What causes Cognitive Overload at Work? 6 Ways to Deal with it

Has your mind ever glitched with too many tasks at hand? Have you ever found it hard to process too much information during a meeting? Have you tried multitasking but failed at it? This is cognitive overload at work, a lag in our working memory.

It can affect employees' mental wellness to a great extent. Their daily job life as well as personal life can get severely affected.

Let's imagine the daily life of Sia, a social media executive in a fast-paced tech company. Her job is to manage all social media posts, create content, monitor engagement and growth on the platforms, and communicate with her boss regularly.

Despite repetitive meetings and briefings, she keeps forgetting tasks. Her postings get delayed, and her content strategy is lagging. Hence, she is overloaded with too many tasks at once. This is decreasing her productivity level.

Okay, now that the meaning is a bit clearer, let's ask why it happens. Why does our mind lag? Neurological science has demonstrated a very direct answer: Our brains are not wired to focus on two tasks at once.

In this blog post, I will explain the meaning, the various causes, the impact, and some strategies to overcome cognitive overload. So, keep reading.

What is Cognitive Overload?

Cognitive overload is mental exhaustion that occurs when our working memory is clogged with too much information. When the limit of our brain's working memory is exceeded, our productivity and workability decline.

Our working memory is responsible for holding and processing information when we perform a cognitive task. Therefore, it is important to consider its limit to avoid any mental malfunctions.

So, how does cognitive overload at work happen and affect the job? I have seen many of my colleagues glitch and malfunction when they have to work on more than one task at a time. As I mentioned above, our brains are only capable of carrying out one task at a time.

Hence, an overload of working memory can particularly affect our mental health, performance, productivity, and job quality.

I have also witnessed cognitive malfunctioning or overload in interns and first-time employees. As they have to manage work-life balance and learn skills simultaneously, they malfunction. Therefore, managing cognitive overload at work is crucial.

What Causes Cognitive Overload at Work?

The root statement is that our brain is a complex organ. It controls our actions, creates memories and emotions, processes information, and reacts to them.

It can process information to an extent received in various methods like reading a book, listening to a podcast, tasting a new dish, and feeling a new emotion. Cognitive overload happens when the information received is too much for it to process.

It has the most chances of creeping up at work as we deal with various kinds of information at once. Before it threatens our workability and productivity, the individual and the management must take care of it.

Some prominent factors that have caused cognitive overload in people (me included) at work.

1. Time Management Issues

Time has always posed problems for employees at work. Meeting a deadline becomes more complicated than usual when you have more than one task at hand. A Microsoft study found that 68% of employees claim they do not have enough time to focus on important matters.

This leads us to conclude that poor time management can burden employees with more tasks. Procrastination and doom scrolling at work can also result in cognitive overload, as they leave tasks pending.

2. Multitasking is a Productivity Killer

Our brains struggle to switch between tasks. This is the leading cause of cognitive overload.

Despite the common consensus that multitasking is an advanced art, it is a productivity killer. Focusing on more than one task takes up a lot of our concentration, reducing our workability.

3. Complicated Tasks

We always come across complex tasks at work once in a while. They are to challenge our capabilities and push our boundaries.

But they also use up a lot of our brain's cognitive or working memory. This can lead to brain fog and a lag in productivity, which I mentioned above.

4. Toxic Work Culture

A toxic and unhealthy work culture can effectively reduce productivity. Cognitive overload can happen if a single person is burdened with more tasks than his working capacity.

A UK-based company called Oak Engage conducted a thorough survey. They found that 73% of the UK workforce claimed that a toxic culture had led to burnout. 71% of those employees also said that they would rather choose to work from home to avoid a toxic work environment.

5. Lack of Organization

Cognitive overload at work can also result from a lack of organization. The organization here means how you prioritize your tasks, to-dos, and even the files and assets on your desk.

Research shows that disorganization and mess can lead to cognitive overload. Our brains, like order and visual clutter, can block our cognitive resources and reduce our ability to focus.

Surprisingly, the research also suggested that 77% of people in cluttered and disorganized spaces are more likely to be overweight.

6. Insufficient Breaks

Like a machine in a factory, our brain also needs regular breaks or time off. Constant work can clog our cognitive resources, leading to malfunctioning working memory. Therefore, breaks are absolutely necessary to maintain a high productivity level.

Cognitive Load Theory

Some Signs & Symptoms or Impact of Cognitive Overload at Work

Most people keep functioning or malfunctioning unproductively, believing that it is normal, especially in a corporate job. Here are some symptoms that may suggest that your cognitive resources are being stretched.

1. Increased Stress

The first and foremost symptom of cognitive overload is increased stress. This includes increased cortisol levels, pain in the back of the neck, soggy eyes, and anxiety. Stress also affects sleep quality and overwhelms the brain, even with simple chores or tasks.

2. Reduced Productivity

The other main sign that you are having a cognitive overload at work is your reduced productivity. If you could do X number of tasks before and now you do way less than that number, your productivity has been hit.

Employers usually take mesasures like health benefits for employees, different wellness programs, and others to tackle employees' reduced productivity and brain fog.

3. Anger and Irritability

I remember when I was in a toxic environment, I used to be the rudest and the most irritable person in the office. So, if your anger has heightened around your work, you should slow down and take care of your cognitive wellbeing.

4. Low Memory Power

A very common symptom of clogged cognitive resources is low memory power. While forgetting things is common for humans, it is not when it happens frequently. Know that your brain is overloaded if you keep forgetting tasks, meetings, deadlines, and more.

5. Inability to Make Decision

Decision-making is a normal and essential function of our brain. If you are finding it hard, it means your brain is fogged with too many outcomes of too many aspects. In such a case, it is crucial to slow down or take a break to analyze the situation inside out.

6. Fear and Low Confidence

Sometimes, cognitive overload can also trigger complex emotions like fear or anxiety. A trend of inability to meet deadlines, low-quality results, and disorganized work can affect a person's confidence, leading to a fear of taking responsibilities.

7. Strained Workplace Relationships

All the accumulated stress, irritability, too many tasks, and declining mental wellbeing can really affect workplace relationships. People don't want to interact with stressed and irritated people, which creates a toxic work culture and backbiting.

8. Mental and Physical Fatigue

Lastly, cognitive overload can physically and mentally tire you. It can lead to fatigue and sleeplessness that further worsen conditions like anxiety, fear, stress, and even depression. Management and individuals must take care of it and nip it in the bud.

How to Overcome it?

When cognitive overload at work happens, the solution to it has to come from the individual as well as the management. The person experiencing it must recognize the sign and talk to the management about it. The management must take measures to address it.

Leaders and managers in a company can help employees overcome this obstacle. They can take various measures, such as task redistribution, allowing breaks, and more, to help the employee overcome this cognitive roadblock.

Suggested Read: 5 Ways to Overcome a Mental Block at Work.

1. Prioritize and Simplify Tasks

Prioritizing more important tasks is a simple method for overcoming cognitive overload. Managers and leaders should also break certain large tasks into small chunks. This will help the employee focus on one thing at a time.

2. Organize Information and the Workspace

As I have discussed in the article, organization and order can help the brain focus better. Therefore, it is crucial to organize the information from a meeting well so that you can understand and work on it later.

A cluttered workspace can further ruin your concentration. So, keep your space clean and organized so you can easily find what you need.

3. Stop Multitasking

Well, you will hear many world leaders and achievers asking you to master the art of multitasking. However, as a corporate employee, you will do much better if you avoid it.

Multitasking puts a lot of pressure on your cognitive resources. Therefore, it is better to focus on one task at a time. It can also help you deal with work anxiety that many people get.

4. Manage Your Time Well

Multitasking may be an art only a few can master, but time management can be easily mastered by everyone. Prioritizing and timing your tasks can significantly reduce pressure on the working memory.

Allocating specific time slots for tasks prevents them from piling up. Try to finish each task in the allocated time so that you can focus on only one in the next time slot. But remember to take regular breaks between tasks.

5. Practice Mindfulness and a Healthy Lifestyle

Being mindful and meditative can smoothen any task by enhancing focus and concentration. Many mobile applications, like Headspace and Vantage Fit, can guide you into this healthy habit.

Vantage Fit can help your employees stay mentally and physically fit. It tracks certain health metrics and lets you earn redeemable points. Book a demo of the app today!

6. Say No and Seek Support

Sometimes, it is important to prioritize your health and decline certain demanding tasks. You must understand that this is not rude or inhuman. It is about tuning into your job-life balance and determining what is best to maintain that balance.

Taking a mental health day off work mental health day off work and taking care of yourself is not going to delay work but rather help you get more productive and get back afresh. Dedicate weekends for self care and take a proper break from work if you need it.

Bottom Line

Avoiding cognitive overload at work is easier said than done. We have different kinds of jobs, and every kind has its own daunting demands. Some tasks pressurize you more than others. But we can always choose to manage things and keep ourselves mentally healthy.

The tips I have mentioned above on managing cognitive overload can help you regardless of your job. Otherwise, it is always prudent to talk to the management if the pressure is getting too much for you.

Suggested Read: Ways to Improve Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace and its Benefits

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the types of cognitive loads?

Cognitive overload is different for every individual. There are no specific types. It is the symptoms and signs that make it different.

2. Are there specific tools or apps that can help manage cognitive overload?

Yes, there are many tools and platforms available to help you overcome cognitive overload. Some of these include Headspace, Vantage Fit, and others.

3. What is the primary cause of cognitive overload?

The primary cause of cognitive overload is the glitch or an overworked working memory.

4. How do you reverse cognitive overload?

Cognitive overload can be reversed by following the above-mentioned tips like focusing on one task at a time, selfcare, meditation, etc.

5. How to recover from cognitive overload?

Taking care of oneself is a good way of overcoming cognitive overload. there are different ways that work for different individuals but being mindful, organizing work, and many other tips can help greatly.