Difficulty concentrating. Short-term memory issues. Mental fatigue. Confusion and lack of clarity. Slower thinking processes. Exhausted yet anxious at the end of the day.
It reads like a list of prescription drug side effects, but this is your every day.
This is what brain fog feels like.
Brain fog has been attributed to improper diet, lack of sleep, and overall stress.
In today's digital world, many argue it's more directly related to excessive screen time.
But not all screen time is created equal. The writer who types undistracted for 3 hours straight on her laptop isn't inducing brain fog.
The knowledge worker who spends an hour constantly switching from app to app is.
Screens aren’t the problem. Context-switching is.
Context-switching is what most knowledge workers now call ‘work’.
It's what I did for years. I’d start my workday checking email: opening, responding, and archiving rapidly. I then jump to Slack, checking DMs and various relevant channels. Now I’m in my task manager figuring out what to work on today but I need to see my calendar so I quickly check it and notice a meeting I need to prepare for so I go back to my email to find a document and see a new message so I open it and get stressed out then check my phone out to avoid feelings and see an Instagram notification that I open now I’m scrolling until a colleague pins me with an urgent request and I’m on a call discussing that.
This cycle would get repeated all day. I rarely focused on one task for more than a few minutes.
Context-switching results in:
-
Increased Mental Effort: Each switch between tasks requires the brain to adjust and reorient, increasing cognitive load.
-
Mental Fatigue: The more frequently you switch, the quicker your brain tires, leading to reduced overall productivity.
-
Fragmented Attention: Continuously switching tasks fragments your attention, making it difficult to maintain deep focus on any one task.
-
Stress and Anxiety: The constant need to reorient causes stress and anxiety, especially if tasks are left incomplete or deadlines are approaching.
-
Burnout: Over time, the stress from frequent context-switching leads to burnout, affecting overall well-being.
-
Overstimulation: The dopamine-inducing behaviours inherent in context-switching overstimulate the senses, creating a constant state of unease that compels you to seek out even more quick dopamine hits.
The negative effects of context-switching pervade all aspects of your life. It's why you can't read more than a page of a book at a time, can't pay attention to a show or your partner. It's why you zone out in meetings and have decreased motivation and drive and purpose.
How to reduce context-switching
The following practices will help you immediately, but you'll see greater impact the longer you do them. You've developed habits (and in some cases, behavioural addictions) that are hard to break. It will take time. You will struggle. It will be uncomfortable.
-
Time-blocking: Keeping your days unscheduled to work on whatever falls in your lap is context-switching's petri dish. It allows all the urgent-but-unimportant tasks to bubble up and steal your attention.Use time-blocking to schedule your day so you (and your brain) know exactly what to work on each moment.
-
Task-batching: Set aside time in your time-blocked calendar for checking email and other notifications. Checking them frequently is an unnecessary habit we've all developed. People are fine waiting.
-
Work on one thing at a time: Time-blocking forces you to allocate time to specific things. This ensures you're dedicated to working on only that thing.
-
Close down distractions: When working on your one thing, shut down all unrelated apps and browser tabs. You don't need those open.
-
Turn off Slack and any messaging apps: Commit to working on something for 30-60 minutes and being out of reach. It will feel hard and uncomfortable at first, but you'll get used to it. You're not that important, I promise you.
-
Put your damn phone away: Do not work with your phone right beside you, facing up, so you can see notifications that come in. This is insane. Stop it.Turn your phone off and put it in another room. If you're in the only room, put it in a bag. It has to be off of your workspace and out of sight. Studies show that if you can see your phone, you'll feel its pull (even if it's not on).
It's important to remember that not all screen time is created equal
If you assume that every time you're on a screen that you're doing damage, you'll be more likely to give in to dark forces as soon as you've opened your phone.
It's better to be conscious of exactly what you're doing on your screen and set up guardrails to help prevent context-switching.
Focus on reducing context-switching and the brain fog will lift. Your attention will improve, you'll feel more calm, and you'll actually get some meaningful work done.
