Wellness in your pocket

Understanding the word of the year and how to deal with it

- Anjali Kochhar

The word 'brain rot' was named as the word of the year 2024 by the Oxford University Press. It gained increased usage in frequency by 230% between 2023 and 2024. In simple terms, brain rot is a feeling when your brain feels slow, and unmotivated after a long screen time or when you feel the urge to take more breaks to watch irrelevant social media crap. The Oxford University Press defines brain rot as the supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, especially as the result of over-consumption of material that is considered to be trivial or unchallenging.

Let us explore, in this article, why it happens and how to deal with it.

Important signs

Attention span of a Goldfish: You open a document to work...and suddenly, you're watching a video on how penguins propose. Every little distraction pulls you away, and staying focused feels impossible. This is one of the most common signs of brain rot.

Memory gaps: Did you reply to that email? What were you supposed to buy at the store? You can't remember and it's not just "Oops, I forgot." It's like your brain didn't even try to hold on to the info.

Foggy, fuzzy, and frustrated: Your thoughts are cloudy. You can't connect ideas like you used to, and you often find yourself saying, "Wait, what was I just talking about?" more times than you'd like.

Procrastination: Every task feels like climbing Mount Everest barefoot. Your brain says, "We'll do it later," but later never comes.

No motivation: Things you used to love now feel...meh. Creative projects? No. Are you trying new recipes? Pass. It's like all the color drained out of your daily routine.

Blocked creativity: Can't think of new ideas? Can't finish old ones? Your brain refuses to "load the next episode" of your creativity. This is one of the signs of brain rot.