Cognitive Overhead, Groceries, and Executive Dysfunction

tl;dr: Cognitive overhead is a model of understanding why executive dysfunction happens. Thoughts and feelings that are unnecessary or disruptive to a given task are “cognitive overhead.” Effectively minimizing cognitive overhead helps reduce executive dysfunction, so understanding the principle and how to apply it is helpful.

What exactly causes executive dysfunction? There are many specific factors that contribute to it, but it’s surprisingly difficult to find a clear explanation. For years, I had the same problem despite studying and experiencing executive dysfunction myself. This ultimately led to creating the model of executive dysfunction I call “cognitive overhead.”

1. What is cognitive overhead?
2. Wait, what do groceries have to do with this?
3. Cognitive overhead isn’t a perfect model.
4. How can cognitive overhead be helpful?

What is cognitive overhead?

Take a moment to breathe and consider all the things your brain is dealing with. You might think of many things, such as tasks you need to do today or emotions you’re feeling. There might be sounds around you or the sensation of your chair underneath you. You might feel hungry, tired, stressed, happy, or any other number of feelings and emotions. The impact of these thoughts and feelings are what form the foundation of “cognitive overhead.”

All thoughts and feelings direct and support you towards achieving different goals. However, you typically have a goal you are prioritizing at any given time. “Cognitive overhead” refers to thoughts and feelings that are unnecessary or disruptive for your current priorities. There are a variety of thoughts and feelings that fall into this category. You could be deciding to take unnecessary steps towards a goal that make it more difficult. Or, you could be spending extra effort resisting the temptation to pick up your phone and start playing a game. Most likely though, you’re dealing with some type of stress.

Stress, and especially chronic stress, causes a lot of problems with executive functioning. In particular, stress causes problems with short-term memory (or working memory), flexible thinking, and resistance to distraction. It also causes you to be more reactive instead of proactively taking control of your decisions. Not only that, but executive dysfunction also makes it harder to manage stress, creating a negative feedback loop. Stress also comes from a variety of places, ranging from sensory hypersensitivity, to hunger and thirst, or even social challenges. Unsurprisingly, anyone who has experienced these things knows how disruptive they can be to intentional focus and concentration.

Wait, what do groceries have to do with this?

Everybody has had the experience of carrying groceries back home, or back inside their house from a vehicle. Often, there are so many groceries that it can be difficult to carry them all at once. This actually works very well as an analogy to cognitive overhead! So, if you’re having trouble understanding what it means, think of it this way.

Whenever you try to complete a given task, you need to keep all the steps to take in your mind. These are the “groceries” you need to carry and put away. While different people have different abilities (such as strength or arm length), more groceries are harder to carry than less. Similarly, everyone has different mental abilities, but it is always harder to remember more steps in a given task.

Cognitive overhead comes in as extra ‘groceries’ that you don’t actually need, or physical difficulties making it harder. You might only have one arm, or less strength to carry all of the groceries you want. Not only that, but as you get more tired and distracted, it becomes easier to try carrying unnecessary groceries.

Cognitive overhead isn’t a perfect model.

Like all models, the idea of ‘cognitive overhead’ is simplified to make it easier to understand. This is why it can be understood so easily through the analogy of carrying groceries. In all models, there are always exceptions or some specifics that don’t quite fit, and cognitive overhead is no different. While cognitive overhead is always useful for understanding how to manage executive dysfunction, it’s also important to understand its limits.

For example, stress has more complicated effects than just causing executive functioning problems. Short-term stress at moderate and manageable levels can actually have positive effects on memory and motivation. Alternatively, stress might be due to being held accountable, which can help maintain focus in spite of the cognitive overhead it causes. Even intense stress can sometimes be helpful depending on the task, as it can improve control over your physical actions.

Similar to how accountability can be helpful but stressful, managing cognitive overhead is also difficult. Obviously, it isn’t as simple as ‘minimizing cognitive overhead’ because some causes can be helpful. Music or fidget toys might be potentially disruptive, but they can also help you focus and enjoy what you’re doing. In general, every decision you make when managing cognitive overhead typically involves some kind of trade-off. Being able to understand these trades and make decisions that fit you personally is the most important skill to learn.

How can cognitive overhead be helpful?

Cognitive overhead is a way of understanding executive dysfunction, not a way of solving it directly. Similar to spoon theory and fork theory, you can use this new perspective to make better decisions. When reviewing other tips and strategies for managing executive dysfunction or task initiation, they typically help by reducing cognitive overhead.

Let’s look at a few examples: Removing distractions from your environment reduces the overhead of resisting those distractions. Writing down steps to tasks in advance reduces the overhead of remembering them, letting you check your notes instead. Saying your goals out loud helps prevent the cognitive overhead of intrusive thoughts from disrupting your actions. Not only that, but these also fit into the analogy of carrying groceries.

Try thinking of these comparisons, too! Using a notebook to write tasks down is like using a bag to carry more groceries. It also helps you “train your body” to carry more groceries (or remember more steps), even if it’s not much. Taking smaller steps to reach a given goal is like breaking a big task into smaller tasks. And so on.

Ultimately, by considering cognitive overhead, you can think of solutions you might not have otherwise. Not only that, but it helps make small adjustments more understandable. Maybe you can’t hold all the groceries, but take off a few and you could still carry most of them. Sometimes, that’s enough.

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Alternatively, I provide inexpensive personal coaching for managing executive dysfunction and would love to help you if you need it! I also have a wealth of experience supporting people with ADHD, Autism, and those from the LGBTQIA+ community. If you would like to work with me, you can check my prices here and contact me here. I look forward to hearing from you!