Cognitive Load
Every task uses a slice of your brain's bandwidth — and some people are running more background processes than others can see.
The total amount of mental effort being used at any given moment. Every task — thinking, remembering, filtering noise, managing emotions — uses some of this limited resource. For neurodivergent people, tasks that neurotypical people do "for free" (like filtering background noise, or navigating social cues) consume significant cognitive load, leaving less for the main task.
How it works
Your brain has a limited pool of processing power shared across everything: thinking, listening, remembering, filtering sensory input, monitoring social cues. When this load exceeds capacity, performance drops and overwhelm sets in. Neurodivergent people often carry invisible extra load from masking and sensory filtering.
Think of it like
It's like having too many apps open on your phone — everything slows, then freezes, even though the phone isn't 'bad.'
What it feels like
You feel your brain getting slower and fuzzier as the day goes on, and small requests that would normally be easy suddenly feel enormous.