#15: Help! I have brain fog!

The Academic Imperfectionist

Last week, you were storming it. Hitting your writing targets. Keeping up with emails. Getting everything done (well, more or less). So, why is everything suddenly such a struggle? Why is it that you can barely remember your own name, let alone find anything intelligent to say about ... well, anything?
Congratulations, you have brain fog. But also, your reaction to it is probably causing you some problems too. Don't worry, though - The Academic Imperfectionist has fought through her own brain fog to pull you out of your mental swamp.
In this episode, you're going to learn:

• how to sidestep the self-blame that is making it hard for you to see a way out of the fog,
• how your idea of what sustainable productivity looks like is unrealistic, and how to reset it,
• how to switch into 'safe mode' so that you can troubleshoot your productivity problems without dropping any balls,
• how to protect what's important from what's urgent, even when you're feeling depleted.

Here are the references mentioned in the episode:

• The NHS’s page on the long-term effects of COVID-19
• Harvard Medical School blog post about brain fog and COVID-19
• Health.com article about COVID vaccine side-effects, including ‘vax fog’
• Guardian article about ‘pandemic brain’
• Atlantic article about the effect of the pandemic on our brains