Ask Flex / Drowning in paperwork
What is mental load?
It's the remembering. Not the doing.
"Answered the phones. Filed the forms. Sent the report."
"Also tracking: the form due Friday, who never replied, the renewal coming up, the thing my boss said in the hall."
"Why am I this tired? I only did three things."
"I did three things and carried four more all day."
An example. Your list, your call.
Mental load is the remembering, not the doing, like keeping track of what's due, what's missing, and what happens if you forget. It's why a pile of paperwork can wear you out before you've touched a single page.
Get it out of your head.
Write down what you track
Not the tasks. The things you're remembering.
Give each one a home
A calendar date, a list, a folder. Not your head.
Hand off the reminders
Let AI turn the list into dates in order.
Say it out loud
"I'm also tracking these six things" is news to most bosses.
Here's everything I'm keeping track of in my head for work, with names and private details left out: [list it all, even the small stuff, with any dates you know]. Sort it into things with a date, things I'm waiting on someone for, and things I'm just worried about. Put the ones with a date in date order. Don't add dates I didn't give you.
Before you paste work stuff into any AI, check what your company allows.If you're the one who remembers everything at work, that load comes back every week. The free Lab shows you how to hand that work to Claude.
The Paper Pile Word Search
Nine office words are hiding in the pile, plus one bonus word. A two-minute breather.
Find the words
Learn this in the Lab, free
A free group where you learn to use Claude for the repeat parts of your job: email, reports, forms. Start with a 15-minute chat that maps what Claude can do in your job.
- Free
- No coding
- Works in Claude
What are mental load examples?
Knowing which form is due Friday. Remembering who never wrote back. Being the one who notices the printer is almost out of toner.
How do I make a mental load list?
Write down everything you're tracking, not just what you're doing. Then give each thing a date or a home.
Why does paperwork give me anxiety?
A lot of it is not knowing what the page wants. Flex has a page on it.
Want to hand this to Claude?
Start in the Lab with the free 9-to-5 Job Triage: a 15-minute chat that maps what Claude can do in your job. Everything inside is free.