The human brain has a capacity. A capacity to the amount of information it can store and process at a time. This capacity is known as the cognitive load. If our brain consumes more information than it can actually digest, it can affect our behaviour and decision-making in daily life situations. In order to avoid this, we need be aware of certain causes that force us to cognitively overload our brain.

What exactly causes our brain to cognitively overload ?

1] Procrastination

• What is procrastination?

Procrastination is the action of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something despite knowing that there will be negative consequences for doing so.

• What are its effects?

People have a tendency to eat up most of the information that comes their way. If they’re interested in it, they either delve into it deeper or save it to consume at a later date. Ultimately, this creates an unwanted accountability of numerous tasks, which in turn tends to deviate a person’s attention and delay their original task at hand.

A clear observation of this kind of behaviour can be done by checking the number of tabs and windows open across all devices. Opening tabs and new windows might be a good way to come back to your work or explore something later, but it can act as a double-edged sword by creating a cluster of tasks to complete. This might result in clogging our mind and blinding our approach to complete this long to-do list that we unnecessarily created.

We can also consider the role of social media as a distraction. Leaving our work or study incomplete to scroll through social media can while-away our time and make us turn a blind-eye to the impact of procrastination on us. Although procrastination shamefully makes us regret our decisions, our brain still craves social interaction and fears to miss out on the latest updates. This brings us to the next cause of cognitive overloading, FOMO.

2] FOMO

• What is FOMO?

Fear of missing out (FOMO) is the feeling of apprehension that one is either not in the know or missing out on information, events, experiences, or life decisions that could make one’s life better.

• What are its effects?

In today’s digital age, the inflow of exciting news and updates on the internet has the ability to target our interests and puts all of us in this race where everybody is trying to stay upto date with the hype and trends in the market. Everybody wants to be a part of this community, but little do we notice that our performance and decisions are affected by their perception.

Let’s take an example. With web3’s rapid rise, cryptocurrencies are attracting several investors to not miss out on the next get rich quick currency. This emergence caused by people flooding into the market affects investors to take impulsive decisions because of the FOMO on the big money that it has to offer. Recently, a cryptocurrency called Terra (Luna) swept away almost all of its investors’ money. This sudden shock could not be handled by them and diminished their cognitive ability to think through the crash, leading to a depression in the market. The brain cannot process the reason for this kind of undesirable outcome. This decreases the cognitive efficacy and creates a chaotic mindset, where the tasks that were initially managed, start falling apart and overloading the brain.

3] Overthinking

• What is Overthinking?

Overthinking refers to thinking about a situation or topic to an excessive amount or in a simpler way think about (something) too much or for too long. It affects a person mentally as well as emotionally.

• What are its effects?

Overthinking causes cognitive overloading in a different way. It causes our brain to paralyse itself with worries and thoughts, where people ask themselves questions and dwell on them to the point where it gets in the way of their life. Although this is a natural behaviour shown by all of us, we should avoid prolonging it at all costs as it may lead to chronic overthinking, which creates an interruptive ripple effect in our health and lifestyle.

For example, overthinking causes mental exhaustion, which results in a decline in physical health, ultimately leading one to judge themselves for not being able to remain fit. These kind of regular patterns need to be under our control in order to prevent illnesses and disorders from sinking into our everyday life.

How to deal with cognitive overloading ?

1. Stay Hydrated: Drinking water calms down the nervous system and brings us back to our senses.

2. Practice deep breathing : Increases blood circulation, allowing more oxygen to reach the brain.

3. Write down your thoughts: Helps to acknowledge thoughts and express feelings in words. Using one place to write them is the best (I would recommend a Notes application or a normal diary).

4. Go for a stroll: Go to your favourite place or spend time with friends to declutter your mind.

5. Ask yourself the right questions: This eliminates the wrong questions and frees up the thinking process. (Ask yourself questions like: “What is causing my state of mind to be like this” , “Why am I overthinking” )

6. Look for solutions: Find problems but give your time and energy to explore solutions. This will bring back a healthy control over your life.

Feel free to comment down more causes and solutions for cognitive overloading!!!

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