There are times when I stuck in a bug, in the middle of a marathon of meetings, engaged in a long debate with a colleague, or amidst a lot of uncertainties--these situations really stress out the brain. The feeling of mental fatigue lowers the stamina and tolerance level.
For me, the best way to refresh is to take a break and go for a recovery run or strum a guitar for a while. I also like to unwind by watching some brainless reality tv shows when I eat. Anything that takes my mind off from the stress.
When the fatigue happens before bed time, it's easy to get insomnia. My remedy is to watch a video course on a chromebook when I'm in bed. Once I focus my attention to the content, slowly I'd close my eyes and listen instead of watch, and I usually fall asleep shortly after.
Without the distraction, my mind would continue to think about the problems, or the worries from the uncertainties, and lose hours of sleep. Mindfulness is great, but also hard. I'm still struggling to NOT think of anything while focusing on my breathing. My mind just continue to wander.
How do you deal with mental fatigue? Please share in the comments.
I've found that ASMR is helpful if I put effort into letting it into my brain. Also walking. I try to remember that I will have times when I need my brain and so I had better not deplete it ahead of time. It requires discipline to say "no" but you've got to set boundaries. As with any resource you need to allocate it where it will be best utilized. Spending your mental energy on things that don't return rewards means that when you do need it your brain might not be there.
Good post! Thank you!
This! Especially for anything that requires creativity or a solution, most o the time a, break and adding some distance to the problem is what helps.
I just read "Everything is a muscle" on Reddit which also can help in this situation.