STRONGER TOGETHER: Reclaiming Clarity – 5 Strategies to Ease Mental Overload

"STRONGER TOGETHER" is a weekly column where Tanya explores key issues. This week Tanya discusses five practical strategies to reclaim mental clarity and ease cognitive overload, empowering readers to live and work with greater focus, calm, and intention.

By IMPACT Community Services Managing Director Tanya O'Shea

There’s something I’ve been noticing increasingly recently: people are overwhelmed by the load they’re carrying. It’s part pace, part volume, and it’s draining us mentally and emotionally.

Cognitive load is the total mental effort your brain uses to process information. Simply put, it’s how much your mind is juggling at once. While a certain level of mental load keeps us engaged and challenged, too much leads to overload - focus fades, mistakes multiply, and burnout begins.

In the workplace, cognitive load builds up from juggling too many tasks, constant interruptions, unclear priorities, emotional stress, and frequent task switching. Signs of overload include trouble concentrating, forgetfulness, irritability, and decision fatigue.

The good news? Reducing your cognitive load is not only possible, but also powerful. Start by asking: What’s going on within me in response to what’s happening around me?

What did you notice? Do you need to lighten the load?

If so, here are five proven strategies to help you get started:

1. Do a mind sweep
   Use a notebook or app to offload thoughts and your internal to do list. Writing things down frees up mental space and reduces anxiety.
2. Prioritise and reprioritise
   Each morning, choose just 1–3 ‘must-do’ tasks. Focusing on fewer priorities boosts motivation, maintains momentum, and helps you finish what you start.
3. Limit multitasking
   Focus on one task at a time. Try 25-minute sprints with breaks (see the Pomodoro technique). This reduces distraction, supports deep work, and minimises errors.
4. Reduce decision fatigue
   Automate simple daily choices, like meals or outfits. These shortcuts preserve brainpower for bigger decisions and help maintain emotional balance.
5. Communicate boundaries
   Protect your time. Boundaries reduce stress and build confidence, creating a foundation of self-care by defining what’s acceptable, and what’s not.

Reducing cognitive load isn’t just about working smarter, it’s about living better. When your mental space is clear, everything shifts. You think more clearly, relate more openly, and move through your day with greater calm and intention. That’s the real power of lightening the load.