In today’s hectic working life and demanding professional work, cognitive load and challenges related to mental and physical well-being have increased significantly. In today’s work culture, the amount of sitting has increased, physical activity is reduced and work at a screen is virtually constant. For many, teleworking has blurred the boundaries between professional and personal life, which can lead to overwork and exhaustion. This article examines the cognitive load on individuals and work communities caused by the workplace of the 2020s and its impact on employees’ ability to cope with work.

Cognitive well-being at work

Ergonomics is about making work flow smoothly, healthily and safely for people. Cognitive ergonomics refers to the design of work, the organisation of the work environment and work practices that reduce stress and promote recovery (Simberg 2021). Cognitive ergonomics emphasises the cognitive aspects of work, such as the demands of perception, thinking, remembering, learning, linguistic functions and decision-making, as well as cognitively demanding working conditions (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health2018, Neuroneuvomo project 2021).

Measures for cognitive ergonomics can reduce workload and increase well-being and motivation at work (Luokkala & Valtonen 2020). When the working conditions and working environment are well designed and organised, it has a decisive impact on the overall smoothness of work, promotes safety, performance, productivity and sharpens employees’ ability to perceive, create and renew (Simberg 2021). At the whole workplace level, it is important that everyone commits to the commonly agreed principles of cognitive well-being at work and that management ensures the necessary conditions and environment for effective and healthy brainwork (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health 2018).

Less self-disruption, more quality output

Each employee can improve the cognitive ergonomics of their work through their own choices and actions, reducing unnecessary brain load and thus streamlining the knowledge work of the entire work community (Luokkala & Valtonen 2020). Above all, it is worthwhile to identify time thieves in daily work that unnoticedly erode strength, concentration and the ability to perform tasks and succeed in them.

Time thieves can include physical or online interruptions, inefficient meetings, delay in starting tedious tasks and difficulty in saying ’NO’, but sometimes personal life situations (crisis in the family, etc.) also affect how we are able to pace our work and focus on it (Valmennustrio 2023). Clearly defining one’s own work, focusing on what is essential and doing it to a high standard is often more rewarding professionally than ’dabbling’ in a variety of things and being involved in them ostensibly, sometimes even at the expense of others.

Critical observation of your own work habits and time use, as well as the clearest possible prioritisation of tasks, good organisation and realistic scheduling at individual, team and unit level create the necessary basic conditions for managing your own work and keeping cognitive load within manageable limits (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health 2019). This makes it possible to increase the joy of work, strengthen motivation, to find meaning and purpose in the daily hustle and bustle, and to get into a so-called flow state, where you are so completely immersed in what you are doing that time disappears and things run almost by themselves.

In expert work, many things are done together with your own colleagues or with experts from other organisations. In such cases, common rules and working practices, clearly defined roles and related responsibilities and obligations, as well as appropriate communication and up-to-date information flow are to be emphasised (Toivanen, Viljanen & Turpeinen 2016). This will ensure that even with scarcer resources and tighter schedules, collaboration can achieve results without undue cognitive load on anyone.

Highlights of working life before and now

The issue of cognitive load was brought to my attention by a comment made by a Laurea colleague who is much younger than myself. Some time ago, he was preparing for a short-term exchange abroad, for which he understandably had many professional ambitions and personal expectations.

– I’m not going to do these everyday tasks at Laurea during the exchange, although maybe I should, but I really want to concentrate on being there and getting the most out of it, said my colleague, who was soon about to embark on his staff mobility exchange.

– That’s exactly what you need to do, I said in confirmation.

– What would be the point of even going on exchange and then doing all this Laurea stuff all the time. The exchange experience would be completely wasted, the colleague continued.

This conversation took me back vividly to the late 1990s and early 2000s, when I was travelling for work up to more than 100 days a year at worst, mostly to other European countries, but also some domestic travel. In those days before teleworking possibilities, smartphones or even mobile phones, leaving the office for a business trip meant a total break from the office routine. Business trips were no entertaining picnics in those days either, but they were different from today’s meeting, negotiation, seminar and conference trips in that you didn’t have to worry about the home office in the true sense of the word while traveling. No, when you were abroad, the focus was on the business of the trip, building new partnerships and representing Finland and your employer. When it was time to return to the office, you dealt with the emails you had received during the trip and other tasks that had arisen in the meantime.

Regardless of our status, it is now taken for granted that each of us is expected to be available at all times, even when our main focus on a business trip should be on the tasks, negotiations and meetings we have there. Few of us are involved in life-or-death tasks. In principle, at least, things can usually wait a few days without us having to be constantly available on the phone or on the screen from overseas. In the age of anytime-anywhere telecommuting, we have become accustomed to taking care of our business in the name of efficiency, whether we are travelling on business, on a professional or educational exchange, on holiday or otherwise on leave.

Multitasking, and the need to split ourselves in too many directions, increases our cognitive load in ways we don’t always realise. We are constantly on edge and easily irritated, we react emotionally to things, we get frustrated and lose our temper at the slightest delays and setbacks, we do things carelessly in a hurry and then need to correct them afterwards, we make careless comments that make our colleagues unhappy, and we don’t really concentrate on anything. Too much cognitive load stifles our creativity and thinking skills, denying us the time, space and permission to think in peace, or even to indulge in free association for a moment. Expertise in today’s workplace means constant availability rather than authentic presence.

Laurea’s new organisation

At the beginning of 2025, Laurea University of Applied Sciences will launch its renewed organisational structure to meet the vision of becoming an internationally competitive university for working life by 2035. While the core missions of the university will remain unchanged (teaching, RDI, societal impact), they will be pursued under new configurations and possibly also under new or changed leaders/managers. At least in the transition phase, change means an increased cognitive load for staff. Management and each employee should therefore be given the necessary space and time to adapt and adopt new ways of working.

About the author

Mika Launikari, PhD, M.Sc., is a Senior Specialist in European cooperation in higher education at Laurea. Launikari is involved in the development work on change management and human capital development in higher education in the PIONEER alliance of ten European higher education institutions.

Bibliography

Centre for Occupational Safety 2024. Kognitiivinen kuormitus. [Cognitive load]. Visited 10.11.2024.

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health 2019. Viisi vinkkiä parempaan ajanhallintaan työssä [Five tips for better time management at work]. Visited 10.11.2024.

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health 2018. Aivotyö sujuvaksi – Aivotyötä tehdään yhdessä [Smooth brainwork – Brainwork done together], Visited 10.11.2024.

Government 2024. Työolobarometri 2023. Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriön julkaisuja, Työelämä 2024:16 [Labour Market Survey 2023. Publications of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Working Life 2024:16).  Visited 10.11.2024.

Luokkala, K. & Valtonen, T. 2020. Sujuvan aivotyön malli esimiehille. Työterveyslaitos. [A model for smooth brainwork for managers. Institute of Occupational Health.]  Visited 10.11.2024.

Neuroneuvomo project 2021. Kognitiiviset oireet työelämässä – Opas työssä selviytymisen tueksi. [Cognitive symptoms at work – A guide for coping at work.] Visited 10.11.2024.

Miettinen, J. 2020. Koronapandemia muutti työn teon tapoja ja työn kuormitusta. [The corona pandemic changed the way work was done and the workload. ] Akava Works. Visited 10.11.2024.

Rauramo, P. 2020. Kaupan työsuojelu. Työturvallisuuskeskus. [Occupational health and safety in commerce. Centre for Occupational Safety and Health.] Visited 10.11.2024.

Simberg, S. 2021.Sinunkin työsi on aivotyötä – kognitiivinen ergonomia tukee työhyvinvointia. Työturvallisuuskeskus. [Your job is brain work too – cognitive ergonomics supports well-being at work. Centre for Occupational Safety].  Visited 10.11.2024.

Valmennustrio 2023. Tunnista pahimmat aikavarkaat. [Identify the worst time thieves.]  Visited 10.11.2024.

Toivanen, M., Viljanen, O. & Turpeinen, M. 2016. Aikamatriiseja asiantuntijatyössä. Työelämän tutkimus – Arbetslivsforskning 14 (1), 77-94. [Time matrices in expert work. Research in working life 14(1), 77-94].