"Cognitive load" relates to the amount of information that working memory can hold at one time. Since working memory has a limited capacity, instructional methods should avoid overloading it with additional activities that don't directly contribute to learning. A high cognitive load can lead to errors and decreased performance. For example, a person who is trying to remember a list of items while also trying to pay attention to a conversation may have a high cognitive load and may have difficulty remembering all the items on the list.

Practical Tip: A lot of people make a 10+ to-do list to have a “productive” day but end up not getting anything done because their brain cannot handle it, instead, try to focus on doing only 2-3 main things a day.

A student is frustrated because he is being bombarded with too much information at once.