By Chris Jones — Leadership & Development Specialist/Coach
We often talk about workload.
But what about mental load?
Workload is the tasks you’re responsible for.
Mental load is the thinking required to stay on top of it all:
- Remembering deadlines
- Tracking details
- Managing emotions - your own and others’
- Context switching every five minutes
- Being “always on” and reachable
This isn’t just tiring.
It’s cognitively expensive.
And in modern workplaces, mental load has become the silent performance killer.
The Hidden Drain: What Cognitive Overload Looks Like
Signs the brain is at capacity:
- You read the same email 3 times and still forget what it said
- You open tabs and no longer know why
- You jump between tasks but finish none
- Creativity stalls - everything feels reactive
- You forget words and names you know you know
It’s not laziness.
It’s neural bottlenecking.
When the brain is overwhelmed, performance plummets long before effort does.
Why This Matters for Leaders
When people can’t think clearly, we see:
- Mistakes increase
- Decision-making slows
- Emotional regulation drops
- Engagement fades
Organisations assume this is a motivation or capability issue.
It’s actually a capacity issue.
People aren’t running out of time.
They’re running out of mental bandwidth.
Causes of Mental Load in Modern Work
- Back-to-back meetings
- Lack of clarity on priorities
- Digital overload (email, Teams, Slack…)
- Multitasking (which the brain cannot do)
- Invisible responsibilities: emotional labour, onboarding others, “fixing things”
Some people - especially women, LGBTQ+ employees, and the neurodivergent community - experience disproportionate invisible labour at work.
Leaders must recognise what isn’t written in job descriptions.
Practical Tools to Reduce Cognitive Overwhelm
Reduce Switching Costs
Group similar tasks instead of bouncing between topics.
Try asking:
“What can we cluster so you can focus deeper?”
End Meeting Saturation
Adopt the 45-minute hour - protect transition time.
Better yet:
- Remove attendees who don’t need to decide or act
- Encourage async updates
Meetings should support work - not replace it.
Clarify “What Matters Most Now”
Weekly leader check-in:
“Of everything on your plate, which three things truly matter this week?”
Clarity reduces unnecessary thinking.
Delegate thinking, not just tasks
Empower others to decide - not simply execute.
Control shared = load reduced.
Recognise Emotional Work
Ask:
“Where are you absorbing strain on behalf of others?”
Then support redistribution.
Micro-Skills to Train Your Brain
- Write it down → stop using your brain as a filing cabinet
- Single-task → performance rises 40–80%
- Pause → oxygen in = clarity out
- Turn off notifications → protect attention like a resource
Small shifts create major cognitive returns.
Try This Team Conversation This Week
“What tasks or expectations are taking up mental space without adding real value?”
Then remove one.
This shows people their minds matter - not just their hands.
Leaders: Don’t Forget Your Own Load
If you’re overwhelmed, your team feels it twice:
- In the gaps
- In the pressure
Leaders deserve enough headspace to lead, not just cope.
You can’t support others if you’re running on fumes.
Call to Action
Choose ONE action this week:
- Cancel one recurring meeting with no purpose
- Encourage one deep-work block daily
- Share weekly priorities - and what’s not a priority
- Reduce task-checking and increase decision-delegating
Cognitive space is a performance tool.
Protect it.
Supporting You to Support Others
If you’d like help improving focus, performance and capacity in your team through coaching or leadership development:
Let’s have a conversation - so your people can think clearly, feel well and perform at their best.
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