HayU Blog

Have you ever found yourself lowering the volume in your car to concentrate on parking? Or mentally repeating a new phone number until you can write it down? These are instances where your working memory is at play, helping you focus on immediate tasks.

Let’s explore how this cognitive process actually works. Your working memory forms part of your brain’s executive functioning system. It operates like a temporary sticky note or whiteboard that holds information for a brief moment, either to use it for an immediate task or to add it to your long-term memory. Your working memory prompts you to turn down your music while you park so that it can siphon attention away from your auditory system and focus on the more pertinent visual task of parking. With the phone number, your working memory temporarily stores the phone number in an auditory loop that you repeat to yourself until you can write it down.

An optimized working memory system only holds information briefly before acting on it or storing it elsewhere to wipe the slate clean. You need to clear the metaphorical sticky note. That way, your working memory is ready for the next task. This is because our working memory is finite and limited. Some studies of working memory estimate that it can only hold between 7 and 10 distinct pieces of information. If tasked with holding more than this, it becomes overstretched and inefficient, similar to trying to carry too many grocery bags into the house. If your hands are too full, you can’t open the door without putting some bags down first.

An overstretched working memory system (often called “cognitive overload”) causes paralysis when interacting with new information. Our brain reaches its processing limit and becomes unreceptive to new information. We can become incapable of deciding what to do next, so we procrastinate. Cognitive overload is usually a precursor to burnout, resulting in even the most mundane tasks feeling insurmountable.    

How we go about our daily lives may contribute to this cognitive overload. Every time we use our working memory to store something we will need in the longer term, we risk overpopulating our working memory. We do this whenever we hear an important date or deadline and try to hold it in our mind rather than writing it down. Or when we try to manage a lengthy task list in our head by deciding, on the fly, which tasks to tackle, and when. Our working memory isn’t built to hold information long term, much less to act as a makeshift task list. The more we require it to do, the more we find ourselves going through our days feeling like we are “forgetting something” without knowing quite what that is. Or sitting down to work and unable to get started because it feels like “I have so much to do, and I don’t know where to start.”

So, how do we resolve it? How do we give our weary working memory a break?

Time Management

For starters, you could take stock of the ways in which you are packing your working memory with information that is best stored elsewhere. Start with dates and deadlines. Do you tend to mark those in a calendar right when you hear them, or do you make a mental note and then move along with your day? Some dates are more important than others (a final exam date, a client meeting, a big project deadline at work, etc.), but the more mundane dates we don’t record can often cause more trouble and overwhelm than anticipated. Forgetting to cancel a free trial or set up an auto-pay plan for your credit card could result in unnecessary expenses. Forgetting the date that pest control or home maintenance is coming can disrupt your entire workday and cause you to be less equipped to handle the urgent and important tasks you had planned. Building a habit of offloading time management from your working memory and putting it onto a calendar could be a step towards freeing up your working memory.

Task Prioritization

You should also consider how you tend to plan and prioritize your tasks. How do you decide which task you are going to tackle? Is it based solely on urgency, or do you also consider task size, deadlines, and relative importance among all competing tasks? While the latter approach may seem more tedious and time-consuming, the former is more taxing to your working memory and cognitive load. The more we require our working memory to make on-the-spot decisions about what we will do (and not do) at any given time, the more we are asking it to keep stock of everything we need to do at all times. Having a task list can offload some of that weight and free up your working memory.

Implementation Strategies

When your tasks live in a list with due dates and time estimates, your working memory can be freed-up to do the work it is optimized to do - making decisions that require immediate, real-time action. The benefits of these systems are clear, but implementing new habits can feel overwhelming - especially when you're already experiencing cognitive overload. If any of the above signs of cognitive overload resonate with you, consider taking gradual steps towards freeing up your working memory by using calendars and task lists. Aim for progress rather than perfection. As you build momentum with these systems and find what works for you, consider how to lean on them to free up your working memory. It will thank you for the vacation.

~ Hunja Koimburi

Director at Hayutin