Learning When Your Brain Won’t Play Ball (But Needs To)

06 Sep, 2025

Learning something new can feel like a chore on the best of days. Add MS and the “chore” can look impossible. Yet paradoxically, learning is one of the friendliest things you can offer a foggy brain. New skills, tiny challenges, and gentle novelty can nudge attention, memory, and motivation in ways that scrolling can’t. You’re not trying to become a polymath; you’re giving your brain fresh paths to walk when the usual ones feel jammed.

Why bother when you’re tired?

Because fog loves sameness. It thrives on low-signal, high-noise routines. A small, chosen stretch—five minutes of a language app, a beginner chord on guitar, one paragraph of a new topic—can act like a window opened in a stuffy room. Think “micro-novelty”: just enough newness to wake curiosity without draining the tank.

There’s also the creative trick of pairing things that don’t seem to fit, to spark attention and recall. I think of What is Absurd Rhyme —setting unlikely partners side-by-side to make meaning. On foggy days you can rhyme fatigue with play, hesitation with one tiny action. The point isn’t perfection; it’s momentum.

Authority for sensible, practical guidance on MS and cognition: https://www.mssociety.org.uk/about-ms/signs-and-symptoms/cognition-and-thinking

A tiny “learning loop” you can keep

1. Pick a micro-skill. Something finishable in 5–10 minutes: one recipe step, one camera setting, one breathing pattern, one new keyboard shortcut.

2. Set a sand-timer (not a goal). Five minutes of focused attention beats “I must learn X today.” Stop when the sand runs out; success is showing up.

3. Use a simple capture. Open Notes and log: date → what I tried → one sentence I learned. This becomes your breadcrumb trail when fog erases yesterday.

4. Pair learning with movement. Two minutes of gentle stretches or a short walk before you start can lift attention enough to make the five minutes count.

5. Close with a cue for “future you.” Leave tomorrow’s tab, instrument, or book visible. Friction kills micro-learning; cues revive it.

What to learn when you can’t decide

Sensory skills: a single drawing exercise, photographing light/shadow, identifying bird calls.

Language bites: one verb tense, three new words, a single phrase you’ll use today.

Tech fluency: one shortcut, one setting, one automation that saves two clicks.

Body basics: a breathing drill, a balance exercise by the counter, a gentle mobility flow.

Meaning-making: read one paragraph outside your usual interests; write a two-sentence summary.

Blogging turns learning into memory

Bear Blog is ideal because it’s distraction-free. Post a tiny “learning log” once or twice a week:

Template you can steal

Title: One small thing I learned today

What I tried (2–3 lines):

What surprised me (1–2 lines):

How I’ll use it (1 line):

Publishing is not boasting; it’s external memory. On foggy weeks, your archive proves that progress happened, even when your body says otherwise.

When the day is heavy

Some days, the kindest choice is to learn to stop. Rest is a skill. Let the loop be: breathe, nap, drink water, call a friend. Your next five-minute block will wait.

Gentle disclaimer

Nothing here is medical advice. Use these ideas to spark questions for your MS nurse/neurologist and to build routines that respect your limits.

Learning with MS is not about chasing gold stars. It’s about creating tiny, repeatable openings where attention returns, confidence grows, and fog thins just enough to see the next step. Five minutes is enough. And if today that feels ambitious, try one minute—then stand up, close the tab, and count it as a win.