3 Simple Ways To Maintain Brain Health During a Life Change

Does your brain feel so full that it just might explode? Our lives are so jam-packed these days! Take the demands of our regular personal and professional lives. Then add in the speed with which we receive new information. It’s no wonder our brains are so maxed out! And that’s before we add something like a health-based life-disrupting event.

The issue – you need your brain to be productive, regardless of whether we’re considering professional or personal tasks. Here are three ways we can keep our brains in top form and thus maximize our productivity.

Declutter your mind

Your brain has enough going on without making it retain more information than it really needs to!

What’s the best way to declutter your mind? Use external methods of capturing information. I know you like to think that your brain can be your calendar and task list. Alas, as our busyness (or age) increases, you’ll start missing appointments or forgetting tasks if you solely depend on your brain.

Use a calendar. It can be electronic or paper. You may prefer day-at-a-glance, week-at-a-glance or month-at-a-glance. The days can be vertical or horizontal. Finding a calendar format that functions the way you need it to is critical!

Write scheduled appointments in it and remember to include drive time when you block out the appointment. You choose whether or not to schedule time for individual tasks. I highly recommend it. Otherwise, when will you organize your electronic documents? Someday isn’t a day of the week!

Utilize a task list. First, differentiate between projects and tasks. Projects entail multiple steps and usually take more than one day. Tasks can be completed in one step and require a limited period of time. A task list can be digital or physical.

You decide whether to have one master to-do list or different lists, such as one each for personal and professional tasks. It’s also important to have a format that works well for you.

Of course, calendars and task lists don’t capture every piece of information you need to retain. In Resources Other Than Your Brain That You Can Use to Retain Information, I discuss methods for capturing other important types of information.

Nurture your brain

Your brain (and mine!) may be encased in bone, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need attention.

First, it’s important to protect the brain. Wearing helmets when biking, skateboarding, roller-skating or playing contact sports is one of the easiest ways to guard the brain. While it’s the law to wear a seat belt when in the car, it’s also a protection against head-related trauma in case of an accident.

Second, it’s essential to nourish the brain. One way is to keep hydrated by drinking adequate amounts of water. Another way is to get lots of oxygen. Yes, I realize you’re pretty good at breathing on a regular basis, but many people fail to take deeper breaths using their diaphragm. Try taking five-to-ten deep breaths a couple of times a day. Besides getting more oxygen to your brain, it just might help relax you for a moment or two.

Third, it’s vital to get sufficient sleep. Yes, I know you think you can survive on six hours of sleep a night, but science has proven that adults need a minimum of 7-9 hours each night. So while you can occasionally shorten your sleep, don’t do it on a regular basis if you want to be highly productive.

Identify brain-based conditions

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Traumatic brain injury (TBI). Clinical depression. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Dementia. These are just a few conditions that affect the brain.

Identifying the existence of a brain-based condition is the best way to pinpoint appropriate supports. These may be therapeutic, medicinal, behavioral, or a combination.

Here are some examples using the conditions listed at the beginning of this section:

ADHD impacts a person’s executive functions, which are crucial to helping us manage the complexity of life. The right intervention can help someone with ADHD successfully manage their life.

A TBI may be mild or severe. It can cause memory problems and attention deficits among other challenges. Depending on the severity, a person may need help relearning basic routines or discover new methods of completing tasks.

People with clinical depression might have difficulty concentrating and remembering details, among other symptoms. A combination of medication and therapy or other appropriate treatments help people regulate their condition.

OCD often greatly impacts someone’s ability to complete tasks because they get interrupted by their obsessions and/or compulsions. Cognitive behavioral therapy can reduce the obsessions and/or compulsions so the person can complete activities in a more reasonable period of time.

Dementia affects anything that involves the ability to remember. While this and other memory-related diseases occur most often in people as they age, it is possible to have early on-set of some conditions. Obviously, a correct diagnosis is crucial. There are medications for some memory-based syndromes which can reduce the pace at which the person’s memory decreases.

This is a very cursory overview of just a few brain-based conditions. The most crucial advice is to get any brain-based condition diagnosed by a qualified professional and seek appropriate treatment and other supports.

Has your organization and productivity taken a hit due to life altering circumstances? You don’t have to go through it alone! I partner with ambitious people in the midst of disruptive life changes to achieve calm and control so they can live their life again. Are you ready to feel focused and on top of things? Great! Let’s schedule a no-obligation exploratory call to see how I can help you make that happen.