Don’t Underestimate Mental Fatigue
Have you ever been in the middle of a long grind session and find yourself making silly mistakes? Do you find yourself playing a long tournament and all of a sudden you hit a wall? You have just experienced mental fatigue.
What is Mental Fatigue?
Mental Fatigue is the brain fog we feel when we do cognitive heavy tasks. Stress and overuse of metal faculties can induce this brain fog. This brain fog we experience can make it hard to pay attention or focus on the tasks at hand. This is why it shouldn’t be ignored. It is your brain telling you to slow down and reset.
Effects of Mental Fatigue
According to the University Health Network and Doctors Lori Bernstein Ph.D and Stephanie Phan, OT, Reg. Ont (1), we can see the effects of our brain fog manifest in ways that include:
• A lack of retaining and processing new information
• Difficulty in making decisions and plans
•Hinderance in Solving problems
• Inability to focus your thoughts
• Impediment in recalling memory
How does this affect us in the games we play?
Mental fatigue will rear its ugly head when we push ourselves in cognitive heavy task. Most activities that we as players engage in will require some form of effort from the prefrontal cortex(2). When we experience the overworking of our prefrontal cortex you will find it harder to make the split second decisions that may be required. This can lead to misplays. In long tournaments we can see decreased performance as the day goes on. If steps are not taken to mitigate the brain fog and restore the focus you will find yourself trailing behind in performance.
How do we alleviate the effects of mental fatigue?
There is a two prong approach to the recovery from mental fatigue. One is putting an emphasis on restorative experiences and two is maintenance. Both approaches can be done as part of a healthy routine.
Restorative experiences can be both immediate and long lasting. These are things that can give you both the instantaneous boost of energy to proceed with the activity and maintain a healthy balance in our mental faculties. Maintenance is also imperative to train the brain to handle the heavy load of a cognitive task.
What is a Restorative Experience?
A restorative experience consists of an activity that rests the brain and returns the mental energy. The best example of this is spending time in nature. Shutting the brain off and spending time outside has been found to rejuvenate the prefrontal cortex. While nature walks and being outside might not be for everyone it is important to find an activity that interests you so it doesn’t require much work. It is also important that this is activity is outside of your normal routine. The change in routine sends signals to the brain that something is different and interesting. Think of it as food for your brain.
Maintenance!
Maintaining a balance is the key to keeping the brain fog and fatigue away. Moving the body and incorporating some sort of physicality into your life helps keep the brain from growing bored and tired. Our brains consume 20% of our oxygen intake (3) so injecting more oxygen through exercise can improve mental alertness and focus. Also, balance comes from diet. The foods we eat and the frequency in which we consume said food can have a large impact on our mental fortitude. Eating small amounts at frequent intervals can keep the brain running and prevent the overload of nutrients flooding the system at one time.
Take a break
Mental alertness and focus will return over time with frequent breaks. One more game or telling yourself you can’t end on a loss is a trap that we all fall into. It can be tempting to just keep grinding. When the games require a large cognitive effort you will find that over time the performance of this task will decrease the longer the effort is required. Undue stress will lessen the ability to achieve peak performance so its best to step a way even for a few moments. If we lower the stress level and quiet the noise we will find that the focus comes back.
So what does all this information mean in the world of gaming.
Well when it comes to the games we play, its all about achieving a healthy balance. When we participate in tournaments or ranked ladder climbs, it is important to take a moment to step away. Step outside the venue for a moment breathe the air, focus on the sounds of birds or the hustle of human movement around you. Pack protein heavy snacks that you can eat at intervals throughout the day. You will surprise yourself how quickly your focus and energy return to you. Its all about the balance in the brain and that’s how you don’t underestimate mental fatigue.
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