Menopause, Brain Fog and the Workplace

Is your productivity taking a hit? There are strategies to help

Wendy Geller

Updated October 02, 2025

A woman with her chin on her hands looking at her laptop in an office

Charday Penn/Getty Images

It’s one of those days at work: You forget that you have an early, on-site meeting and rush to get to the office. During the meeting, your supervisor asks for details about last week’s call with a client. You remember the call…but your mind just can not dredge up the specifics. All this, before lunch.

When it comes to discussing common menopausal symptoms, hot flashes tend to steal center stage. However, a less-talked-about nuisance that can challenge women in the workplace is “brain fog.” Details, dates and even words you’d normally have at the ready get lost in the murky haze of your mind. Of course, it always seems to happen at the worst times, such as during important meetings or phone calls.

A national survey by AARP conducted in 2023 of 1,510 working women age 35 and older revealed that 90 percent experience one or more menopausal symptoms. The average number of symptoms was five. And, menopausal symptoms are common at work, according to a study of nearly 2,900 menopausal and recently postmenopausal women reported in 2024 by Catalyst, a nonprofit group focusing on workplace inclusion for women. Mental exhaustion was cited by 62 percent of participants. It was one of the top four challenges, along with hot flashes, sleep changes and physical exhaustion. More than one-third of respondents reported that their symptoms had a negative impact on their work performance.

In 2023, the Society for Women’s Health Research polled more than 900 people in varying stages of the menopause transition. Close to 80 percent reported that brain fog was their most troublesome menopausal symptom at work. Nearly half said that brain fog, along with other symptoms, caused them to feel a loss of self-confidence in the workplace and affected their overall job satisfaction. AARP’s survey, in fact, found that a few respondents have even considered resigning from their jobs due to menopausal symptoms.

The good news, according to Monica Christmas, M.D., director of the Center for Women’s Integrated Health at the University of Chicago: The brain fog is usually temporary. It eventually resolves once a woman is through the menopause transition. And, even though it can seem scary, it’s likely not indicative of cognitive decline or dementia in those who do not have a family history of that disease, Christmas says.

Brain fog tends to be a byproduct of the entire menopausal experience and its various symptoms, many of which can be managed. For example, she points out, other menopausal struggles — particularly lack of or disrupted sleep — can have a marked effect on cognitive function.

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Lauren Chiren, founder and CEO of Women of a Certain Stage, an organization that advises employers on supporting workers during the menopausal transition, agrees. “When people talk about any one symptom in isolation, I always say let’s step back and look at a more holistic picture of this,” she says. “If we’re not getting relaxation, that ability to switch off and that ability to get a good night’s sleep, then the next day — and the next day, and the next day — we’re going to be more fatigued, more tired. We find it harder to focus and to concentrate.”

Mood swings can also contribute to brain fog: Up to 40 percent of people will experience some sort of mood change during the menopause transition, Christmas adds. “It could be anxiety, it could be depressed mood, it could be anhedonia [the inability to experience joy or pleasure],” she says. “Mood changes can also impact how we’re thinking and functioning.”

How to help yourself

What can you do to clear the brain fog from a self-care standpoint? Both Christmas and Chiren stress the importance of a healthy diet, proper hydration and exercise. But there are some other simple strategies women can try right away, in addition to building these foundational habits.

A great place to start, Chiren says, is to keep a daily record of your symptoms and observations. Log how you feel every day, how you slept the night before and what you ate. Note specific patterns at work to gain insight into what might be affecting your mental state, too. “Are there any deadlines at work? Are there any people [bugging you] at work?” Chiren suggests. ”After two or three weeks of keeping a list of your symptoms and how severe they are, then you can start to look [for] any triggers.”

Chiren also encourages a quick break during the workday, as needed, even if it’s as simple as visiting the restroom to focus on breathing. “It’s just having that moment,” she says. “Nobody even has to know you’re doing it.”

Of course, aside from taking active steps in self-care, women who are struggling with brain fog at work should check whether their workplace offers specific accommodations. Although menopause is still a somewhat unspoken topic — Catalyst’s report notes that 35 percent of respondents perceive stigma around talking about menopause at work — there are many things that can help women manage difficult symptoms while still being effective at their jobs.

More than 6 in 10 women who responded to the AARP survey said a flexible schedule would help. That could mean a later start time to accommodate disrupted sleep schedules or more work-from-home days. There’s also assistive technology, such as AI tools that can take meeting notes.

“Women should feel empowered to have open and constructive conversations with their managers and their teams, destigmatizing the topic,” advises Kelly Montes, executive director, U.S., for Catalyst. “Framing the discussion around how temporary adjustments — like flexible hours, PTO or additional resources — can maintain productivity and performance can help normalize the conversation.”

Such discussion isn’t just beneficial for employees. With 50 million women in the U.S. labor force in the menopausal age range, menopause can have significant economic implications. The Mayo Clinic estimates the costs of worker productivity losses due to menopausal symptoms to be about $1.8 billion — and this isn’t going unnoticed by employers. AARP’s survey, which also interviewed more than 400 benefits decision-makers at companies with at least 50 employees, found 73 percent of employers agree that they need to do more to support workers in menopause.

“As someone who has personally been impacted by symptoms, I was astonished when I began openly sharing how many other professional women were silently struggling and/or were not aware of health and wellness options that may support them through this life transition,” Montes says.