Cognitive Load Calculator
Assess your current mental workload and capacity.
Find out if you are overloaded and what to prioritize.
Your Cognitive Load
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Cognitive load refers to the amount of mental effort being used at any time. Your brain has a limited capacity — exceeding it causes errors and burnout.
Three types of cognitive load:
- Intrinsic: Complexity of the tasks themselves
- Extraneous: Unnecessary distractions and inefficiencies
- Germane: Productive learning and problem-solving effort
Working memory capacity: Most people can hold 4–7 items in working memory at once (Miller’s Law). When you exceed this, performance drops sharply.
Signs of cognitive overload:
- Forgetting things more often
- Making careless mistakes
- Difficulty making decisions
- Feeling paralyzed by too many tasks
- Irritability and brain fog
Reducing cognitive load:
- Write things down (externalize memory)
- Break large tasks into small steps
- Eliminate unnecessary decisions (routines help)
- Single-task instead of multi-task
- Take regular breaks (Pomodoro technique)