I’ve been doing a lot of reading about creativity and had a realization on my lunch break the other day. This week’s post isn’t about a specific tech tool, but a concept a little more abstract.

Lunch breaks should be…breaks

In my full-time job, I take a 30-minute lunch break every day. The time of day I take that break varies based on my schedule and when I want to step away from screens for a few minutes.

Seems really straightforward, but the biggest challenge for me is I frequently experience time blindness (anyone else?) so I usually keep repeating to myself the time I need to be back at my computer and keep an eye on the clock.

Still not a big deal, right?

Maybe not, but let’s pause for a second for some metacognition.

When I’m monitoring my own lunch break, my thought pattern usually looks like this:

These details of my lunch break sound silly, but they’re a great example of a psychology term that applies to art and life: cognitive load.

🧠 Cognitive load

To put it simply, cognitive load describes how much mental effort is required to complete a task. It’s a well-known concept in the educational and design spaces because teachers and designers have to be mindful of the cognitive load they place on their audience, or the users of their products.

📓 Think about a class in school that made you want to pull your hair out. What made you feel that way? Was it a fast-paced class? Was there an overwhelming amount of content to study?

💻 Picture a website or app you’ve used lately that you found frustrating. What about it frustrated you? Was it hard to find information? Did you get what you needed?

Chances are, these experiences kept you from achieving your goal because the cognitive load was too high. We’re all smart people, but there is such a thing as having too many metaphorical tabs open in our brains at once.

So…how does this relate to lunch?

As a user experience (UX) nerd, I love exploring how people think.

I’m such a nerd that I often "UX my life,” as I affectionately call it, in an effort to slow my brain down and make life a little easier.

For instance, on scatterbrained days, I set a 30-minute timer for lunch instead of checking the clock. Unconsciously, I’ve reduced my mental load by about half by outsourcing my time tracking. I keep the timer visible in the kitchen, eliminating the need for the dreaded “time math” and ensuring I'll hear it when lunch is over.

✨ You might think, “Katelen, it’s just a timer. Aren’t you overthinking this?” Maybe, but I’ve noticed I’m:

• More focused

• More efficient

• Able to truly unwind during breaks

Why? Because I lowered my cognitive load! *high-fives self*

Don’t make me think

…is the title of a book that I still have yet to read but I think about a lot.

The truth is: While humans are capable of lots of thinking, we don’t want to think too hard.

If I’m trying to contact you about your product or service and I have to think too hard about where to find that information, I may abandon ship before I even find it.

If your art portfolio website is so cluttered with text and colors and I can’t figure out how to actually buy your art, I may leave the website without buying anything.

Sell to a goldfish

As our friend Ted Lasso says, goldfish are the happiest animals because they have a 10-second memory.

When we’re scrolling through the never ending parade of humblebrags and dog videos (read: our phones), we have the same goldfish-like memory.

✨ Make it almost offensively easy for your audience to find you and your work. Some ideas:

• Repost social media content occasionally (to an extent - don’t overdo it).

• Ask a friend to test your website's ease of use and give you feedback (aka an informal usability test).

• Include your address on party invitations (if you’re confused, read this).

• Announce product launches multiple times—just because you said it once doesn’t mean everyone heard it. Ask any middle school teacher.

By meeting your customer where they are and making it clear how to engage with you, you lower their cognitive load and increase the chances they’ll buy from you. Win-win.

Until next time,

Katelen