Brain fog makes processing info difficult
If you’re having a real rough time processing information because of brain fog, autistic burnout, or whatever, but you want to read, listen, or take in information that’s going to help you deal with those very real challenges, here’s a few pieces of advice.
Short of a brain transfusion, my third best piece of advice is to take it slow. Let yourself off the hook for not processing much at one time. You can watch or listen to info in little chunks. You can come back, redo it, review it, forget and read or listen to it again.
You don’t have to listen to it all. You don’t have to read it. That might be exactly what your brain needs to heal, so that it can think better.
My second best piece of advice is to figure out what helps you process best. Does writing it down help you take it in? Does talking about it to others, drawing it, drawing while you’re listening or reading, or fidgeting while you’re listening? Moving around, lying upside down, having nothing else going on, or lots going on around you? What works for you?
My best piece of advice, and this might seem counterintuitive, is to give your brain a guilt-free downtime. Not worrying about what might happen if you can’t think, letting yourself off the hook for processing this stuff. You don’t have to listen to it all. You don’t have to read it. That might be exactly what your brain needs to heal, so that it can think better.
You might try telling yourself something like “I’m afraid of what might happen, but, in this moment, it’s not happening.”, “Right at this moment, I’m safe.”, “Right in this moment, I don’t need to think, I can think later.”, “Right now, It’s okay if I don’t.”
