Brain Overload

Continuing with the theme of psychology, I'd like to get into the concept of cognitive load. You see, much like this blog, I love nothing more than starting projects. Unfortunately, I have a habit of beginning with one idea, noticing I have to do something else, and then forgetting what I was doing in the first place. This happens to me all the time- I'll be working on an assignment, go to the kitchen for a specific snack, but then as soon as I open the refrigerator I'll have completely forgotten what I wanted. I then have a moment of clarity that I am not only hungry but also prematurely senile.

It turns out I'm not senile. I just have cognitive overload. 

Kevin James' joke has science to it!

Humans have a relatively small working memory. We can only store so much information in our short term memory and consciousness at any one time. You've probably heard of George Miller's famous theory that the human mind can only hold seven objects simultaneously. (Incidentally- that theory is also the reason there is a natural rhythm to saying phone numbers. It is much easier to chunk the numbers up into easier to remember clusters than it is to remember seven digits given to you all at once.) The same neurological functions which cause the 7-object limit also work with information our brains are receiving consciously or unconsciously. 

When you are focused on too many things and you have a lot of information coming in all at once so that it overwhelms your working memory, you can't think as properly. Our brains weren't evolved to handle all the information we have access to in the present age so it doesn't have time to process it all and make use of it. As a result, our brain compromises and lets some information go and we get stressed out from the flow of information. This is why people who live in loud, bright cities have more anxiety than people in more rural areas. When I have my senior moment at the fridge, my brain has decided that remembering what snack I want isn't as important as whatever I was working on just then was.

While you can improve your ability to focus and process information, the working memory limitation seems to be a hard one. Instead of fighting it then, work with it. Studies show that distributing studying sessions over a broader period of time rather than cramming; that studying an hour a day for a week rather than 8 hours the night before is far more effective and helps you retain the information much better. When you do have to cram, don't have the TV on in the background because that is additional information your brain will take in, thus splitting your attention between what you're trying to learn and the episode of "Firefly" where the hot one from Mad Men becomes Mal's wife that is playing in the background. Once you're aware that our minds are very sensitive to overload and don't perform as well when forced to incorporate lots of data at once, you can better optimize those times when you do need to focus and perform better. And you'll also remember phone numbers better.