The post has been translated automatically. Original language: English
We all know that the IT industry is a world of innovation, deadlines, and endless lines of code. But there is one problem that almost all of us experience: cognitive overload.
We often pride ourselves on our ability to “multitask”: coding in an online meeting, responding to Slack while reviewing a pull request, and checking customer emails while debugging. But the truth is, the human brain is not a multi-core CPU. We don’t “multitask,” we just switch tasks constantly — and each switch comes at a high cost to our concentration and mental health.
The “Always-On” Culture – Always online, always available
Slack/Teams, email, Jira… all create an endless stream of notifications. A message at 10pm, an urgent ping early Saturday morning. Our brains never get a break. It feels like an endless loop without a break.
The result? Focus is fragmented, there is no more quiet time for deep thinking, and the body is always “on alert” — working but also gradually exhausted.
The Myth of Multitasking – Multitasking is an Illusion
Research shows that constantly switching between tasks can reduce productivity by up to 40%. Every time you leave your IDE to respond to a message from geometry dash lite, your brain takes a few minutes to “reload” its work state. Multiply this by dozens of times a day, and you’ll understand why you’re exhausted at the end of the day but not making much progress.
Deadlines Without Priorities – When Everything Is Urgent
An important release, a few bug tickets, a request from a customer, and a series of “quick tasks” from your boss. When everything is labeled urgent, your brain loses the ability to distinguish what’s truly important. As a result, stress spikes, feelings of helplessness set in, and burnout is just a matter of time.
How to “Reboot” the system – Patch in both individuals and organizations
Level 1: Individual – Self Patch
Create a “Deep Work” block: Choose 2–3 hours a day to turn off notifications, close emails, focus on only one important task.
The Pomodoro Technique: Work deeply for 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break. Give your brain “checkpoints” to refresh.
Limit information intake: Only check Slack/email at fixed times. Don’t let them take over your brain.
Recover off-screen: Find non-tech activities — jogging, drawing, playing an instrument. This is the real way to “recharge”.
Level 2: Organization – Team Patch
Quiet Hours: Set a fixed time period with no meetings, no pings, so employees can focus on deep work.
Be clear about priorities: Not everything is “urgent”. Build a culture of categorization: critical, high, medium, low.
Limit communication channels: Instead of spreading messages across 5 platforms, consolidate them to 1–2 main channels.
Respect boundaries: Leaders need to lead by example — no emails at 11pm, no after-hours responses.
Cognitive overload is not a personal fault, but a “feature” of a poorly designed system. But luckily, we can reboot — by changing both personal habits and organizational processes.
If we want the IT industry to be sustainable, we need not only strong products, but also strong brains.
We all know that the IT industry is a world of innovation, deadlines, and endless lines of code. But there is one problem that almost all of us experience: cognitive overload.
We often pride ourselves on our ability to “multitask”: coding in an online meeting, responding to Slack while reviewing a pull request, and checking customer emails while debugging. But the truth is, the human brain is not a multi-core CPU. We don’t “multitask,” we just switch tasks constantly — and each switch comes at a high cost to our concentration and mental health.
The “Always-On” Culture – Always online, always available
Slack/Teams, email, Jira… all create an endless stream of notifications. A message at 10pm, an urgent ping early Saturday morning. Our brains never get a break. It feels like an endless loop without a break.
The result? Focus is fragmented, there is no more quiet time for deep thinking, and the body is always “on alert” — working but also gradually exhausted.
The Myth of Multitasking – Multitasking is an Illusion
Research shows that constantly switching between tasks can reduce productivity by up to 40%. Every time you leave your IDE to respond to a message from geometry dash lite, your brain takes a few minutes to “reload” its work state. Multiply this by dozens of times a day, and you’ll understand why you’re exhausted at the end of the day but not making much progress.
Deadlines Without Priorities – When Everything Is Urgent
An important release, a few bug tickets, a request from a customer, and a series of “quick tasks” from your boss. When everything is labeled urgent, your brain loses the ability to distinguish what’s truly important. As a result, stress spikes, feelings of helplessness set in, and burnout is just a matter of time.
How to “Reboot” the system – Patch in both individuals and organizations
Level 1: Individual – Self Patch
Create a “Deep Work” block: Choose 2–3 hours a day to turn off notifications, close emails, focus on only one important task.
The Pomodoro Technique: Work deeply for 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break. Give your brain “checkpoints” to refresh.
Limit information intake: Only check Slack/email at fixed times. Don’t let them take over your brain.
Recover off-screen: Find non-tech activities — jogging, drawing, playing an instrument. This is the real way to “recharge”.
Level 2: Organization – Team Patch
Quiet Hours: Set a fixed time period with no meetings, no pings, so employees can focus on deep work.
Be clear about priorities: Not everything is “urgent”. Build a culture of categorization: critical, high, medium, low.
Limit communication channels: Instead of spreading messages across 5 platforms, consolidate them to 1–2 main channels.
Respect boundaries: Leaders need to lead by example — no emails at 11pm, no after-hours responses.
Cognitive overload is not a personal fault, but a “feature” of a poorly designed system. But luckily, we can reboot — by changing both personal habits and organizational processes.
If we want the IT industry to be sustainable, we need not only strong products, but also strong brains.
