How ‘Cognitive Overload’ Can Hinder Your Productivity
I write a lot about productivity , which means I read a lot about it. Over the past few months, I’ve noticed people increasingly discussing so-called “cognitive overload,” citing it as a potential cause of decreased productivity. This phrase caught my attention as one of those buzzwords that can be overused until it loses all meaning—but at its core, it certainly has a real, clear definition and can be a useful tool for maximizing productivity.
Essentially, cognitive overload is a condition where you receive more information than your brain can process, causing it to simply shut down and making it difficult to focus on anything at all. Here’s what you need to know about this condition and what to do if you notice it.
What causes cognitive overload?
You know all those jokes on social media about how a single piece of news or modern food could kill someone born just a few centuries ago? They’re funny and exaggerated, but they’re based on the fact that while the methods of producing and exchanging information have advanced significantly, the human brain has remained largely the same. We say it all the time, but it bears repeating: we’re simply not designed for the barrage of stimuli we receive daily.
Consider how many times your phone lights up in a day. I just checked the Screen Time app and discovered that, even though it’s only the beginning of the day, I’ve already received 150 notifications directly on my lock screen. It’s only Wednesday, so I average 213 notifications a day, which my phone tells me is 20% less than last week, and I’m pretty sure it will increase again by Sunday. Considering I reconfigured my phone settings a few months ago to prevent all notifications from constantly appearing on my lock screen, this is alarming. It’s just a lot of information to constantly see.
As it turns out, text-based information is a leading cause of cognitive overload, according to at least one study . Emails, Slack and Teams messages, texts, calendar notifications—the endless stream of these messages significantly contributes to a general feeling of being unable to process or accomplish anything. If you think back to a typical day when you felt too exhausted to work, it likely included many such days. According to the study, audiovisual stimuli are less overwhelming, so a Zoom call, a phone call, or a manager’s visit to your desk may not throw you off track as much.
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Beyond feeling like you can’t think clearly or are overwhelmed by a lack of energy to complete a task, you can recognize cognitive overload by other signs. For example, if incoming messages leave you feeling frustrated or detached, regardless of the content, this may be exactly what you’re experiencing. In fact, this is the symptom I experience most often. When I’m overwhelmed by too much information, every time my phone lights up, I think, “What do you want?! ” even before I see who’s texting. (Sorry, Mom.)
How I deal with cognitive overload
In the process of researching and thinking about cognitive overload, I realized I already employ several techniques that may help me avoid it. As mentioned above, a few months ago I disabled notifications for my least-used apps. For years, I’ve also configured my MacBook settings to not receive any push notifications on my computer. My phone is always nearby; there’s no compelling reason for the upper right corner of my laptop screen to constantly bombard me with the same notifications as my phone.
After understanding cognitive overload, I remembered a few more proven productivity approaches. The one-tap rule can be helpful if you’re irritated by messages. This rule requires you to open every message you receive and instantly decide what to do with it. It may seem counterintuitive to immediately respond to every incoming message if you’re trying to avoid burnout from the sheer volume of them, but I’ve found that seeing a message preview at the top of my screen and doing nothing about it keeps it from lingering all day. Responding immediately helps me clear my mind and get on with my work.
Otherwise, the approach to combating this will be quite subjective, although I have one more recommendation: if you’re not familiar with the Pomodoro Technique , familiarize yourself with it right now. It involves working for a set amount of time (usually 25 minutes), followed by a short break (usually five). During these concentration sessions, you should be completely free of distractions, putting your devices on “Do Not Disturb” mode or even using dedicated apps to block other, distracting apps. Knowing that you have a specific amount of time to work seriously will help you focus and avoid information paralysis and decision paralysis, and knowing that a break will eventually be in store will help you stay relaxed while working.