Mental fatigue or being lazy

[Pyropyro]

Kinda weird feeling today, I'm not sure if it's laziness or just fatigue.

So I spoke for two sessions and moderated another session on a seminar yesterday at our university in front of several researchers from around the country. That was from morning to around 3:00 PM. I spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for my next presentations.

Today, I spoke again for two sessions, this time to a smaller audience of colleagues and a lawyer. I finally got away from it all after lunch. I thought I was free to do more introverted stuff but I found that I couldn't.

I wanted to work on my tasks but I simply couldn't. All I did was play around the web and organized some of my tasks and that's about it.

I'm thinking that I was being lazy (and kinda feeling bad about it) although I'm also thinking that I'm just tired.

Anyways, anybody felt the same? Your body seems fine and all but your mind simply won't do legwork more complex than writing lists. If so, what did you do to get back on track?

 

[Tannhauser]

I believe mental fatigue is a real thing. Usually I try to solve it by consuming large quantities of caffeine. If that option is exhausted, I take a day off where I completely tune out and do absolutely nothing. That usually does the trick.

 

[Pyropyro]

I believe mental fatigue is a real thing. Usually I try to solve it by consuming large quantities of caffeine. If that option is exhausted, I take a day off where I completely tune out and do absolutely nothing. That usually does the trick.

Good idea. I think I'll just get me a cup of joe/tea and sleep this off.

 

[Minuend]

I very frequently have brain fog and an accompanied feeling of sluggishness. When so, my motivation and drive is shut off. When the brainfog disperses and I regain mental clarity my motivation automatically returns and I feel like reading and doing a lot of things again. When brainfog I don't feel like doing anything and usually just zombie away on forums and such. My concentration is reduced by a lot as well, posts i write are messier etc.

So for me it's very dependent on the state of mind. It's not something I can sleep off or exercise away (I don't feel better after exercise and I don't feel better the next day or after a nap). I'm not sure what causes it, but I think how well my stomach is doing is tied to it, at least. I have difficulty digesting solid foods. I was very mentally clear for about a week, then I ate pizza and have been kinda mentally wrecked for 4-5 days.

Being autistic might predispose me for brainfog problems

Oh, and caffeine usually makes it worse when I already have brainfog. Caffeine is neutral when I'm more clear.

Other than that, it is possible to get tired from doing things that require a lot of concentration. When so just resting and relaxing helps for me

 

[Pyropyro]

Being autistic might predispose me for brainfog problems

Thanks, as an autistic as well, I'll keep this in mind. Maybe I should watch my food intake during my speaking engagements.

Oh, and caffeine usually makes it worse when I already have brainfog. Caffeine is neutral when I'm more clear.

Maybe the effects depends on the dosage. I sometimes purposely dilute my coffee if I simply want to enjoy a cup of warm beverage and not the coffee the buzz.

UPDATE: Told my gf about this problem. Now she's mothering me to sleep early. Anyways, I'm too lazy to argue so I'll just sleep after this post.

 

[Late2theParty]

So for me it's very dependent on the state of mind. It's not something I can sleep off or exercise away (I don't feel better after exercise and I don't feel better the next day or after a nap). I'm not sure what causes it, but I think how well my stomach is doing is tied to it, at least. I have difficulty digesting solid foods. I was very mentally clear for about a week, then I ate pizza and have been kinda mentally wrecked for 4-5 days.

Have you ever looked into gluten or fodmaps sensitivity? A few people I know have similar issues triggered by certain things they eat in those categories.

 

[Architect]

That's clearly mental fatigue, you gave a handful of presentations! Always has the same affect on me, being a extraverted activity, so took more energy than it gave.

 

[Joe13414]

If I am correct, I have experienced 'mental fatigue' a lot. Like if I don't get a lot of sleep, sometimes it will just happen, I would get immensely brain dead and do something, and forget about it after an hour or two, especially in video-games, my friend tells me how I would just do something really stupid, but get a very interesting result, but I wouldn't remember doing it.