
Ask HN: Do other people have days in which they're dumber than usual? - kidintech
I know the title sounds foolish but...I think I noticed this during undergrad, and it happens every once in a while now, years later:<p>most days I&#x27;m my usual self, but every now and then (maybe a day every few months?) I&#x27;m just...dumber. And I can pick up on it pretty quickly, for example when I try to think about something that&#x27;s not ingrained in my routine (such as a work task), it just feels like my mind is...foggy?<p>And it&#x27;s not food or exercise or sleep, because especially with the pandemic, my routine is the same.<p>Does this happen to anyone else? Google searching warranted no lead on the matter.
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solaxun
Sadly I feel like it's the opposite for me, most days I'm running at half
speed, and on a "good" day it's like I have a different brain - I process
things more rapidly, I'm more optimistic, I get more done, etc.

I suspect it's sleep related because I can generally feel how the day is gonna
go within 10 minutes of being awake, but the frustrating part is that hours of
sleep seems to have little bearing on how refreshed I feel in the morning.
There is some correlation there, but not enough to say it's all about the
hours.

It's not sleep apnea or any known sleep disorder either, so please withhold
the ensuing deluge of HN faux Dr's and their google-fu diagnoses ;)

I don't recall this being an issue much in my 20's, maybe this is what aging
is like. I've had to resort to just taking advantage of good days and doing as
much work as possible, and then on bad days I'll just do mundane work I
normally would otherwise not want to do.

So at least for me - yes having good and bad days is entirely normal.

~~~
karatestomp
Same. I have like 10 or so days a year when I’m so quick-thinking, motivated,
optimistic, and energetic, I feel like if I kept it up for a year I’d take
over the damn world.

But it’s just a day every now and then, so doesn’t amount to much. I do wonder
whether most high-achievers wake up feeling that way more days than not. God
damn life would be so easy and pleasant if that were the case.

~~~
kidintech
I have those as well! Definitely more rare than my dumb days though. It's not
so much the fact that I'm sharper, but life is just...rose-colored.

~~~
karatestomp
Exactly. I feel much sharper, much more energetic, _and_ much more optimistic.
Exactly “like I have a different brain”. Those days are awesome. If I could
even get a couple of those a week, man, that’d be nice.

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renewiltord
Yeah. Brain fog. I've traced mine to the following:

\+ Stress on uncertain situations

\+ Lack of sleep

\+ Lack of clarity of 'the next thing to do'

I can't solve the first, so I try to handle the latter two with the obvious
solutions (sleep more, set next task) but also with other methods. I tried
different Mg supplements, Caffeine + L-Theanine, -afinils, and Adderall under
these circumstances. Adderall turbo'd my performance back up and past, the
-afinils worked if sleep was the problem, and the others didn't help at all.

If you are a disciplined person, then maybe occasional Adderall use will help.
I have no dependence issues (use is roughly once / 3 months) but if you have
discipline problems, then don't do it, tolerance is easy to build and
addiction is possible.

I am currently attempting CBT strategies. Going to give STOPP a shot.

~~~
PopeDotNinja
> \+ Lack of clarity of 'the next thing to do'

This hits home with me.

~~~
Lex-2008
Plus one here. I'm trying to find "next thing to do tomorrow" on evening the
day before, but when I'm out of luck - productivity suffers until I find one.

------
photokandy
I wouldn't rule out the pandemic being an issue here. These are not _normal_
times, and is an additional stressor. For me stress _definitely_ impacts my
ability to think clearly, and the higher the stress (even if not immediately
obvious to me), the worse my thinking skills are.

As another commenter mentioned, migraines can also do this. Not all migraines
come with a lot of pain, so that's not always a dead giveaway. But during a
migraine, my thoughts are muddy as hell.

~~~
bmelton
Just seconding this by proxy. Thanks to some early steps, I'm about as
unaffected by COVID-19 as a person can be. I live in a neighborhood with acres
between houses, telework to an office across the country, and am not at all
unused to not leaving the house for a week at a time. In addition, I was able
to make a bigger-than-usual trip to Costco in addition to already having some
disaster preparedness steps taken well before-hand (fresh batteries, fresh
water containment, rice / flour / staple foods on hand, etc.) and yet I still
find myself at numerous points throughout the day thinking about some things I
need, or might need in the near future, trying to find ways to procure said
thing without leaving the home, and it's draining me in very small doses.

------
neltnerb
Consider CO or CO2 being elevated indoors, which is a real thing. Consider
working next to an open window if the climate allows it.

But it's also often totally random to me, if something is uncomfortable (say
my back hurts randomly that day from sleeping funny) it's distracting and
makes it harder to focus.

~~~
GaryNumanVevo
Ever since I got a CO2 sensor, I've noticed a direct correlation between
"foggy brain" and above average CO2 concentrations

~~~
tumba
What CO2 sensor do you use? Any recommendations?

~~~
wincy
Grandparent responded to my question and said
[https://www.co2meter.com/products/personal-
co2-monitor?varia...](https://www.co2meter.com/products/personal-
co2-monitor?variant=1604764762132) In case you didn’t see it

------
PaulHoule
Yes.

Also I have times when I just need to step back. For instance I am mostly a
hardcore coder but I had to deal with some color and design issues that I felt
really foggy when I tried to think about.

After taking a break (and also reading CSS documentation to fill in gaps in my
knowledge) it just hit me that the color pink was the answer to one problem
and it was downhill from there except for the CSS property that it took
forever to find.

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luizfzs
Yes.

As others have mentioned, taking a step back and trying to have in mind the
end goal help me get on track. I also try to break the task in smaller steps,
either mentally or on a notepad, where I outline the steps I have in mind.

I noticed that it usually happens to me when I'm overwhelmed with the task.

~~~
asdfman123
Yep, I have a similar procrastination issue.

For me the most helpful mantra is "What's the smallest thing I can do right
now?" I have no idea how I'm going to rebuild this whole front end in Vue, but
I can send a quick email to someone asking them to clarify something, or I can
update the text on a single button.

It sounds trivial but if you do that enough times your brain goes "Oh, I guess
we're working now" and you get that crucial momentum going.

~~~
NortySpock
I agree, I also ask this question in the form of "What can I do to move the
ball forward?" or "If I'm stumped, who can I ask and what information might
they need to solve the problem?"

TODO list breakdowns are great for this.

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outime
Yes, we're not robots, we have inconsistent state, it's ok to not be
productive (work-wise) every day of our lives.

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mojomark
Yes. I suspect it boils down to body chemistry. When I have caffeine, my
recall is quicker and I'm more creative and focussed. Unfortunately, I can't
stay caffeinated all day or my eye starts to pulsate and it feels like my
heart is racing.

If I could maintain my caffeine 'high' all day, I'd be much more successful,
but it's not worth the health risk. I do alright, financially, in spite of
that, but I'd like to accomplish more meaningful work. The comparison of my
work between my morning coffee high and afternoon crash is night and day.

I took Adderall once. I don't know it it was a placebo effect or not, but I
knocked out a complicated physical simulation model (that I'd been puting off
for months) in about 5 hrs, and to this day I've found very few errors in that
model. ...I'm just saying.

~~~
asdfman123
> I don't know it it was a placebo effect or not, but I knocked out a
> complicated physical simulation model

It's not a placebo effect. That's what Adderall does. While I never recommend
abusing drugs, the fact that you're using caffeine for self treatment and you
respond so well to Adderall may mean you have undiagnosed ADHD.

It's worth going to a psych and getting a prescription for it. The great thing
about drugs like that is you can take them on days when you really need to
knock projects out of the park, and be normal on other days.

The mathematician Erdos apparently did amphetamines for productivity and a
friend bet him to quit for a month. He said:

> "You've showed me I'm not an addict. But I didn't get any work done. I'd get
> up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I'd have no ideas,
> just like an ordinary person. You've set mathematics back a month."

My guess is that he used them for self-medication much like they're used
formally now for ADHD treatments. I am NOT recommending you take drugs
illegally, but it is fairly easy to get diagnosed for ADHD and get a
prescription. It might be a big help.

~~~
wincy
I stopped taking Adderall after someone here on Hacker News pointed me to some
literature that indicates ADHD patients being treated with Adderall have an 8x
higher risk of Parkinson’s than those with ADHD who did not receive treatment.
I can’t look it up as I’m already feeling anxious with everything going on and
don’t feel like reliving that particular trauma. The study was done in Utah.

~~~
wikibob
[https://healthcare.utah.edu/publicaffairs/news/2018/09/adhd-...](https://healthcare.utah.edu/publicaffairs/news/2018/09/adhd-
parkinsons.php)

------
beckingz
I usually have dumb days at least once per day, but on my most productive days
I can get that up to 2-3 dumb days per day!

But actually: Yes. This is totally normal?

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bedsideserpents
So I have this too, try googling 'brain fog'.

I've been trying for years to figure out exactly what causes it. Searching
online gives you hundreds of possible causes, for ages I thought it was gluten
in my diet, sugar, anxiety causing it, and to some extent I think all of these
do affect it.

Recently though I've noticed that sleep might be causing it, specifically
breathing through my mouth when I sleep causes me to have a foggy feeling
throughout the day, so I'm working on trying to breathe through my nose for
the whole night now.

Hope this helps!

~~~
DTrejo
Surgical tape for sensitive skin works pretty well for this as long as you get
a good seal over your mouth.

------
asdfman123
I don't have this, but I would suggest on brain fog days you might want to try
eating a salad with a lot of leafy greens and getting some exercise in (a
twenty minute walk should be sufficient). Also, take Omega-3 pills and vitamin
D supplements.

I'm not claiming this will fix your problem, but it could rule out dietary
problems or give you a tool to fight the fog.

I wonder also if maybe some nights you aren't sleeping as well and just aren't
aware of it. It might be worth monitoring your sleep with some kind of
wearable too.

------
dragontamer
Yeah. All the time. You can't expect top tier performance from yourself all
days, everyone has an off day every now and then.

I never figured out why. But ultimately, it doesn't really matter... I imagine
that humans are naturally cyclical on the scale of weeks to months.

Different people have different levels of cycles. Bipolar people are cyclical
to the point where they cycle between depression / hyperactivity... but even
"normal" people have ups and downs.

We aren't machines. We work differently at different times.

------
swolchok
The condition is known as "brain fog". For example:
[https://www.healthline.com/health/brain-
fog#causes](https://www.healthline.com/health/brain-fog#causes)

I've also seen common cold listed as a potential cause, which definitely jibes
with my experience.

------
DrAwdeOccarim
Yes, but mine seemed to be from my CPAP pressure set too high. Seems like
overoxygenation is a real issue and it was terrible. Now that I'm back to
properly titrated, I've found I gain an edge from 4mg of galantamine
supplement from Doublewood Supplements. I've tried other companies, but
Doublewood seems to be more potent.

This compound is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, so it increases
acetylcholine in the brian. It is known to help Alzheimer's patients early in
the disease to stay sharp. This fact worries me since I am an ApoE4
heterozygote and so the fact that it works for me may mean I have something
wrong :/

------
nojvek
Lack of sleep, anxiety, the weather, certainty, a number of things can affect
mood.

I find I am the most productive from tue-thu, more productive in the evenings
than mornings. I am also more productive in spring and autumn than I am in
peak winter and summer.

Overtime you reflect and look inside yourself and learn how to tune your body.

I still feel quite more tired nowadays as a dad but ironically I also feel
like I get a lot more done. Mileage varies day to day.

Some days I am just a dumdum and I go home early, play with dog and baby and
sleep it off.

Don’t stress too much. Do what feels good. Take care of yourself first before
you take care of your work.

------
pritovido
I write down on paper how I feel, the work I do, exercise, food I take,
everything.

That means if one day I am not ok I can rewind and find the culprit very fast,
like getting exhausted from doing too hard work the day before.

In your case, you will be simply forgetting what you did once you sleep. Or
you could be simply ill.

I usually think very clearly and fast. Usually my mind is never foggy unless
when I am ill, like an occasional headache(once in a year) or when I get the
flu.

I do not drink coffee nor significant alcohol. Those can make you bog down.

My mind was boggy when I started working from home in front of a computer
years ago. I realized I just needed exercise every day.

------
cameron_b
The times I've felt like this have been in conjunction with slow-burn
stressful events. I've also felt my body sometimes seem to handle nutrition
differently under stress, like I'm keeping the lights on but actually joints
and muscles feel terrible if the stress lasts too long.

This is typically a retrospection thing, and not a revelation that occurs in
the midst of the feeling. One day I'll wake up, make a huge breakthrough, feel
great, and wonder if I've been asleep for a month. My memory of the period is
also fuzzy.

I think our brains are way more nuanced than we appreciate.

------
azhu
Happens to me all the time. Your conscious experience is the product of you
processing a staggering amount of information from the world, and you're not
aware of most of that processing. I would say give therapy a try.

What you'll have to do is basically just science on yourself -- make a
hypothesis, test it, interpret your findings, and repeat until you know how
you work. Therapy is more or less learning how to do that for all the soft
emotional stuff in your head and learning how to manage your personal stress.

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lukeqsee
Yes.

For me it correlates to elevated stress either in the moment or the few days
(or weeks) before. If I've also not slept well or enough, I notice it faster.

I no longer consider it a thing to be fixed, but a fact of life. Delivering at
100% of "potential" every day is not really normal, and some of my most
productive moments are in days I've consciously accepted I won't accomplish
"normal" amounts, and end up solving some unsolved problem because my brain
had the space to process it.

It works out in the end. :-)

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shmageggy
Yes. Usually I can attribute it to sleep or hydration or exercise etc, but
since you've ruled them out, sometimes I've found it can be due to an unmet
emotional need, often loneliness or anxiety (currently dealing with this).
It's like the brain just refuses to stick on the thing I want it to. Took me a
long time understand this, as emotional awareness isn't the easiest thing for
me. Meditation has helped to get in touch with what's going on.

------
helpfulanon
I had this same issue for years, had seen doctors and a psychologist. Was
tested and learned I had ADHD. Meds, coping strategies and general self-
awareness helped in a big way.

But I also had this specific issue on certain days lingering even with ADHD
treatment. My doctor suggested I had sleep apnea. Possibly related to sleep
habits and possibly a very soft lumpy mattress. My wife and I got a new firm
mattress and it really did the trick.

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t0ughcritic
Download a symptom tracker or patient care app and record food, sleep and
supplements etc for a week. Have it auto correlate what it could be or use the
logs to determine what it could be yourself. For me it was sleep, not
exercising and Distressed mood that caused me to have such days.

Try One of these apps(all have free basic functionality afaik) symply,
careclinic, or foody if you suspect it’s food related gl.

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totemandtoken
It's the inverse for me. I'm pretty stupid most days, but every once in a
while I surprise myself with something insightful

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Wowfunhappy
Possible it's some form of migraine? I sometimes find my mind is cloudy either
before or after I develop a migraine.

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jonfw
I often have these days when my mind is pre-occupied. I'm used to having
around 40 minutes a day dedicated to my commute, where I relax and turn my
conscious mind off (luckily I don't have traffic)

I've had to start doing other things to get that mediative time back- be it
exercise, playing with dogs, gardening, whatever else.

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ryandvm
Not particularly dumb-days but I do have days where I am much more effective.
Sadly it's the days I take Adderall.

That said, I do realize that it's just as likely that I only _feel_ more
effective. If I had a decent way to measure developer productivity, I'd be a
rich man...

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whateveracct
Totally. Especially when the sun is out and it's a beautiful day.

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es7
Yes. And some days I feel much sharper than usual.

For me I think it is routine related. I almost never have 'dumb' days during
the work week but they're fairly common for me on the weekend.

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RickJWagner
For me, it's the worst on the next day.

Once in a while, I'll look at some work I did the day before and think "Man,
is that stupid. What was I thinking yesterday?"

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starpilot
It's more like, I have days when I feel normal that are just breaks in the
fog, because I've been depressed for 20 years.

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ravedave5
holy cow yes. The other day I could hardly spit out normal sentences without
grasping for easy words. As other have said I think it was related to
stress/sleep.

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rabboRubble
PMS? That sure does a number on me.

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lampington
Yeah, that happens to me too.

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jmpman
Possibly sleep apnea?

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ochronus
Yes, definitely.

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Glavnokoman
all the time!

~~~
tucaz
Same here. Every day.

------
loopz
Changes in Earth's magnetosphere have huge impacts on your minds, so yes.

