By Robyn Clanton

I remember starting a new job and being surprised by just how tired I felt. Nothing was wrong, but I felt like something was wrong with me. I was excited about the job, I liked the people, and I was interested in the work. But during those first few weeks, I would get to the end of the day completely exhausted. Deciding what to have for dinner felt like one decision too many. At first, I wondered why. I had worked full days before, and the hours weren’t dramatically different. So why did a regular workday suddenly feel so draining?

Then I started thinking about everything my brain was doing all day long. I was learning people’s names and trying to remember who did what. Even small things required thought: Where should I sit? What do I need for this meeting? Where’s that document everyone keeps discussing? Where’s the water fountain? And one of the most important questions: Where are the restrooms?? Almost nothing was automatic yet, and that, I’ve realized, is one of the reasons why beginnings can be so exhausting.

We tend to think about cognitive overload as having too much work to do. But sometimes the workload itself isn’t the problem; the problem can often be too many things require our conscious attention at the same time. Think about the difference between driving somewhere you’ve been a hundred times and driving to an unfamiliar place. On your usual route, you may barely think about where you’re going. On a new route, you’re watching street signs, listening to directions, looking for the correct entrance, figuring out where to park, and hoping you don’t miss a turn. The task is still “drive somewhere,” but the cognitive demand is completely different. Starting a new school year or a new job can feel the same way.

For students, it isn’t simply about going to school and doing schoolwork, even if it is a place they have been to for years. They’re learning a new schedule, finding classrooms, meeting teachers and classmates, figuring out each teacher’s expectations, learning new routines, and keeping track of assignments that may be communicated in completely different ways. One teacher puts everything in the online portal, another announces homework at the end of class, and someone else expects students to look at a weekly calendar. There’s a new seating chart, a different lunch period, a locker combination that hasn’t quite made it into long-term memory yet…This doesn’t even include any of the new academic content to learn! That’s a lot of tabs open in one brain.

When we’re using a lot of our cognitive resources simply navigating what is new, we have fewer resources available for everything else. That’s why I think it’s important to have a little patience with ourselves, and with others, during periods of transition. The first few weeks aren’t necessarily the best measure of how someone will function once they’re settled. During these times, external structure becomes especially valuable. Write things down instead of expecting yourself to remember them. Put appointments and commitments on a calendar. Create reminders. Keep important information in one predictable place. Prepare what you can the night before. Establish simple routines and repeat them.

For students, this might mean taking extra time at the beginning of the year to figure out where each teacher posts assignments or creating one system for capturing tasks from multiple classes. For someone beginning a new job, it might mean keeping notes about processes, people, acronyms, and questions instead of expecting to remember everything automatically. These strategies help us manage transitions and reduce the stress on our brains. Eventually, the classroom becomes familiar or the commute becomes routine. You stop having to think about how to log into that system. You know the names. You understand the expectations. One day, you get to the end of the day and realize you’re not quite so exhausted. The work may not have gotten easier, but thankfully, the brain just doesn’t have to work so hard at everything else anymore.