Men & Mental Clarity – What Affects It & How To Improve It

Mental clarity refers to your ability to think clearly and process information quickly. It is a healthy state in which your mind is fully active, allowing you to be productive, work through problems, make better decisions, and improve your relationships. 

While this may seem like a mammoth concept, you can reduce mental alertness to thinking on your feet, staying on task and being focused, and having a sharp memory and unclouded judgment. 

What Affects Mental Clarity?

Your mental clarity is affected by both simple and complex life situations. 

Simple or ordinary aspects detrimental to your mental clarity include lack of sleep, anxiety and stress, and poor nutrition. 

At a more complex level, loss of mental clarity may be caused by serious physical or medical conditions like depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), head injuries, eye vision complications, and cognitive impairment. 

While the more complex causes are prevalent, a simple cause is more likely to impact your mental clarity. Let’s talk about those in more detail.

Lack of Sleep

Insufficient sleep or sleep deprivation can destroy your mental clarity, especially if the issue is chronic. Lack of sleep negatively impacts your ability to think, give situations your undivided attention, and focus on a given task. 

Sleeping less than the recommended seven hours per night robs your body of the rest it needs to get you through the day. This puts your mental clarity at risk since your brain doesn't have enough time to rejuvenate itself. 

Poor Nutrition

You've probably heard this countless times, but you really are what you eat! 

If you eat like crap, your body will respond in the same way. Unhealthy eating habits stress your digestive system and brain because they just aren’t getting the nutrients they need to thrive.

That doesn’t mean you can never go for a burger and beer with the guys. Just be aware of what you’re putting into your body from day to day. If you expect it to work for you, you have to give it what it needs to perform. 

Anxiety and Stress

One of the worst enemies of the mind is stress. Although some stress is inevitable, managing the amount we are exposed to is key to keeping a healthy mind. 

High-stress levels lead to high cortisol levels, poor blood circulation, and reduced oxygen in the brain. Less oxygen in the brain can cause a loss of mental clarity. 

Signs of Lack of Mental Clarity

You don't have to go to a doctor to find out if your mind lacks clarity. The signs are obvious if you know what to look for. They’re likely staring you in the face, and you may not even realize it. 

A good sign your mental clarity is compromised is if you find yourself:

• Having problems remembering things (Have you ever walked into a room and forgotten WTF you went in there for?)
• Poor concentration or focus on the tasks or issues at hand
• Losing motivation and interest in things you usually enjoy doing
• Feeling mentally or physically exhausted
• Feeling alone or isolated from loved ones and the world
• Struggling with lack of sleep (It can be a cycle, bro!)
• Experiencing low self-esteem and recurrent imposter syndrome

How to Improve Mental Clarity

Now that we’ve gotten through the bad news – the signs of lack of mental clarity and why you might be struggling with it – it’s time to let you in on the good news: how you can restore your mental clarity and get back to being the man you want to be. 

However, restoring your mental clarity isn’t for the weak. It takes psychological intervention and kicking yourself in the back end with some hardcore physical strategies. And you might also need a physiological boost. 

Here's what you can do to regain mental clarity and get your mind back on track and working the way you want it to.

1. Try Supplements

There are hundreds of supplements on the market that you can take to improve brain function and correct impaired mental clarity. The best ones for the mind are valerian root, tyrosine, curcumin, and ginseng. 

At Masculen, you can find curcumin in our daily nootropic, Top Gun, which is known to improve memory and cognitive function. The nootropic also has Huperzine A, which helps you retain information and boosts learning performance.

Another popular supplement, Lights Out is a sleep aid that contains valerian root. Valerian root is known to improve your quality of sleep and how long you stay asleep, reversing sleep deprivation's effects on mental focus.

Our energy-boosting supplement, All Night, contains tyrosine, which helps fight brain fog, fatigue, and burnout. It also helps increase your body's tolerance to stress. 

Panax ginseng is present in Titan, our male enhancement supplement for improving weak erections and premature ejaculations. Ginseng also promotes cardiovascular health, feeding more oxygen into your brain. Not to mention the benefits it offers in the bedroom!

2. Focus on Mental Health

Mental clarity is a part of mental health. It’s important to care about your overall mental health because these things are cyclic—one small thing leads to a bigger problem, which only exacerbates the small one. Deal with the small stuff, so you don’t have to tackle the big ones.

Mindfulness, stress management, and meditation are excellent ways to rejuvenate your body and mind for more stability. 

Our Top Gun supplement contains KSM-66® Ashwagandha, an herb that helps combat anxiety while improving respiratory and cardiovascular function. It also helps reduce perceived stress by a marked 44% and cortisol levels by over 27%.

If you’re into it, you can also try yoga (there’s a reason it’s so popular!), hiking in the woods, and taking frequent breaks at work for a clear mind. Journaling is a great way to keep track of your thoughts, apply your mental energy, and focus your mind.

Tai chi also has excellent mental health benefits. Or you can grab a ball and your dog and head to the park, or slip on some headphones and lose yourself in your favorite playlist for a few hours. All of these are great ways to improve your mental clarity and focus.

3. Get Enough Quality Sleep

Sleep experts recommend getting a minimum of seven to eight hours of sleep each night. 

While life sometimes gets in the way of a full eight hours, you should try to get at least six hours of uninterrupted sleep every night to avoid mental fatigue and boost your mood. 

4. Practice Self-Love and Care

Sometimes the hardest thing we have to do as men is learn to appreciate ourselves for who we are. 

Don’t be too hard on yourself; avoid self-criticism even when you screw up. Instead, take time to love and treat yourself with admiration and kindness. Immerse yourself in your hobbies to rekindle the spark in the once-happy you. 

5. Physical Exercise

Maybe what comes to mind when you hear “physical exercise” is lifting weights and leg day at the gym, and you don't want that because, well, it hurts! 

Physical exercise can be as simple as breathing exercises to boost relaxation levels. You could also go out for a walk or play a game of pickup basketball with the guys. It doesn’t have to be a killer workout for you to reap the benefits of exercise. 

6. Eat a Healthy Diet

Like we’ve already discussed, nutrition plays a big role in your mental clarity and overall health. It’s important to eat a diet full of foods that boost brainpower, such as green leafy vegetables, tea, berries, walnuts, fatty fish, and pumpkin seeds.

Keep in mind that alcohol and drug use won’t help you get a clear mind. It's best to avoid those substances if you can, or at least limit your alcohol consumption to a moderate amount. That way, your mind will always be clear and focused on the task at hand.