Have you ever thought to yourself, “Wow, what was my day at work like? What happened? I can't even remember!” Your mind goes blank, and you may feel as though you're going through the motions. Perhaps you’re struggling to remember moments throughout the day because of burnout, sensory overload, or chronic stress.

What is sensory overload?

When one of the body’s five senses is overwhelmed, sensory overload can happen. For example, imagine your email notifications keep going off while your family group chat keeps pinging. On top of that, there’s a construction beeping noise going on outside. This might cause your body to go into sensory overload. 

At this moment, your body is receiving too much information. So, it can’t process it properly, leading from mild to intense mental discomfort that you can physically feel. If sensory overload occurs on a daily basis, this can lead to stress, burnout, and irritability. 

How does stress affect memory?

Studies find that stress can affect our working and episodic memory. While working memory helps us stay on track during the day, episodic memory help us to remember experiences and specific details. Even acute stress can cause neuromodulatory changes that effect both. In regards to episodic memory, stress can challenge our ability to mentally retrieve experiences.

More simply, stress can make it more difficult for us to remember things like where we parked, how we felt during the day, and the day’s sequence of events - plus, our subjective experiences of them. So, basically, stress can leave us drawing a blank upon the question, “How was your day?”

The impairment of memory can also be related to disassociation, and although some level of disassociation is normal, it's best to speak with a mental health professional as there can be other, more profound underlying reasons for dissociation. "Dissociation is a disconnection between a person's sensory experience, thoughts, sense of self, or personal history" (Verywell Mind, 2024).

Check-in with yourself.

One way to deal with sensory overload is to connect with your body and check in with yourself at least three times a day. Make a note, and ask yourself, “How do you feel?” It's important to acknowledge when you're feeling overwhelmed or disconnected so you can practice grounding techniques and implement coping strategies. Speaking to a mental health professional can also help to facilitate coping skills that are customized to you.

When it comes to helpful habit formation, some buy fidget toys, take walks on lunch breaks, or even take a few minutes in the restroom to separate themselves from it all. You can even make sure you have a good breakfast and pack nutritious snacks because why add hunger? These actions may seem small, but they can help your mind refocus and avoid staying in prolonged fight-or-flight responses. 

Give yourself a break.

Stress can also affect impulse inhibition, meaning it can affect how well we control our thoughts, actions, and words. Have you ever been really irritated, and thought to yourself, “Why did I just say that?” It could be your brain asking for help. Sometimes, it may even seem as though we're blurting things out. This can be the result of stress impacting our impulse inhibition.

In these situations, it's important to have self-compassion, refute negative self-talk that is shame-centered, and remember to schedule rest and perhaps even some solitude if necessary. More simply, don’t put too much pressure on yourself, don’t get down on yourself, and remember to have chill time, even if it’s comfortably alone. 

Put self-compassion into action.

Remember, although we are constantly challenged to push harder and to have illustrious social lives, we belong to ourselves first. So, we need to take care of ourselves first.

Cover photo cred: Freepik