My Brain Is Basically Excel Right Now
On mental load, invisible spreadsheets, and closing a few tabs before the season shifts
This month, I’ve had too many open tabs in my brain. Starting a full-time role at a new accounting firm while wrapping up the quarter at the University of Denver as an accounting professor and leadership coach has kept me in constant motion.
My days are spent pivoting between calls with colleagues, mid-day commutes, grading papers, teaching on campus, then shifting into coaching calls and board meetings in the evenings—often while my daughter heads to her after-school activities. The amount of task-switching has been intense. It’s been hard on my brain, especially with all the fluctuations in my environment adding extra complexity.
When I slow down long enough to take a breath, the emotions sneak in. It’s been a lot. And yet, shifts are coming. I have one more day on campus and just a couple more weeks of my leadership course before the number of tabs begins to close.
Ironically, there’s a little grief in the relief. I love teaching. I love supporting people through transformation. And I also know it isn’t sustainable to run with this many tabs open for long.
So many of us carry an invisible load that’s hard to see from the outside—especially when we work to maintain a positive exterior. Yet there’s real value in acknowledging and naming what we’re holding. It’s how we allow ourselves to be truly seen.
Whether it’s the mental load of parenting, navigating hardship, or processing uncertainty, most of us are balancing more than we let on. And there’s a genuine cognitive impact to all that task-shifting, even when everything we’re juggling adds meaning or joy to our lives. Part of the work is recognizing when the next thing might push us over the edge.
For me, that’s scrolling on social media. I simply don’t have the cognitive capacity for it right now—it feels like adding more tabs to an already full spreadsheet.
As we head into the season of giving thanks, what’s one tab you might close so you can either make room for something new or find a little more peace in your life?
Share in the comments or hit reply. I’d love to support you.
For the world needs who we were made to be.
Cheers!
Jenn
The view from the DU campus on my last full day of teaching before we head into finals week.
Author’s Corner
I’m excited to share two recent podcast interviews that went live this week. Both include a behind the scenes look at my memoir Dancing on My Own Two Feet and what I learned during my 18-month career pause and pivot. I hope you find inspiration in these conversations.
Living With Purpose on the Value of Values Podcast
Permission to Dance: Finding Clarity, Courage and the Next You on the Boss Yourself First Podcast
Wishing you all the best as you transition back into the accounting life. I am with you on the overload — that’s why I stepped back from social media too!