Hack Your Meno-Brain

10 tips for organising your life when your brain won’t play nice!

During menopause and perimenopause changes to the rate at which our brain cells metabolise can cause forgetfulness, fatigue and problems with focus. While there’s evidence that this does eventually settle down, it’s not much fun dealing with it in the meantime.

There are things you can do to look after your brain and reduce these symptom - and you might want to check out my other articles - but this article is about techniques to make living with meno-brain easier.

1. Reduce your memory load

There’s interesting research that suggests that during our menstruating years women’s memory vastly outperforms that of men, and that after menopause it declines until it is about the same as men.

Is it possible that we have got into the habit of trying to remember too much? Do we remember things on behalf of other people? Do we take on too much of the memory load in work and relationships? Is there a way in which we can reduce what we need to remember — including expecting other people to remember things for themselves.

2. Don’t try and multi-task

We’ve grown up with this idea that women can multi-task and men can’t. It’s actually been shown that when we multi-task we usually do all those tasks less well. But the myth has had two really problematic consequences. Men don’t try to multi-task and women expect that they will be able to.

Is the truth that we’ve been over-loading our brains for a long time and they’ve been just about holding up?

What would happen if we did things one at once? Chances are we’d end up being more effective.

And what if we assumed we couldn’t do everything at once and started saying ‘no’?

3. Plan in buffer time

It’s very tempting to work non-stop when you feel that you’ve slowed down, but it’s counterproductive because it doesn’t bring out the best in your brain.

Brains are like cats. If nothing changes they stay asleep. A change of location or activity can help perk you up. And your brain needs changes of pace.

Five minutes to look at the horizon. Or close your eyes. Or chat to a friend. Or go and make a cup of tea. The making it may even do you more good than drinking it.

These things are not timewasters. They’re ways of hitting the reset button on your brain.

If you have control of your own diary, make sure you have a break between meetings. And guard that break like a dragon — from latecomers, meanderers and procrastinators. Tell people you have somewhere you need to be right away. Because you do!

And if the organisation of the school day is your responsibility it might be worth considering whether it helps anyone's brain function at its best.

4. Play for Time

If that fuzziness is making it difficult for you to make decisions on the hoof, don’t. It’s ok to say ‘leave it with me’ or ‘let me get back to you’. It’s ok to ask someone to send you an email summarising what they just asked you for. Unless it’s urgent it’s not urgent.

Or ask a question. “What are you thoughts?” might buy you a lot of time, depending on the loquacity of the speaker.

And if you’re working with children, they love to tell you what they know (at least until they reach a certain age) and you can always see if they remember a word you’ve taught them.

You might even have a list of the questions you can ask when you're stuck.

5. Make time for organisation

It’s boring. And it always feels like you don’t have time for it. But it saves time in the long run.

Whether it’s taking time to make lists and sit with them do list last thing at night or first thing in the morning. Or organising your emails and contacts into groups.

Or making sure your workspace is tidy.

And if this is a short section, that’s an acknowledgement that I could do a little better!

6. Invent some fun mnemonic devices to help you remember things.

When I’m popping to the shops for a few things or I have a list of things I need to remember to do, I think of the first letter of each object and task and rearrange them into a word.

For example if I know that before I leave the house I have to feed the cat, clean my teeth, switch off the oven, take my meds, and find my gloves I might remember McGOT. Of course it still sometimes takes a moment for me to remember what the letters are!

Some people prefer to remember things by thinking of pictures in their heads. So in that case it would be an image of a cat wearing gloves, sitting in the oven sharpening it’s teeth on my meds. Eek!

Some people take a moment to imagine themselves doing those things and their body helps them remember.

It’s worth knowing which is stronger for you — visual memory, movement memory or verbal memory.

7. Exploit your Apps

Everything goes in my calendar these days. And it’s on the cloud so the same calendar appears on my phone, tablet and PC. My phone flashes up a reminder 30 minutes before any appointment — and when it’s the day to put the bins out.

I use what3words when I need to remember where I’ve parked the car. I have an app for my shopping list. I frequently text things to myself so that’s always a good place to look. I have an app to remind me to take my medication.

I also know people who use Asana or similar apps to help them manage their time.

8. Treat yourself to a beautiful notebook.

In addition to apps I also write things down. Every night I write down what I have to do the next day — even though it’s already in my electronic camera. There’s something about the act of writing that fixes things in my brain. I think that’s because it establishes a kind of movement memory.

If you’re working in a classroom where students have a fixed position, make yourself a cheat sheet by writing their names and other information on a plan.

Write down the key words for your lessons ahead of time. That will help cement them and it will give you a cheat sheet.

If someone asks you to do a list of things or gives you a set of instructions, I find it’s best not to trust your memory. Ask them to give you a moment while you jot things down.

And if you’re likely to lose your notebook have a think which is easier for you. A big one that’s so unwieldy you can feel when you haven’t got it — or a small one which just slips into place in your bag? Perhaps it helps to make it a bright colour. Or have a jingly jangly thing attached to it.

9. Don’t Panic

Don’t let your meno-brain get to you. If you worry, or panic or stress about it, it gets worse.

High cortisol levels have an impact on your executive functioning, your memory, language skills, social awareness, cognitive function and possibly more. That’s because as soon as your fight or flight kicks off that’s what your body is putting all it’s energy into survival and not into managing your life and work competently.

Focus on some nice deep belly breaths until you feel calm. Or have a laugh about it. Laughter’s incredibly good for your brain!

10. Find time for laughter

There’s a lot in your day that drains you. Laughter will help refill you. It’ll give your brain a surge of feel good chemicals such as dopamine and oxytocin and endorphins.

Between them they will have positive effects on memory, motivation, attention, mood, emotional regulation and connectedness — and help reduce stress and pain.

And as there’s evidence that our bodies produce less of all those chemicals as we go through menopause, I’d say that’s as good an excuse as any to make sure you have a bit of a laugh several times each day.