The Protocol
The Brain Fog
14-Day Protocol
(You asked for this. Read it once, then start with step one. Changing three things at the same time tells you nothing about any of them.)
Week One · Measure Only
Before You Change Anything
Score one symptom daily, 0 to 10
Pick the one that bothers you most. Word-finding, recall, or focus. One symptom only. Same time each evening.
Log the night before
Time you fell asleep, and any waking. How badly you sleep predicts this far better than your age does.
Note caffeine timing, not amount
The hour you had the first one. Timing moves this more than dose does.
Week Two · One Lever
Add One Thing. Keep Measuring.
Daylight before caffeine
10 minutes of outdoor light within an hour of waking, before the first coffee. Overcast counts. Through a window does not.
Creatine monohydrate, 3 to 5 g daily
Studied for focus when you are short on sleep, not only for muscle. Timing does not matter. Consistency does.
Two resistance sessions
The benefit to your head is separate from the benefit to your body. Load matters more than duration.
Reading Your Own Data
What the Two Weeks Actually Tell You
- Compare week two against week one, never one day against another. Day to day swings mean nothing.
- A 2-point move out of 10 is real. Less than 1 point is noise.
- If nothing moved, you now have something specific to bring to an appointment. That is a result too.
The Fix:A symptom you measured is a symptom you can argue for. That is the whole point of the fortnight.
Please Read
What This Is, and What It Is Not
This explains how your body works, based on published research. It cannot diagnose you and it does not know your history.
If your memory is getting worse, or it changed suddenly, see a doctor now instead of tracking it for two weeks.
Want the next one?
Each week covers the mechanism behind one midlife symptom, in the same tone as
this page. It goes out on Instagram first.
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