Sleep, brainfog and managing energy

For the past few years, I’ve paid a lot of attention to what affects my energy and productivity, and made a number of observations that improved my life.

To be clear: I went from constantly fighting brain fog to having very stable and predictable energy. And even when I feel fatigued, it doesn’t frustrate me.

Everyone is different, but I believe this post will be a good starting point for people who want to stop suffering from constant brain fog, loss of concentration, or fatigue.

Sleep

• Learn which periods of the day are most productive or unproductive. Try to follow these periods instead of fighting them
• Learn how much sleep you need to easily get up
• Sunlight is very important for an easy wake-up
• Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is important
• Keep in mind that “sleep debt” is a real thing. For example, I need 7–9 hours of sleep. If I go to bed significantly late, 12 hours of sleep will be needed in the following days. Until that happens, I will feel fatigued
• Decrease the number of random factors that may affect your sleep. A face mask or good curtains can help with sudden sunlight, earplugs will help with sudden noise, and melatonin will help if you end up going to bed late
• Do not oversleep. Sleeping slightly more is fine, but sleeping a lot more will result in fatigue and ruin your schedule, leading to even more fatigue

Caffeine

• Drinking Red Bull will give you a productivity boost, but it will also affect the time it takes you to fall asleep. In the long run, it will also lead to gastrointestinal and nervous system problems
• Coffee is milder but should be consumed wisely — don’t drink it too late for a boost of evening productivity, as this will decrease sleep quality and duration, which will affect productivity for the next few days
• Coffee and chocolate can give a significant energy boost in the morning

Melatonin

• Melatonin is a great way to maintain a consistent sleep schedule
• Find a good dosage of melatonin for yourself. I recommend starting with 1 mg. Then:
  • Increase if you still have trouble falling asleep
  • Decrease if your dreams feel like a constant TV show
• When buying melatonin, buy pure melatonin, not a “sleep mix” like melatonin + magnesium. These tend to work more like a placebo
• Take melatonin 30 minutes before going to bed and only do something boring afterwards — chores, brushing teeth/skincare, reading a book, etc.
• Do not watch TikTok or YouTube during that time — you will overstimulate yourself and the melatonin won’t work

Other factors that affect energy

• Fatigue and brain fog can be caused by hunger
• Vitamins affect energy levels, especially during dark autumn and winter months
• Sometimes brain fog can occur out of nowhere, and it usually correlates with rain or other drastic weather changes. I’m usually suspicious of such “astrology”, but Wikipedia says it might be real
• Keep track of activities that drain your energy to plan accordingly. For me, being out for a long time causes brain fog after I return home. So when I have plans to meet someone, I don’t plan anything after

Brain Fog

• It’s more productive not to work during brain fog
• If you don’t want to waste time during brain fog, do some non-creative things like chores
• Going for a walk may be a good idea too
• It’s very important to realize when you have brain fog and accept it. Fighting it will only make you more tired and frustrated.

😴