Mental overhead from unread emails and tabs

Your brain isn’t built for 100 browser tabs and 57 unread notifications. But we’re living like it is. Every ping, every pop-up, every scroll - it hijacks your focus. It doesn’t seem like a big deal at first… But over time? - You can’t finish a task without checking your phone. - You forget what you were doing mid-way. - You start 10 things, and finish none. - You feel restless, even during breaks. This isn’t just a distraction. It’s brain rewiring. Scientists call it “attention residue” - your brain holds onto whatever it was just doing. So even after you switch tabs, part of your mind stays behind. The result? - Slower thinking - More mistakes - Constant fatigue What can you do about it? Try this: Start your day with a Focus Warm-Up - 30 minutes of no input: no phone, no inbox, no Slack - Just one task, one tab, one note Create a “No Notification Zone” - Silent mode during key work hours - Nothing breaks your flow unless it’s urgent Reclaim real rest - Not Netflix + phone scrolling - Try silence, a walk, or just staring out the window Your focus is not unlimited. Protect it like your career depends on it - because honestly, it does.

Mental clarity isn’t a mindset issue. It’s a systems issue. I used to think I just needed to “work and focus more.” But the real issue was my calendar and inbox. It’s easy to obsess over product bugs. And ignore the bugs in our own systems. The result = Brain bugs. A cluttered inbox is one of them. 1,000 unread emails = 1,000 open loops. You wouldn’t ship with 117 broken lines of code. So why run your company with that kind of mental lag? Here’s my rule: 1. Anything I can answer in under 2 minutes, I do instantly. 2. Anything that takes longer and matters, I timebox. 3. Everything else. Delete or ignore, until it matters. I clear my inbox, whatsapp and other channels daily. Because a clear inbox means a clear mind. And clear minds make sharper decisions. Same goes for my calendar. No meetings before 9.30am. Only around 15 hours per week are booked. The rest is deep work, async time, or thinking. I use colors to protect my energy zones. I don’t do this to look efficient. I do it to avoid decision fatigue. Leadership is pattern recognition. It’s judgment. Precision. Speed. You can’t operate well with mental tabs open. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, start small: Fix your inbox. Fix your calendar. Fix your headspace. It’s not sexy. But it’s the foundation of clear thinking.

From a Consultant Neurosurgeon in the UK: "I just spent 2 hours answering emails." "At the end, I had more unread emails in my inbox than when I started." Emails are a necessary part of our job. But through my online coaching with doctors and surgeons, I see the same pattern being repeated: - Drip-feeding emails throughout the day. - Anxiety about the number of unread emails. - Building a reputation of being "email responsive" (and so getting more emails). With more and more doctors getting burnt out from piling admin work, here are a few strategies to manage your emails. 1. Unsubscribe from any automated trust emails you never read. This cuts your inbox number by about a third off the bat. 2. Create folders to organise emails instead of leaving them to sit in your inbox. Folder titles can be: reference; Friday review; patients waiting for surgery; done by the end of the week; or research projects. Your imagination is the limit here. Use what works for you. *Folders such as "Friday review" only work if you actually review them every Friday. 3. Time block 2-3 hours over a week to process your inbox. Don't open your emails because you're sitting at your desk or are bored. And don't open your emails unless you are prepared to do step 4. 4. Touch emails once. Once an email is opened there are 3 outcomes. - Delete. - Move to your calendar as a meeting, or to a reference file from step 2. - Reply. If you reply, be conscious that writing an email is the main source of receiving emails, which is more work for you. So aim to write concluding emails that end the chain. Following this, once an email is opened it doesn't get opened again. It gets processed and so only "touched once". 5. There is no such thing as an "urgent email". Emails by definition are not time-critical. No one will die if you don't check your inbox. So don't treat them like they are. 6. Don't email at home. This blurs work/home barriers. You wouldn't call your children's school to "check what's happening" during an operation. So why is it OK to check in with work when you're at home with your family? If you follow steps 1-5 your inbox will be under control and you won't need to think about them at home. Remember. Email is triage. Not work. What systems do you use to keep your inbox under control? Please share them in the comments. I'm always open to new ideas.

Ever feel completely wiped after a day of 'just emails'? You may feel like you're lazy... but it's a psychological state called cognitive overload. Here's why it happens and how to eliminate it so you can get more done without burning yourself out: Your prefrontal cortex (the decision-making part of your brain) has limited capacity. Every email you open, every notification you hear, and every choice you make eats away at that mental bandwidth. It's like having 69 browser tabs open. Your system crashes even if you're only using one of the tabs. Same thing happens to your brain. We mistake this mental fatigue for laziness. So we push harder, work longer hours, and sacrifice rest. You can't force yourself to run faster with a broken leg. But that's what we try to do with our brains every day. Most "productivity tips" make this worse by adding MORE stuff to do. A few ways you can reduce cognitive load: - Batch similar tasks together - Set routine times for admin stuff like emails - Choose clear priorities ahead of time so you don't have to decide when you sit down to work You aren't lazy. Your brain is overwhelmed. Managing your cognitive load will help you get more done without burning yourself out. Once you stop wasting mental fuel on nonsense... you'll have more left to work on what matters.

Why You Can’t Focus: The Hidden Cost of Attention Residue Think of your brain like a browser with too many tabs open. Every meeting, email, or phone check leaves a tab running in the background. When you jump to the next task without closing the previous one, your mental energy gets drained, slowing you down The Problem? This lingering mental clutter—called attention residue —makes it hard to concentrate. Even a quick glance at your phone or a half-finished thought from the last meeting can reduce your ability to fully engage with what’s next. Cal Newport, in Deep Work, explains that frequent task-switching weakens focus, lowers productivity, and increases stress. The Modern Workplace Trap: Professionals today are constantly bombarded with back-to-back meetings, notifications, and distractions. Without transition time, the brain never fully resets, leading to scattered thinking, more mistakes, and chronic mental fatigue. The Fix? - Transition Rituals – Take 1–2 minutes between meetings to reset. Deep breaths, a quick stretch, or jotting down key takeaways can help. - Focused Work Blocks Silence notifications and dedicate undisturbed time for deep thinking. - Single-Tasking – Give full attention to one thing at a time. Your efficiency will skyrocket. Attention residue is the silent killer of productivity. The key to reclaiming your focus? Learn to truly switch off before switching tasks.

If the first thing you do in the morning is check email… You’re already on the back foot. You’ve set the tone for a reactive day, responding, not leading. Fixing problems, not moving things forward. And the deeper issue? All those unread emails sitting in your inbox aren’t harmless. They quietly drain you: Every unread = a micro decision Every cluttered inbox = mental noise Every “I’ll get to that later” = open loop in your brain Decision fatigue doesn’t start at 4pm. It starts when your inbox sets the tone for your day. If you want your brain focused on growth not admin chaos build an email system that clears the noise before you open your laptop.