3 ways to lighten your mental load

Invisible labour. What’s that, you ask? Well, that is when you take on a mental load and then wonder why you are so exhausted at the end of the day, when you’ve barely left your office chair. It is the cognitive effort involved in managing every aspect of your life.

As women, we tend to take on a lot of responsibility (more than men, in most cases). For us, mental load involves planning, making decisions, making appointments, remembering and staying on top of tasks, and executing those tasks – all while doing the rest of the things that we do, as moms and wives!

I often tell my husband that my “mental bag” is full. That’s a hint to say that I can’t answer those “what must the boys wear today” or “what time is the event” questions because I have a bunch of other things going on and I’m feeling overwhelmed. You’ll be surprised at how capable people are at finding out the answer to questions, without your help!

Taking on a “mental load” can look something like this:

1. Answering questions (emails/texts) but not counting it as part of your “to do” list while simultaneously trying to get through your actual “to do” list! That split focus can definitely feel like invisible labour, because you’re giving attention to a gazillion things at the same time.

TIP: Try to set aside allocated time to respond to texts and emails and (here’s the hard part) don’t look at your phone while you’re completing other tasks. Easier said than done, I know.

2. Thinking of all the things you need to do and then feeling completely overwhelmed by it all. Your overwhelm adds an extra 20kg’s to your mental luggage, and it’s totally avoidable!

TIP: Instead of just thinking about it, add those things to your “to do” list (no matter how small the task seems) so that you can park it somewhere other than in your already overwhelmed brain.

3. Taking on responsibility because it seems easy enough and you are able to manage it, but you don’t factor in the time it will take to research, plan, do follow-ups and, eventually, execute. All of those things can add to your mental load, if not accounted for.

TIP: Before saying yes, consider the time it will take to complete the tasks, and THEN decide if you want to take on that responsibility. It’s okay to say no sometimes. Your peace is more important than your yes.

Do you find yourself lugging around this invisible luggage called “mental load”?