on solving the most stressful factors first.
- felipemnoa 6y ago
  >>"mess creates stress" Everybody is different. Some people enjoy working in a messy room. I guess everybody is crazy in a different way.
- underwater 6y ago
  Sure, tidying your workspace might help. But how much? How could I take a methodical approach to tackling this problem? I'd like to actually see some data, or at least a dive into the underlying causes of brain fog. This is Hacker News after all.
  - tartoran 6y ago
    To some extent so that is worth making it a habit, makes everything easier on yourself and saves a lot of mental energy that in a stressful situation a surplus extra energy could help. I think that tiding one’s workspace also abstractly hints toward tiding one’s life which you probably agree is a good thing.
awiesenhofer 6y ago
Why the paracetamol?
- fao_ 6y ago
  It could be due to inflammation
  - feanaro 6y ago
    Paracetamol doesn't have a significant anti-inflammatory action.
    - tbalsam 6y ago
      This is literally the purpose of paracetamol. What do you feel it is for, if not as an anti-inflammatory aid? EDIT: Interesting discussion in child comments, certainly news to me!
      - ourcat 6y ago
        True. An analgesic drug will help cope with the pain caused by inflammation, but an anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen will reduce the cause of the pain.
        ourcat 6y ago
        Oddly, I've just found this concept to be analogous to many other 'ills' we face as humans. And not just the physical ones. Sometimes we just want to stop feeling pain. Sometimes we feel the need to try and stop the cause of it.
        tbalsam 6y ago
        That's fair. I wish we had more properly selective COX-2-only inhibitors, despite the scare about heart issues. I may misunderstand how inhibiting COX 1 would balance that out, but I'd be surprised if it does. Many herbs are selective to COX-2, it's like every polyphenol and its mother seems to inhibit it. I looked and you are correct, I did not realize that acetaminophen was not considered an anti-inflammatory. It certainly is antipyretic, and it appears to have some selective COX-2 activity and some potentially mysterious endocannabinoid activity, which I'd personally consider to be anti-inflammatory in one way. That's truly puzzling, I felt I knew that space decently well due to looking into the inflammatory pathways due to MCAS, I stand corrected on the generally public perception of acetaminophen. Hopefully endocannabinoid-class drugs and supplements will enter the mainstream/be developed in a generic, OTC fashion with the easing of perception and laws in cannabinoids. I legitimately wonder how much OTC medication has been held back by analog similarities to the (currently and previously) federally illicit substances in those plants. All good stuff around, I stand corrected and my apologies for any curtness. Have a good one!
treeman79 6y ago
All are good. Sometimes brain fog is a medical condition. I had it bad for years before finding out I had an autoimmune condition.
- the_only_law 6y ago
  How do you even go about figuring this out. Do you just go to a primary practitioner and say “hey XYZ” and ask for a test/recommendation to a specialist? I haven’t been to the doctor in years outside emergencies and have suspected some issues but I’m not sure if I’m particularly interested in the cost / time involvement of any treatments for anything.
  - treeman79 6y ago
    Suspected for 20 years, since I was a teenager. Would ask doctors and they always dismissed as I looked heathy. Eventually health completely collapsed. But blood work was fine, I looked fine. Saw 30+ doctors in the span of 2 years. I had a 4 pages of list symptoms and issues. I carried around. I saw a neuro-ophthalmologist he read the list, started asking specific questions about symptoms I didn’t list, but did have. He declared I had Sjogrens. I had never heard of it. A year later I had an official diagnosis from a rheumatologist. Even that I had to fight hard to get tests run. Treatment started making a big difference. I would never have gotten heathy via regular doctors.
    - tartoran 6y ago
      This is a strange feeling we get from doctors if we fall into a gray zone/edge case and if they cannot find anything to diagnose they might think we are hypochondriacs or suggest seeing a shrink. I think proble will be solved by and with technology. I imagine one day we’ll step into a box which would scan everything in slices and dices and would point to the problem. Even more interesting it will be when it actually applies all that knowlege on us somehow helping our bodies would fix themselves, something like the startek tricorder..

ma2rten 6y ago

Mental fog, for me, is a physical symptom of stress and exhaustion. It has nothing to do with having a clean workspace. The first sentence of the article is "mess creates stress". I don't see a contradiction. It could be that article is wrong, but I have heard many people express that sentiment. If you have evidence that it's not true, I would like to see it.

Brian_K_White 6y ago
The rest of that same article says in several different ways that stress is necessary stimulation. So much for that. There have been observational studies (vs plain declarative opinion pieces like this one) that correlate clutter with intelligence, creativity, and productivity. The mechanism probably doesn't work the same way for everyone, and so clutter probably isn't good for everyone, but that also means it isn't wrong for everyone either. So much for that. The article is essentially garbage.
manmal 6y ago
I think you‘ll find a hundred other things more stressful than a messy environment. Fighting with the partner, illness of a relative, someone yelled at me on the street, I slept too little,...
- malux85 6y ago
  Saying "x is more stressful than y" does not negate that y creates stress
  - hanniabu 6y ago
    It creates stress, but an insignificant amount compared to everything else in your life.
  - manmal 6y ago
    We have limited time available each day, so it’s prudent to focus on solving the most stressful factors first.
felipemnoa 6y ago
>>"mess creates stress" Everybody is different. Some people enjoy working in a messy room. I guess everybody is crazy in a different way.
underwater 6y ago
Sure, tidying your workspace might help. But how much? How could I take a methodical approach to tackling this problem? I'd like to actually see some data, or at least a dive into the underlying causes of brain fog. This is Hacker News after all.
- tartoran 6y ago
  To some extent so that is worth making it a habit, makes everything easier on yourself and saves a lot of mental energy that in a stressful situation a surplus extra energy could help. I think that tiding one’s workspace also abstractly hints toward tiding one’s life which you probably agree is a good thing.

awiesenhofer 6y ago

Why the paracetamol?

fao_ 6y ago
It could be due to inflammation
- feanaro 6y ago
  Paracetamol doesn't have a significant anti-inflammatory action.
  - tbalsam 6y ago
    This is literally the purpose of paracetamol. What do you feel it is for, if not as an anti-inflammatory aid? EDIT: Interesting discussion in child comments, certainly news to me!
    - ourcat 6y ago
      True. An analgesic drug will help cope with the pain caused by inflammation, but an anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen will reduce the cause of the pain.
      - ourcat 6y ago
        Oddly, I've just found this concept to be analogous to many other 'ills' we face as humans. And not just the physical ones. Sometimes we just want to stop feeling pain. Sometimes we feel the need to try and stop the cause of it.
      - tbalsam 6y ago
        That's fair. I wish we had more properly selective COX-2-only inhibitors, despite the scare about heart issues. I may misunderstand how inhibiting COX 1 would balance that out, but I'd be surprised if it does. Many herbs are selective to COX-2, it's like every polyphenol and its mother seems to inhibit it. I looked and you are correct, I did not realize that acetaminophen was not considered an anti-inflammatory. It certainly is antipyretic, and it appears to have some selective COX-2 activity and some potentially mysterious endocannabinoid activity, which I'd personally consider to be anti-inflammatory in one way. That's truly puzzling, I felt I knew that space decently well due to looking into the inflammatory pathways due to MCAS, I stand corrected on the generally public perception of acetaminophen. Hopefully endocannabinoid-class drugs and supplements will enter the mainstream/be developed in a generic, OTC fashion with the easing of perception and laws in cannabinoids. I legitimately wonder how much OTC medication has been held back by analog similarities to the (currently and previously) federally illicit substances in those plants. All good stuff around, I stand corrected and my apologies for any curtness. Have a good one!

treeman79 6y ago

All are good. Sometimes brain fog is a medical condition. I had it bad for years before finding out I had an autoimmune condition.

the_only_law 6y ago
How do you even go about figuring this out. Do you just go to a primary practitioner and say “hey XYZ” and ask for a test/recommendation to a specialist? I haven’t been to the doctor in years outside emergencies and have suspected some issues but I’m not sure if I’m particularly interested in the cost / time involvement of any treatments for anything.
- treeman79 6y ago
  Suspected for 20 years, since I was a teenager. Would ask doctors and they always dismissed as I looked heathy. Eventually health completely collapsed. But blood work was fine, I looked fine. Saw 30+ doctors in the span of 2 years. I had a 4 pages of list symptoms and issues. I carried around. I saw a neuro-ophthalmologist he read the list, started asking specific questions about symptoms I didn’t list, but did have. He declared I had Sjogrens. I had never heard of it. A year later I had an official diagnosis from a rheumatologist. Even that I had to fight hard to get tests run. Treatment started making a big difference. I would never have gotten heathy via regular doctors.
  - tartoran 6y ago
    This is a strange feeling we get from doctors if we fall into a gray zone/edge case and if they cannot find anything to diagnose they might think we are hypochondriacs or suggest seeing a shrink. I think proble will be solved by and with technology. I imagine one day we’ll step into a box which would scan everything in slices and dices and would point to the problem. Even more interesting it will be when it actually applies all that knowlege on us somehow helping our bodies would fix themselves, something like the startek tricorder..