Olympians aren’t just physically exceptional—they’re masters at managing where their attention and energy go.
Cognitive research finds a key link between working memory and performance: elite athletes are better able to regulate their memory and attention than their less-trained peers, and this ability predicts better performance under pressure.
What separates peak performers isn’t just effort, but also the discipline to balance their mental load. In other words: their “thoughtload.”
Consider thoughtload the invisible tax on your ability to perform. It consists of three problems that erode your effectiveness:
- The cognitive demands of competing priorities
- The emotional burdens of uncertain times
- The depleted energy reserves that make everything feel more difficult
When thoughtload is high, even talented, motivated people underperform. But Olympians succeed because they refuse to carry unnecessary thoughtload. So how do you begin to reduce your own load? Four strategies can help.
1. Flip your focus
Olympians know that keeping their attention focused on performance is critical to achievement. Take the U.S. figure skating team, who had more than a few members skip this year’s opening ceremonies to stay locked in.
At work, we tend to do the opposite. Instead of starting the day with our eyes on the prize, we let our inbox and calendar dictate our priorities, hoping that enough activity will lead to success.
Lowering your thoughtload means flipping that logic. Begin with the outcome you’re being rewarded for: more paid users, lower churn, a better accounts receivable balance. Then identify the few outputs that will move the needle and the activities that will get you there.
2. Budget your attention
Elite athletes also dedicate consistent hours to training, no matter how assured their place is as a champion: practice is always on the calendar. But at work, we frequently allow ourselves to switch priorities or allocate our time in the wrong places.
Think of your time as a finite resource to spend. Pick one critical outcome and decide how much of your attention it deserves; only after that, allocate your remaining time for other important outputs and even a few side pursuits. Defer, decline, or delegate everything else that doesn’t fit in your attention budget.
3. Use an emotion track
Even with your gaze locked in, emotional distractions can come from within. For an athlete, it might be a fall in practice or a menacing new competitor. For you, it’s a missed target, a tense exchange, or an unwelcome piece of feedback. Emotions are unavoidable, but unprocessed emotions slow you down.
Olympians understand that emotional baggage from yesterday’s disappointment can sabotage today’s performance; take the many that use sports psychologists to work through poor performances and devastating crashes.
You can reduce the hold of your feelings with an emotion track, which helps pinpoint and reroute distracting emotions. It consists of four simple steps: place, name, question, act.
- Notice the place you’re experiencing the feeling, like sweaty palms or a racing heart.
- Name the feeling you’re experiencing precisely, like frustration or anxiety.
- Question the story you’re telling yourself about why you’re feeling that way, and if it’s rational.
- Choose one action that helps you move forward, whether it addresses the issue directly or just helps you get in a better headspace.
4. Hold an energy audit
Energy management isn’t about indulgence or self-care. It’s about making the right investments, so you have the physical, mental, and emotional energy when you need it most.
Olympians plan exertion and recovery with rigor. But at work, we often treat energy as unlimited until it suddenly runs out. There are back-to-back meetings, deadlines strung one after the next, new change initiatives starting before you’ve had the chance to embed the previous ones. All that adds up to fatigue that leads to poor decisions.
Instead, try an energy audit. List three activities that reliably energize you and three that inevitably drain you. Then make small shifts to increase your investment in the first group and reduce your exposure to the second. Even minor changes can make your thoughtload feel much lighter over time.
Elite performance isn’t reserved for elite athletes. It’s available to anyone willing to carry less so they can accomplish more.
