In this solo talk, David Brimacombe draws on his personal experience of seven concussions over two decades to explain why post‑concussion syndrome (PCS) drains not only physical stamina but also mental decision‑making capacity. He argues that the brain’s limited energy stores are quickly exhausted by everyday choices, leading to pre‑frontal cortex fatigue and poor self‑control. To counteract this, Brimacombe proposes a set of low‑effort, high‑predictability systems that reduce the number of decisions required throughout the day. He outlines a simple morning routine (consistent breakfast, pre‑laid clothing, brief gratitude journaling, breathwork, dog walk) and a calming three‑step evening wind‑down (lights down, reading or stretching, teeth brushing). By automating these moments, the nervous system can stay in a safe, predictable mode, conserving mental energy for more important tasks and for choices that align with one’s identity and recovery goals. The core message is that motivation alone won’t restore energy; structured, repeatable habits will.
Chapters
PCS recovery drains your energy, not just physically but mentally as well. This exhausts your nervous system, and the solution isn't more motivation, it's fewer decisions. Hi and welcome to the PCS Resilience Collective. My name is David Brimacombe, and after 7 concussions over 20 years, I learned how creating systems gave my brain a rest and my energy stores a chance to recharge. Let's begin. Every decision you make in the day consumes energy. Now understand that when you are recovering from a concussion or you have post-concussion syndrome, your energy stores are limited. Your brain's ability to actually create more and the sufficient amount of energy is limited as well. So always thinking about what am I going to wear today? What should I eat? What should I do after work? Should I go and hang out with my friends? Should I stay home? All those small little choices that you have to make drain your energy. And as your battery is only getting charged halfway, they all drain quickly. So you might find by the end of the day that you have very little energy. Your capacity to make a good decision is limited. And that's when maybe you sit in front of a screen or you, you know, you binge eat after supper. It's not because you don't have the capacity to have willpower or the capacity to create structure in your day. It's because you've exhausted your prefrontal cortex. Your ability to make a proper decision is gone. Your brain's just like, I'm out, I'm tapped out, I'll do whatever. I'm just going to sit here. Because you don't have that capacity. Now, there are some simple ways, and I've learned some simple hacks in order to create the systems and the protocols that will actually limit the amount of decisions you have to make, and therefore you can save that energy when you need it most. First thing you need to understand is that your nervous system thrives on predictability. It wants to know from day to day what's going to happen. Every time you throw a new wrinkle, it's a plot twist in your brain, and it's like, whoa, should I be scared of this? Is this dangerous? Is this safe? And the more you have of those in the day, the harder it is for your nervous system to adjust, to comprehend all these situations that are going on. Again, this is exceptionally difficult when you're recovering from a concussion. Okay. If I am always doing something different— I wake up some days, I reach for my phone some days, I get up and I do breathwork other days, I read other days, I go right to work— your body and brain have no idea of what's to come. They're always on alarm mode. They're on alert. They're waiting for something to happen. So the first thing I'm going to suggest is a simple morning and a simple evening routine. The point of this isn't even necessarily for the techniques and their recovery benefits, although that is a bonus. The point more so is that you are creating some predictability. You're reducing the decisions that you need to make when you have a nice routine. I know we don't want to live like a robot, but it allows your body to go on autopilot for a bit. I'm sure some of you have driven home from from work or from a place you go to all the time and you wondered how you got there. It's like my body was driving on autopilot. And in some cases it probably was. It's done that drive hundreds of times. So it really knows the path and how to do it. And this might seem like a dangerous thing, but because your brain doesn't have to make too many decisions. Do I go left? Do I go right? Do I have to wait here? How come there's so much traffic? Should I take another route? That it makes it easy for your brain and your free body, gives it a time to rest and for that battery stores to recharge. Now, the same applies in the morning. If you get up and maybe you get up and you're like, well, I'm hungry, what do I want to eat? Decision number 1. You finish eating. What do I want to wear? Decision number 2. And you see how these small things layer and they stack. And it might seem small, but again, when you are coming from a place of having reduced energy capacity, reduced energy to begin with, why would you want to make it harder on yourself? Save that energy for when you really need it most, for what you want to use it. So I always eat the same breakfast. Okay, it's boring, I know. It's like a dog kibble every morning. I eat the same thing every day. But my brain and body knows when I'm going to eat, what I'm going to eat. I always put my clothes out the night before so I have it ready. I don't have to go through my wardrobe after I shower. I'm rushed, I'm panicked, I'm stressed. I know what I'm going to wear, and I know within a 5-minute window of everything I'm going to do in the morning. When I get up, I go to the bathroom, I do some gratitude journaling, I do some breathwork, I go and walk the dogs. I have my breakfast. I shower and I go to work. It's simple. And for many people, it maybe is a little too robotic. But what I'm going to tell you is that the thing that you need most isn't some novelty in your life right now. Again, that's a stressor. And the more stressors you layer, the harder it is on your nervous system to adjust. What you need is some predictability. Again, keep it simple. If you can get up and do 2 or 3 things consistently after waking, your body will love it. It will appreciate that predictability. And with that predictability, you're going to have more energy, more mental capacity later on to make the decisions that you need. So, when something comes up in the afternoon, now that you haven't used those energy stores early on, You have an important work meeting and you have the energy to make an important decision. After work, you see that bag of chips, that, you know, pail of ice cream, whereas before you didn't have the ability to make a decision that aligns with your identity. Before you just say, well, whatever, I'll just eat some. Ah, I'm tired. I deserve it. And maybe you do, but maybe you sit back after and say, that's not who I am. I'm not the person who sits on my phone for 2 hours after supper or eats an inordinate amount of dessert. Because now you have the capacity, the energy to make a decision that aligns with who you are, aligns with your recovery. Now, the same applies for when you go to bed. Again, you don't want to add the layer of stress before you go to bed. Ideally, you want to wind down. So, the last 3 things you do before bed should be calming. Consistent. Okay, so maybe it is you turn the lights down, then you read a book, then you brush your teeth, or you do some light stretching and you fall asleep. But you've now created a simple 3-step wind-down that your body knows it's safe, it knows it's time for bed, and it's going to make it a lot easier on your system. So just in closure, energy isn't necessarily built on more motivation. It's built on better systems, on making small changes in your day so that it makes it easier in the long run. Again, lay your clothes out the night before, eat consistent times, eat a consistent breakfast, bring the same thing for lunch. I know it might seem boring at first, but this is the time in your life where consistency is one of the most important things you need, and that's where we need to start. Remember? Okay, all you need to do is start small and scale later, and you will see great progress. Thank you for watching till the end. I hope you have yourself a great day.
