Over the past few months, I began experiencing severe brain fog, which slowly affected my ability to think clearly and make decisions.
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As a child, I was an exceptionally quiet kid. Even as I grew into adulthood, I remained a quiet person. Whenever my family or friends spoke of someone calm, my name was invariably the first to be mentioned.
Despite my quiet nature, I would often joke around with my family, relatives, and friends and happily sit and chat with them.
My mind was so serene that I could make any decision instantly without experiencing any mental stress.
However, over the past several months, my mind has become completely restless.
The very people who once bestowed upon me the title of a “calm person” now describe me as short-tempered and rude.
My friends and relatives even came to believe that I was suffering from brain fog—a condition they feared would gradually ruin my life. And as time went by, that is exactly what began to happen.
But what exactly is this brain fog? How did it diminish my cognitive abilities? And how did I eventually find a solution to this problem?
Today, through this article, I will provide you with the answers to all these questions. Therefore, please read it carefully.
My Mind Was Never Still, Even When I Was Free
Like everyone else, whenever I was free from work, I would get engrossed in watching Reels and news on my mobile phone. Sometimes, I would even play games on it.
Looking at my mobile phone offered me two benefits:
1) It made time pass quickly, and
2) I derived a great deal of enjoyment from watching Reels and playing games.
I used to feel that, for ordinary people like me, the mobile phone was the greatest boon of modern life.
Even when you were alone, you could pass the time simply by looking at your phone. But was this belief of mine actually true? Perhaps not.
The very mobile phone I had perceived as a means to “relieve stress” gradually began to cause me more stress—something I only realized much later.
In my quieter moments, I used to sit amidst people, sharing stories of our joys and sorrows; I would go to bed early at night so that my mind could be calm and fresh by morning.
Gradually, the mobile phone began to alter my daily routine. During the nights or in my free time—moments when I should have been allowing my mind to rest—I instead began keeping it constantly occupied with my phone.
On my days off, instead of playing with friends or going out with my family, I became engrossed in watching videos, Reels, and news updates on my mobile phone. As a result:
- I began comparing myself to others.
- I started obsessing day and night over how to make money quickly, which caused my interest in my actual office work to wane.
- My mind became increasingly filled with negative thoughts, largely because the news I consumed on my phone was predominantly negative.
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My mind would grow weary from staring at the screen, yet I would force myself to keep it occupied with the phone regardless.
In this way, my focus became scattered in various directions through the medium of my mobile phone, and my mind completely drifted away from the very path where I sought to achieve success.
The Symptoms of Brain Fog—Which I Only Recognized When It Was Already Too Late
According to my family and relatives, the symptoms of brain fog had gradually begun to appear in me quite some time ago, yet I deliberately chose to ignore them.
I simply could not understand what the symptoms of brain fog actually looked or felt like, and by the time I finally understood, it was already too late.
Symptoms of Brain Fog:
- The very first symptom of brain fog was that I began forgetting things. I would place an object somewhere and then completely forget where I had put it.
- I would spend the entire day thinking, yet I was unable to reach any concrete conclusion or make any decision.
- I would open my laptop with the intention of getting work done, but then I would get sidetracked—watching videos, reading the news, or playing games—wasting a significant amount of time. In the end, I couldn’t even recall the original task for which I had opened the laptop in the first place.
- I would walk from one room to another, only to arrive there and completely forget why I had entered the room.
- My attention began to wander in countless directions, causing my ability to concentrate to diminish significantly.
- I would pick up books to read, but after getting through just a few pages, I would feel mentally exhausted. In frustration, I would end up throwing the books aside.
According to health sources like WebMD, brain fog is linked with poor sleep, stress, and digital overload
There were many such factors that caused my once-calm mind to become perpetually restless.
I constantly told myself that I must simply be physically tired and that this was likely the reason I was feeling this way.
To this day, I still do not know exactly when my mind fell victim to brain fog.
Even at night, while I was asleep, the sound of mobile phone notifications would wake me up. I would check my phone and end up spending hours glued to it.
By then, my eyes clearly revealed that I was not getting enough sleep.
My family members repeatedly tried to reason with me, explaining that the mental and physical exhaustion I was experiencing was a direct result of my lack of adequate sleep.
After a considerable amount of time, I realized that digital noise had completely ruined my sleep. I felt that if this continued, I would go completely insane within a matter of days.
I had come to understand that my mind had forgotten how to be at peace.
How Brain Fog Slowly Destroyed My Mental Clarity
Within the span of just one hour, I would watch at least ten reels, more than ten videos, and consume a vast amount of news.
I wanted to feed my brain new information every single second, but I forgot that my brain is not a computer.
Gradually, I began using every social media platform available, because their purpose is to keep people like me engaged on their site’s day and night.
It was one thing during the day, but even in the middle of the night, I would check every single notification that buzzed on my mobile phone.
There were times when my parents would actually hide my phone at night just so I could get a peaceful night’s sleep.
Research from Harvard Health Publishing explains that excessive screen exposure and poor sleep can negatively affect memory and focus
I began struggling to make even the simplest of decisions.
When I went into the bathroom to shower, I would often sit there for nearly an hour, lost in thought—pondering nothing but utter nonsense.
I had lost all interest in doing anything at all. I wasn’t even eating properly.
Furthermore, I was no longer able to hold a proper conversation with my friends or family.
To put it simply, the brain fog had so thoroughly engulfed my mind that my mental clarity was slowly fading, and despite being fully aware of everything that was happening, I found myself completely powerless to do anything about it.
The Day My Mind Finally Became Quiet
I had become used to the digital noise. To be honest, I could barely spend a moment without looking at my mobile phone.
I was constantly distracted and lost in my own world; if anyone spoke to me, I would reply to them in anger.
One morning, I woke up and started searching for my mobile phone. I couldn’t find it anywhere. My parents had gone out, so there was no one else at home.
I began to feel uneasy without my phone. I found myself wondering how many notifications must have collected on it by now.
Gradually, anger began to grow inside me—but what could I do?
Then, I made a conscious effort to calm my mind and slowly brought my anger under control. Unlike every other day, I couldn’t check any notifications, nor could I scroll through reels or videos. It felt very strange.
My mind was becoming more and more restless, and the brain fog only made it worse, but after searching everywhere and still failing to find my phone, I simply sat down on the floor.
Suddenly, the many thoughts that had been constantly moving around in my head became silent.
My breathing began to slow down, and—for the first time in a long while—my mind experienced a true sense of peace.
I spent that entire day without a phone. That day, I realized just how harmful the constant stimulation was to my mind and my daily life.
In the evening, my parents returned home. They were happy to see me sitting there so calmly. I told them how peacefully I had spent the entire day without my mobile phone.
Hearing this, my parents looked at each other and smiled. Then, quite unexpectedly, my father pulled my mobile phone out of his pocket and, with a laugh, handed it to me.
I understood the whole situation instantly. I simply placed my phone aside.
I decided then and there to completely clear the brain fog from my mind and bring back the peace it once had.
How I Achieved Mental Clarity by Eliminating Brain Fog
Clearing away brain fog wasn’t as easy as you—or I—might have imagined. Mental clarity could only return if I managed to calm my mind.
I somehow managed to get through a day without my phone, but whenever my mobile lay right in front of me—with notification sounds ringing again and again—I simply couldn’t stop myself.
If you think I recovered overnight, you are mistaken.
I needed to calm my mind, so I made several changes to my lifestyle, such as:
- First and foremost, I decided to learn swimming at a pool close to my home, especially during the morning hours. I began waking up early for my swimming lessons—and I went there on foot. This gave me three clear benefits:
- I learned how to swim.
- Walking to the swimming pool became a daily exercise for me.
- I broke the habit of checking my mobile phone immediately after waking up in the morning.
(For the first few days, while walking to the pool, I would still check my phone to read notifications; however, I slowly managed to stop this habit as well. Now, I simply listen to motivational songs on my phone while walking.)
- I decided that whenever I had free time during the day, I would sit alone and try to calm my mind. Slowly, I succeeded in doing that.
- I started reading motivational books and interesting stories again. It felt boring during the first few days, but later, I developed a regular reading habit. Every weekend, I set aside at least one to two hours just for reading.
- I completely stopped consuming negative news, videos, and social media “reels.” I deleted my accounts from unnecessary social media platforms. As a result, the “digital noise”—the constant sound of notifications—stopped distracting me.
- I began sitting with my family for dinner, where we shared laughter and light conversations. This made my mind feel truly refreshed.
Thanks to my morning swimming sessions and the physical activity throughout the day, I started falling asleep very early at night.
Experts at Cleveland Clinic explain that brain fog can be linked to stress, sleep issues, and overstimulation of the brain
I openly admit that, from my morning swim to my office work, I did feel physically tired throughout the day; however, mentally, I felt completely fresh.
If you ever feel mentally stuck or confused in life, this real experience may help you: I Feel Stuck in Life – What Actually Changed My Mindset (My Real Experience)
In this way, the brain fog slowly lifted from my mind, and my mental clarity began to return.
It is important to keep yourself busy—not mentally, but physically.
