Working Memory and Cognitive Load: Why Your Brain Feels So Full.

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Working Memory and Cognitive Load: Why Your Brain Feels So Full.

Imagine you need some things from the shop. You only need 7 items, so you don’t bother to write a list. However, once you are in the shop, you struggle to remember them all, and when you get home, you realise you have forgotten 2 items.
Why does your brain drop off several items like that? Because it has reached or exceeded the limits of its capacity.
This is a common example of working memory being affected by increased cognitive demands.
 

What does Working Memory do?

Working memory is the part of memory we use to “keep things in mind” long enough to perform complex tasks on them.  This could involve analysing, comparing, sorting, sequencing, organising, calculating, and so on.
All humans have limited working memory – it’s estimated that most adults can hold around 4 items at once. This number seems to decrease with age, and in some people with ADHD, the number can be lower to start with, particularly when manipulating information.
Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch published a landmark paper on a model for Working Memory in 1974, describing 3 main components:  the central executive, which acts as a supervisory system and controls the flow of information from and to its subsystems: the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. The phonological loop stores verbal content, whereas the visuo-spatial sketchpad handles visuo-spatial information. Both subsystems only function as short-term storage centres.
You could think of Working Memory as a small workbench where your brain puts things and then moves them around.
 

How does Cognitive Load feature?

Cognitive Load is how much demand working memory faces at any given moment. The difficulty comes when you try to put too many things on the workbench.
Things that add to the load are, for instance:
Holding onto information while trying to operate on it at the same time.
Hidden decisions: for example, deciding what outfit to wear to work while calculating what others may think of your choices, how comfortable it will be, what the weather is going to do, and whether the boss will be in today.
Holding something in mind over a long period, like someone’s upcoming birthday, with no prompts (unless we create them for ourselves).
 

What happens when Cognitive Load is too high?

Items can get dropped out, as in the shopping list example above.
You might muddle up the order of a sequence or find it challenging to do that calculation.
And things you knew a moment ago go missing. For instance, while I was writing this article, I had the choosing-an-outfit example in mind one moment, and the next something else occurred to me, and I lost my thought.
Working memory is also shared with attention-switching costs. So if we have lots of things coming in at once and keep switching from one to another, that takes a toll on our working memory as well.
Interruptions are another example of cognitive load spiking beyond our capacity; they often disrupt working memory and push our previous thoughts out of mind.
It isn’t a character flaw or a lack of effort; it’s simply a capacity limit being put under too much demand.
 

Working Memory and ADHD

  • Working memory and attention levels are closely linked. In people with ADHD, there is a higher chance that memories will not get encoded effectively if our attention is elsewhere.
This is how we put things like keys, phones, and credit cards down and lose track of them. Instead of being aware of what we are doing with these important items, our attention is elsewhere, and we automatically put them down without it registering. No attention = no memory encoded.
 
  • Alderson et al. (2013) conducted a meta-analysis of 38 studies of adults with ADHD. They found moderate differences between adults with ADHD and controls in both phonological and visuospatial working memory. The authors concluded that working-memory difficulties persist into adulthood, although they also found that the task methodology influenced whether a difference was detectable.
  • Research consistently finds that working-memory performance is, on average, weaker in people with ADHD than in people without ADHD. However, this is a group-level finding: not everyone with ADHD has a working-memory impairment, and the degree of difficulty varies considerably among individuals.

Key points about working memory and cognitive load.

We cannot enlarge the workbench by much (although chunking can help us hold more of certain items in mind); however, we can put less on it.
Three ways we can do this are:
  • Reduce the load,
  • Offload it somewhere else,
  • Cue it using external methods, e.g. triggers and prompts.

Trying harder to remember things won’t work, whereas reducing demand will.

Reliable systems will build confidence, because you’re no longer relying on memory alone.
In Part 2, we look at the tools, hacks, and strategies you can use to build systems that you can rely on to overcome this common phenomenon/support your working memory function.
 
If you’d like help building systems to help you keep things in mind, reduce cognitive load, or find strategies to support your working memory you can set up a call with Coach Anna HERE.
Coach Anna, PCC, PCAC, has been supporting people with ADHD for the past 12 years, and would love to hear from you. You won’t need a diagnosis in order to begin coaching.

The Perfectionism/Procrastination combination!

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The Perfectionism/Procrastination combination!

 

I wrote about Procrastination earlier in the year, and it’s such a common feature of life with ADHD for many of us that there’s always more to discover and say about it. I wonder how many of you will recognise yourself in any of the examples of the perfectionism/procrastination combination below?

Procrastination can happen with perfectionism when we have set ourselves very high standards. Impossibly high standards. It’s got to be just right. It’s got to be perfectly conceived before we start. Or we’re thinking of the perfect way of doing things, or feeling as though we have to set everything up perfectly before we can start.

And the end product has got to be perfect, otherwise people will think badly of us. Or we’ll think badly of ourselves. And nowhere in there does “just good enough” come into it. I quite often see my coaching clients almost cringing when they hear the expression “good enough”, as if that is actually painful to them to think about, or consider that approach—approaching something in a way that it could be just good enough. And then what happens is not only do we put off doing the thing, but then when we do start eventually, maybe doing the thing, the perfectionism is still there.
 
Take writing an email, for example. We put off writing, and when we do start, that perfectionism nags away at us, making us dot every i and cross every t before moving on. I’ve known people who feel they absolutely have to correct the first sentence and make it just right before they can continue and write another sentence.
Editing as we go because we can’t bear a typo, a spelling mistake, or an unfinished thought in the mix is an extremely inefficient way to write, time-wise. For one thing, it will take a lot longer, and because we cannot see the whole picture before we start editing, it will almost inevitably need doing again.
With emails, I often find that people think of it as a big thing. It’s got to be the right time to start. They’ve got to be in the right mood. They’ve got to find all the things that they wanted to consider before starting to write it. They need to find the files. They need to find the information. That note they wrote on a piece of paper somewhere. Everything’s got to be set up just so, and then they can get on with the writing… Perfectionism = waiting until everything is just right before getting started = procrastination.
Another way that perfectionism can get to us when we have ADHD is by making us overly critical of ourselves. Instead of giving ourselves a pat on the back when we eventually do the thing, we think, oh, it took me so long. I, you know, I should have done it months ago or weeks ago or last week or a few days ago or whatever it is. I didn’t do it exactly how I wanted it to be done.
And we tend to be focused on that rather than the fact that, actually, yes, well done, we’ve done that, sent that email, even if it was a little bit late. Even if that card or present or whatever it was was sent late, we’ve done it. And we need to feel that we’ve done it and give ourselves due acknowledgement for that fact. Because if we don’t, if we only focus on all the negative aspects, how is that going to motivate us for next time?
 
And that’s a really important factor with perfectionism coming into procrastination – we don’t give ourselves enough praise. We don’t acknowledge ourselves enough. We’re always looking at what we haven’t done and where we’ve procrastinated. We build it up into this major crime. Oh, I didn’t do it straight away, or when I first intended to. Well, is that a crime? Sometimes we need to wait before getting into action. It helps us to think. It helps us to think things through. It helps us to gather more information. And it may not be a good moment to send something, and that’s okay.
 
We’re always going to have priorities to juggle in our lives, so could we be a bit more compassionate toward ourselves? In fact, research shows that increasing self-compassion through three short, focused sessions can help people with perfectionism. A 2021 RCT (Woodfin et al., Frontiers in Psychology) found a brief three-session self-compassion course produced significant reductions in maladaptive perfectionism, anxiety and depression versus a waitlist control.
 
So we can be more gentle with ourselves. We can acknowledge our imperfections and, rather than dwelling on them, getting stuck there, and beating ourselves up, forgive ourselves and move on. We can be kinder to ourselves when we fall short. And also, we might actually take a moment to pause and acknowledge our accomplishments, and that will help us to motivate ourselves for the next time.
 
If you are finding that procrastination is having an unwanted effect on your life, perhaps you’d like some help to dig into what’s going on for you. Does perfectionism play any part?  
 
For the past 11 years Coach Anna has been helping ADHD clients like you to get back into action and move forwards with confidence. You can contact Coach Anna here to schedule a 1-1 appointment to discuss your needs and priorities. Or you might consider joining this coaching group starting September 21st 2026 if you’d find it useful to hear from others who face the same challenges and learn what has helped them.

10 Easy Ways to Purposefully Calm Overwhelm

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10 Easy Ways to Purposefully Calm Overwhelm

 10 Easy Ways to Purposefully Calm Overwhelm

We get overwhelmed when things become too much for us to handle, or when, subjectively, it feels that way.

When little stressors accumulate over time, or too many of them hit us all at once, it is natural to feel we cannot cope.

How overwhelm affects us.

Regardless of the causes, elevated stress levels or overwhelming feelings affect the body by releasing stress hormones like cortisol. The result is physiological changes, including a pounding heart, faster breathing, muscle tensing, and sweating. The body’s combined reactions to stressful events are called the fight, flight or freeze responses.

The normal cycle is for the body to recover after stress; at that point, it stops releasing stress hormones.

However, a constant release of cortisol with no recovery period after a triggering event takes a long-term toll on your body. If this persists over time, some expected outcomes are raised blood pressure, inflammation, and an increased predisposition for depression and anxiety.

When we have ADHD, it is all too easy to tip into feeling overwhelmed, as many of my coaching clients know first-hand. This is partly due to the large amounts of information we take in through our senses every second of the day. Without the ability to filter out and dismiss irrelevant or unhelpful sensory input, our brains will soon feel overloaded.

Overwhelm can also result from things coming in faster than we feel we have the resources to deal with. This perception can easily trip us up, as it is common for all human beings to underestimate our own resourcefulness and strengths. We can counteract this tendency by learning more about our strengths.

Our bodies hold the keys.

When we have ADHD, we are so often focused on our thoughts or on what’s next, we are largely oblivious to the signals our bodies send us about what’s happening below our necks.

Our bodies are a fantastic source of information we can tap into to understand how we navigate our environment.

A raised heart rate and faster breathing may signal a stress response, with the sympathetic nervous system dominant. In comparison, a slower heart rate and slower breathing give our brain feedback that the body is feeling relaxed. In this state, a branch of the autonomic nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system, becomes dominant.

For more on this subject, this article gives a clear explanation and breakdown of the various parts of the autonomic nervous system and how they connect to different areas of the body.

The parasympathetic system is also known as the rest and digest system.

When this is engaged, our breathing and heart rate are slower.

Techniques that work

You can use techniques that boost the parasympathetic nervous system to manage your stress responses. This is good for your brain and good for you, both short and long-term.

Activating the Parasympathetic Nervous System is a reliable way to reduce feelings of overwhelm.

When the parasympathetic nervous system is activated, it produces a feeling of calm and relaxation in the mind and body. You can learn to activate your parasympathetic nervous system to immediately reduce stressful feelings. This will lift your mood, engage your immune system, and lower blood pressure.

There are many ways to strengthen and activate your parasympathetic nervous system, causing a relaxation response in your body.

10 easy techniques you can try for yourself:

  1. Bring awareness to your breathing, and try this breathing technique to slow down your breathing rate. Lying flat on your back comfortably, with one hand on your abdomen and the other on your heart, focus on lengthening the out-breath. Feel your belly rise and fall as you breathe in and then out. At the same time, send some gratitude to your heart area to thank it for keeping you alive.
  2. Feel compassion for yourself in your current situation.
  3. Spend time in nature.
  4. Get a massage.
  5. Stroke a pet.
  6. Focus on a soothing word like calm or peace.
  7. Practice yoga.
  8. Go for a slow walk and make a point of noticing your surroundings.
  9. Try something you find relaxing, like taking a bubble bath with music.
  10. Get a hug from someone you love.

Bonus way – Practice gratitude. Bringing to mind things that we can feel thankful for in our lives has a grounding and uplifting effect. 

When life becomes overwhelming, it is useful to bring to mind the people and resources that we already have around us. Having a selection of favourite ways to get calm to choose from can form a part of those resources.

  • You can use calm deliberately to relieve and prevent overwhelm.
  • Experiment with different approaches in various contexts and times to find the most effective for you.

The more you practice techniques like those above, the easier it becomes to switch to and activate your parasympathetic response and feel more relaxed.

What would it be like to spend more of your life feeling calm?

If you are feeling overwhelmed and would like to explore ways to get to a space of more calm in your life, please contact me here for a free discovery call.  I would love to hear from you.

 

Trees Can Help You Focus

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            Trees Can Help You Focus

Trees can help you focus. 

What? You may ask? How does this work?

Will I need to sit under a tree in order to focus or concentrate? Or hug one? 

Do I need to walk amongst them? Or, is it enough to see them from a distance? 

Consider this: there is now a significant amount of research to support the idea that spending time among trees can help us focus better, reduce stress, and buffer against depression. When we spend so much of our time working in front of a computer screen these days, how can the ability to focus be improved by something as simple as this? I have spoken to many coaching clients over the years who describe sitting in front of the computer, trying to concentrate, and many minutes or even hours passing with nothing to show for it. It may seem counterintuitive, yet there are many excellent reasons for stepping away from the task at hand to find the company of trees.

The many benefits of trees

  • To start with, trees can benefit you by reducing mental fatigue and resetting your attention.
  • Getting outside for time in nature can provide you with a new perspective. A change of environment offers new things to look at, which stimulates your brain in ways which don’t happen when you are sitting still looking at a screen.
  • Trees create a calming atmosphere, reducing stress hormones like cortisol. Less stress means fewer distractions and better focus.
  • Trees absorb pollutants and increase oxygen levels, which raises air quality and enhances brain function and concentration.
  • Giving the brain a break from screens and artificial light, while surrounded by trees and exposed to natural light, can help refocus when returning to work.
  • Additionally, natural sounds experienced while spending time amongst trees, such as wind sighing through the branches, birdsong, and the sounds of other wildlife, provide a soothing background in contrast to the potential distractions of a noisy office.
  • The movement involved in walking in wooded areas or engaging in outdoor activities stimulates the production of dopamine. This vital neurotransmitter plays a crucial role in maintaining focus and motivation.

Movement has various benefits for focus.

Using the large muscles in the legs is grounding and calming, compared to sitting still. The body and brain become better oxygenated, and other chemicals are produced, for instance, nitric oxide, which helps cognitive functions such as learning and memory.

If you want to train your ability to pay attention, then practising mindfulness near trees—observing their textures, sounds, and smells— trains the brain to stay present, reducing rumination and intrusive thoughts that disrupt attention. Training attention in this way can be invaluable for many with ADHD brain types.

Trees can help soothe and regulate a jangly nervous system.

Trees reduce overstimulation and feelings of stress, and thereby promote activation of the parasympathetic nervous system (also known as rest and digest mode). Therefore, the ADHD nervous system in particular gets a welcome break from being frequently in a state of sympathetic nervous system activation arousal (also known as fight, flight, or freeze mode).

Hugging trees can be particularly beneficial.

Tree hugging stimulates the production of oxytocin, the “trust” hormone. “Studies show that people who regularly hug trees report feeling happier, calmer, and less stressed,” quoted from https://silvotherapy.co.uk/articles/benefits-of-hugging-trees.

Whether through visual exposure, movement, or mindful engagement, trees help regulate attention and sustain concentration.

Here are a few simple and practical ways to increase your focus with trees:

Take a mini tree break.
  • Start by simply observing a tree in detail. Look at and touch its bark texture, notice leaf movement, focus in on any  sounds. This will engage your senses and help refocus attention.

When could you fit in 5-10 minutes to give yourself this kind of mental reset?

Watch trees out of a window.
  • Improve your concentration and cognitive performance by looking at trees through a window if you’re feeling particularly short of time.

How will you recognise when it’s time to top up your focus levels?

Boost Dopamine with Tree-Based Movement.
  • Walking, hiking, or even stretching near trees encourages the release of dopamine, which is crucial for motivation and sustained attention.

How could you incorporate a “focus prowl” in a tree-lined area before or between work sessions to reset and refocus?

Reduce Sensory Distractions with Natural Sounds.
  • Nature sounds (rustling leaves, birds) provide soft fascination, a type of background stimulation that can create a calmer environment for deep work.

Have you tried playing nature soundscape tapes to help you focus yet?

Use tree-based sensory cues indoors.
  • Even when the cold or wet weather makes it challenging to experience the advantages of trees outdoors, you can gain their benefits by using sensory-tailored cues indoors.

Here is a selection of tree-based sensory cues you could try:

  • Olfactory cues (smell):  Essential oils of pine, fir, and eucalyptus can promote calm alertness. You can use diffusers or simply add a few drops to a tissue, which works just as well.
  • Visual cues: Houseplants or a bonsai tree can reduce stress and restore focus. You can hang paintings of landscapes on a wall.  Also try setting images of forests or greenery as a screensaver for a calming effect.
  • Tactile cues (touch): Tree bark, driftwood, a pine cone, and wooden beads all have different textures to explore, handle and provide a grounding break.

There are so many ways to bring the benefits of trees into your life, your home and your workplace when you need a boost in focus and concentration. I’d love to hear about any strategies you have for improving focus that involve trees or time in nature.

Please do get in touch with me to share your experiences or thoughts at adhdcoachanna@gmail.com.

Coach Anna is now also a certified Forest Bathing Guide.