by Linda W. Arms, Feb. 8, 2019
I originally wrote this in Feb. 2013, six years ago. At that time, I was living with a brain injury for 7 years and still struggled with many, many things. I’m posting this again because it points out to me how much I’ve improved in the last years. Many of us are grieving, sad and frustrated after our brain injury because of everything that has changed in our lives. I was one of those people. Now several years later, improvement continues, and well past the time that most doctors told us improvement would end. Don’t give up hope that you will get better. It takes time but it does happen for many of us. I still use my planner and schedule my tasks based on my brain energy levels. I don’t get so easily overwhelmed but I definitely work within certain boundaries I’ve set for myself. I eliminate distractions, say “no”, and do my more complex thinking and tasks in an environment that I am able to control, and at the beginning of the day when I have the most brain energy.
Original post dated Feb. 2013:
I do things in a more linear way these days. I can successfully manage one thing at a time. It is because I have a brain injury that I can no longer multi-task in the ways I did before my injury. Since my injury, my capabilities have improved tremendously but I am still far from where I used to be where I juggled multiple information technology projects; managed a group of 16 or more that was responsible for several aspects of technology in a large organization; taught classes after work; and managed all of life’s other aspects at the same time. I could easily jump from one topic to another and then back again. Those days are gone.
These days I can recognize several things that need to be taken care of, like a birthday coming up, having someone over for dinner, taking care of a personal business matter and a lot of other small matters. The problem is that I can’t work with a multiple of these things at the same time without difficulty and feeling overwhelmed.
What do I do? I look at my list of “to-do’s” and decide which needs my attention first. It might be just a small piece like “I have to order this book so it is here for my husband’s birthday”. I take care of ordering it and “put away” the other birthday tasks for a later date and not even think about it. Then I focus on accomplishing just that one other thing that I’ve identified as being the priority. In this way, I don’t have that feeling of overwhelm so I can give all my brain energy to one topic. I am more successful when I focus on one thing until I complete it because I don’t have to re-think things. In my opinion, re-thinking takes up a lot of cognitive energy that I don’t want to waste.
I also do not place a lot on my “to-do” list because I know I can’t be successful. I identify what is most important. There are things I just don’t do – they are no longer important in my life. I ask others for help. I remove distractions from around me so I can focus on what it is I am doing. I take “brain time-outs” sometimes for a whole day if I overdid it for a few days. Once you use up a lot of your cognitive energy, it is almost impossible to recover if you keep going and doing whatever used it up. You have to rest, many time for days.
My daily planner is essential and keeps track of things for my brain. I need total silence when I need to accomplish something requiring more thinking. Sometimes I have to write down the steps of what I will need to do to help keep me on track. It also helps me to avoid having to rethink something and use valuable brain energy. I take lots of brain breaks and take naps. I avoid social events when I know I have to do some heavy duty thinking tasks the next day. What tips do you have to share?
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yes! I had cerebellar brain surgery in 2016 to remove a tumour, and i very much relate to what you say. things have got better when you look over a long period of time, but day to day i feel i am not improving as much as i thought – as it was made out i would!
i have much of my experiences in a blog https://benignbraintumour.blogspot.com
glad to know things still get better after that ‘2 year window for improvement!’ 🙂
I am 2 years post concussion and appreciate your posts. It is only when I look back that I see the continuous recovery process. Some days are so frustrating with limited ability to stay focused and impossible to multi-task but I do see gradual improvement. Nice to know we all have plasticity to our brains and like any muscle it can be exercised and regrow connections. Yoga has been amazing for my balance and meditation when I’m able has provided the relaxation for my brain also.
Your words ring true for me too! Even after almost 9 years I’m fresher in the morning so I tackle difficult tasks then. I also need to complete tasks at once because I don’t want to waste my time backtracking. Some tasks are just not possible for me so I’m blessed that my wonderful husband understands. I have come farther than expected but I still do workbooks for math skills & word puzzles to improve.
I had to accept the fact that I will have good days where I can accomplish several tasks and some where I am just recovering. Acceptance has been difficult because I was so active (mentally) with a full time job as a teacher, helping my husband with his business and running the finances at home plus other things…I no longer work as a teacher, just started substituting for one private school so I don’t work much, and losing my career was devastating but through counseling have been able to accept it. I am trying (struggling but trying) to get on a routine that helps me stay on task and I am taking on meditation to help calm my brain and anxiety.