How Many Tabs Do You Have Open?

September has a way of opening a lot of them.

It is a time of trying to squeeze in the last bit of summer while getting back into a routine. We are seeing kids off to university or back to school, dealing with the things we put off in July, making appointments and meetings, figuring out the fall schedule, and maybe getting our own exercise back on track. And then there is keeping up with work, making plans with friends, home maintenance, helping parents, sorting out finances, and answering emails we have been ignoring.

And, obviously, planning the next trip to get a break from all of this…

There is a lot of talk about physical capacity. How much we can lift, how far we can run, how hard we can train, and how quickly we recover. But we don't talk nearly as much about cognitive capacity. And yet our ability to pay attention, process information, make decisions, and switch between tasks is not unlimited. Mental fatigue and cognitive load can affect attention, decision-making, and reaction-time performance.

I think about it as having a lot of tabs open.

I had a bike accident last weekend. I am recovering well because, thankfully, I was wearing a helmet.

But when I think back to that morning, I remember feeling tired. I was not exhausted, not unwell, just not quite firing on all cylinders. I had a lot going on: the new business, the new clients, content and marketing, my son's move to university, the farm, my mother's estate, finances, tennis, training, and an upcoming bike trip.

That morning, I had a lot of tabs open.

I don't think those things caused the accident. But I also can't ignore the fact that I had a lot going on and didn't feel as mentally sharp as I normally do.

How much do all those open tabs affect our performance?

It is easy to think about performance in physical terms. We notice when we're tired, sore, or under-recovered. We understand that our physical capacity changes from day to day. If we sleep badly, we know we probably won't have our best workout. Conversely, if we have a great night's sleep, we feel like we could take on the world.

Our mental capacity works in a similar way, but it's harder to see. Some days are sharp and focused and everything clicks. Some days are distracted, emotionally heavy, or simply tiring. That doesn't mean something is wrong. The point is simply that cognitive capacity is part of performance capacity and vice versa. And, in talking with clients and friends, most of us are surprisingly unaware of how much we're asking our brains to carry.

I'm not suggesting that we should close every tab in our lives. Many of them are things we actually want: the work we care about, the people we love, the goals we're pursuing, the trips we're looking forward to, and the things that make our lives full. But I do think we can become better at noticing when we are carrying a lot and better at directing our attention where we need it.

One reason I like Qi gong is that it is a simple physical practice that asks me to put my attention in just one place. For seven minutes, there is only one tab open.

I really like Lee Holden’s short (7-min) Qi Gong practices. Watch here.