Have you ever felt like your brain is in a fog at the end of the day? You just CANNOT make another decision right now? I have and it may be related to the mental load we carry in our lives. Find out what the mental load is, how it relates to mental clutter and why we want to address it for our well-being.
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Mentioned on Ep 065: What is the mental load? Is mental load the same as mental clutter? How does mental load affect our well-being? We also reference episode 62, episode 41 on multitasking and episode 51 for setting your week up for success.
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Welcome back to The Burnout Doctor Podcast, I’m your host Dr. Jessica Louie. On episode 65, we are talking about mental load and mental clutter! Now, I start my podcast introduction with decreasing the mental load and I find some of you are confused by this phrase. So, time to have a full episode on it! Thank you for your feedback on last week’s episode on Why I stopped running towards a finish line that never came! So many of you reached out to me this past week to discuss how you were running towards a finish line too! I love when you book a complimentary call and we get to know one another! Remember, we all write our own stories in our lives and homes. Let’s all bring joy into home and joy into work.
Back in episode 62, we went through 4 Types of Clutter affecting your Joy each day. I’m going to dive deeper into What is Mental Load and Mental Clutter today and why it is important!
What is the Mental Load?
Before we get into the definition of it and why it is important, let’s take a moment to think and reflect. Have you ever felt like your brain is in a fog at the end of the day?
Have you ever felt that you just can’t make another decision right now?
Have you ever felt so overwhelmed that you want to cry?
I’ve felt all these ways.
These are all examples of the mental load.
What is the mental load?
The mental load is the sum of responsibilities that we take on to manage “remembering all the things.” I interchange the words mental load with mental clutter. It’s our ability to process information.
Many people refer to the mental load when they talk about parenthood, specifically moms. But I don’t limit it – we can ALL experience mental load and mental clutter in our lives.
The problem with the mental load?
It effects our stress levels and well-being.
It may be interesting for you to know that how we perceive, react and view stress has more impact on our well-being than our actual to-do list.
So, if we are feeling mental overload and mental clutter, it may adversely affect our well-being and our physical health because we know cortisol levels are related to our stress.
This is also a reminder that BUSY is NOT better. Many of us brag about our responsibilities and role in our households, and this may correlate with our mental load. It doesn’t need to be that way.
We choose what is on our calendars, where we spend our time and how we simplify our lives. It’s a choice.
Let’s go back to our questions from earlier. How did I feel these examples in my own life?
My brain has been in a fog after going from activity to activity and not giving myself a break or a breath. I’ve felt like screaming when another decision needs to be made. And I know many of my healthcare colleagues can relate. When my fiancé gets home from the hospital and we’re talking about dinner, there is NO way he wants to make another decision about what to eat. This was a point of contention at one time and now we have our Weekly Joy Check discussions so we know what we’re eating in advance and who is making out take-out food for date night. I’ve felt like taking in another piece of information will put me over the edge – too much news consumption – to just want to cry and put it all away. My brain is done processing information – done consuming from digital media sources and digital clutter in my life.
Let’s also think about where we find mental clutter in our lives. Many times it’s related to our digital clutter because yes, we have amazing technology now but it’s also interfering with our joy sometimes.
For example, how often to you check your phone? Your email inbox? Your internet browser and bookmarks?
I’m going to guess…A LOT!
I used to do this too! I cluttered my life with notifications. I checked my phone constantly because there was a ding for a new text message or like on facebook or comment on Instagram. I checked my email as they came into my phone and early in the morning and right before bedtime. I opened up my internet browser and had a long list of bookmarks to search through to find what I was looking for. I opened my laptop and had files scattered with no organization.
But it doesn’t have to be that way, right? We don’t need our digital clutter running our lives. We can teach others how to communicate with us and stop reacting to our mental clutter.
We are the CEOs of our lives. We run our lives. Life doesn’t run us.
This is why I’m SO excited to be sharing more about mental clutter with our podcast guest next week and our new Digital Decluttering Workshops coming out next week.
Until next time, spark joy my friends!
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Note, my views are my own and are not associated or representative of my employer(s).
This podcast is for educational purposes only and not medical advice.
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