April 23, 2026

How Tech Increases Thought Load with Liane Davey

45 minutes

Are you overwhelmed at work but can’t pinpoint why?

Discover how “thought load”—not just workload—may be sabotaging productivity, innovation, and well-being in the tech-driven workplace. Kate O’Neill sits down with Liane Davey—the brilliant mind behind the new book Thought Load—to unpack why work isn’t working for so many of us.

Topics covered:

The concept of thought load and its core components

Differences between workload, cognitive load, and thought load

How technology and AI impact cognitive and emotional burdens

The productivity trap and measuring outcomes vs. outputs

Effects of constant digital interruptions on attention and energy

The role of feedback and judgment in corporate settings

Emotional and cognitive impacts of always-on workplace culture

Energy reserves as an operational constraint

Organizational interventions to reduce thought load

The outcome of conflict debt in high thought load environments

Designing safer, more productive workplace conflict

Tech tools as both solution and source of mental drain

Hope for more innovative and present organizations

Connect with Liane Davey
Website
Instagram
LinkedIn

Episode Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction and background
00:43 – What is “thought load”?
02:15 – Equation: Cognitive and emotional demands over energy reserves
03:38 – The neuroscience of “treacherous triad”
04:05 – Why workload and thought load are not the same
05:22 – AI’s surprising effects on thought load
06:27 – Rethinking productivity: The activity-output-outcome framework
09:08 – Technology’s role in multiplying and draining cognitive demand
10:30 – Why managers reward “responsiveness”—and why that’s a trap
13:14 – When tech reduces vs. increases cognitive demands
15:57 – Tech as an emotional burden amplifier
17:02 – The misunderstanding of feedback vs. judgment
18:54 – Social pain and at-scale judgment in digital workplaces
23:20 – The operational significance of energy reserves
28:06 – High-leverage interventions for organizational energy
33:36 – Conflict debt as an outcome of high thought load
35:20 – Making conflict safer and more productive
40:15 – What a tech humanist organization could look like
42:19 – Closing thoughts and hope for the future
43:26 – Book release and where to connect