NeuroReal Series - Episode 1:The Overloaded Brain Can’t Include: Why Cognitive Load is a Diversity Issue
- Georgina Brown (hershe)
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
"Everyone deserves a seat at the table."
Sure. But what if your brain is already too full to notice who’s missing?
Welcome to the wonderful world of cognitive load, your brain’s version of a spinning rainbow wheel. It’s not just a productivity problem. It’s an inclusion problem.
What is Cognitive Load (And Why Should EDI Care)?
Let’s get nerdy for a moment.
Cognitive load refers to the total amount of mental effort being used in the working memory — that precious real estate in your prefrontal cortex responsible for decision-making, focus, empathy, and self-regulation. It’s the bit of your brain that helps you think beyond your own needs.
But it’s limited. Like, really limited.
As in: You can only hold about 3-5 items in working memory at once (Cowan, 2010). After that? Hello overwhelm. Hello shortcuts. Hello bias.
When you’re overloaded, you default to familiar patterns. That’s not laziness. It’s neurology.
Which is why:
You gravitate to people who think like you
You dismiss ideas that don’t immediately “make sense”
You forget to ask the quiet person in the room what they think
Inclusion is a prefrontal act. When cognitive load spikes, inclusive thinking crashes.
Inclusion Fatigue is Real (Especially for the Marginalised)
Now here’s where it gets more serious.
If you are in a minoritised or marginalised group, your baseline cognitive load is already higher.
Why?
You’re code-switching
You’re self-monitoring
You’re scanning the room for microaggressions
You’re replaying what you said in the last meeting to see if it sounded “too much”
All of that takes mental bandwidth.
Which means your energy isn’t being used for ideation, innovation, or joy. It’s being used for survival.
As Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt’s research shows, even subtle bias cues trigger increased vigilance and reduce executive function. And over time, that chronic strain? It depletes your sense of belonging, agency, and wellbeing.
What Can Organisations Do?
We’re so glad you asked.
This isn’t about Friday yoga or kindness posters. This is about redesigning the cognitive environment:
1. Reduce Unnecessary Load
Stop overloading meetings with 17 talking points.
Make processes clearer and more transparent.
Use plain language in policies. Jargon costs brain energy.
2. Share the Load
Inclusion work shouldn’t just fall to the same few people. Create distributed leadership.
Build in time and space for reflective thinking, not just reactive doing.
3. Practice Micro-Restorative Moments
Encourage breaks, not back-to-backs.
Design workflows that allow space for co-regulation and decompression.
4. Use Tools Like NIMM
The NeuroInclusive Maturity Model doesn’t just track behaviours. It recognises cognitive and emotional environments that either support or sabotage inclusion.
Because when you change the system, you change the load.
And when you change the load, you unlock capacity for empathy, innovation, and growth.
Final Word
The next time you catch yourself zoning out in a meeting, defaulting to the usual voices, or feeling like inclusion is "too much right now"… pause.
Your brain isn’t bad. It’s just full.
And full brains can’t include.
Want to build workplaces where the load is lighter and the inclusion is deeper? Start with the brain. Start with NIMM.
Coming next: Episode 2: The Default Mode Network — and why we need to daydream more if we want to build inclusive cultures.
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