Balance

BN

Information Overload: What’s Happening in Your Brain

4 min read  |  August 24, 2026  | 
A person sits at an outdoor waterfront café in a South Florida-inspired setting, writing in a notebook beside a smartphone and coffee mug. In the background, people walk and exercise along a palm-lined promenade overlooking the water. Warm natural light, soft-focus city skyline and subtle orange and green accents create a health-focused scene that conveys balance, mindfulness and wellness in everyday life.

From endless social media feeds and nonstop app notifications to overflowing email inboxes and the 24-hour news cycle, the human brain receives more information at a faster speed than ever before. What happens when you take in more than your brain can effectively process and absorb?

When the amount, speed or complexity of incoming information exceeds what you can realistically take in and organize, evaluate and use effectively, your brain may experience a process called cognitive overload.

“When this happens, it becomes harder to sort through details, connect ideas, make decisions and remember what you just learned. You may feel scattered, slowed down, mentally tired or more prone to mistakes. Information overload can also contribute to frustration, tension, fatigue and, for some people, increased anxiety or low mood,” says Mitchell Slugh, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist and clinical psychologist with UHealth—University of Miami Health System.

How to avoid and recover from cognitive overload

Professional headshot of University of Miami Health System physician Dr. Mitchell Slugh wearing a white medical coat, light blue dress shirt and dark blue tie against a neutral gray studio background. The physician is facing the camera in a chest-up portrait with even lighting and a clean, clinical appearance.
Dr. Mitchell Slugh

Concerns about information overload have been described for centuries. Long before the ubiquity of the internet, “the spread of printed books created concerns that there was more material than anyone could reasonably read,” Dr. Slugh says.“What has changed is the intensity and constant availability of information. Digital media, social platforms, online publishing and always-on communication have made the flow of information faster and harder to step away from.”

The onslaught of news and entertainment, along with the expectation that you reply to every instant message, isn’t going anywhere. So, how can you manage your busy life in the Digital Age without struggling with cognitive overload?

Stepping away from your cell phone, computer and TV for a few hours each day is one approach.

“At the same time, filtering, limiting and blocking low-value sources of information can all be part of a healthy strategy,” Dr. Slugh says.

You can also build new habits that make information easier to manage.

“This may include improving your information literacy,” Dr. Slugh says.

The quality of consumed information matters

  • Determine which sources of information are trustworthy, so you can avoid a rabbit hole of incomplete, inaccurate or inflammatory content designed to elicit an emotional reaction.
  • Ask yourself why you want to seek out or exposure yourself to certain kinds or sources of information. What will you do with this information?
  • Reduce your mental effort. Avoid jumping back and forth between media sources and multitasking. Allow your mind to focus on longer-form content rather than sound bites and clips that don’t provide the full story nor give your brain enough time to organize and process them before you move on.

“Someone with a stronger working memory and better information-processing skills may be able to manage more incoming information before feeling overloaded,” Dr. Slugh says. “That said, working memory (the mental workspace we use to hold information in mind while we think, compare, organize or solve a problem) is limited for everyone. Even if you have a stronger capacity, you are not immune to cognitive overload.”

Research suggests you can reduce cognitive overload by:

  • Setting clearer priorities before taking in new information
  • Limiting unnecessary inputs (such as removing or limiting your access to triggering social media apps)
  • Following trusted sources and blocking others
  • Digesting new information rather than reacting immediately
  • Taking advantage of summaries, lists and visuals that make information easier to organize
  • Spending more time outdoors, socializing face-to-face, enjoying creative hobbies and exercising
  • Giving friends and family your undivided attention (put away cell phones when socializing)

“Mindfulness-based approaches may also be useful, particularly when your goal is to improve attention control, task switching, planning and emotional regulation,” says Dr. Slugh.

If you continue to regularly feel mentally scattered or exhausted, frustrated, tense or anxious, a mental health professional can help you identify and understand your own triggers and patterns. A professional can introduce coping and attentional strategies, help you set boundaries for information exposure and use, and address stress or anxiety that worsens your cognitive overload.

To schedule an appointment with a UHealth neuropsychologist, call 305-243-3100 or request an appointment online.

Written by Dana Kantrowitz. Reviewed by Dr. Mitchell Slugh, a neuropsychologist and clinical psychologist with the University of Miami Health System.

Tags: brain health, cognitive overload, Dr. Mitchell Slugh, information overload, mental fatigue, neurology, neuropsychology

Continue Reading