What we covered in our chat
In this episode of the Well Workplaces podcast, I sat down with Dr Leah Ruppanner, Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, Director of the Future of Work Lab, and author of Drained, to explore a challenge that quietly influences wellbeing, performance and sustainability at work: the mental load.
While many people have experienced the mental load, it’s often difficult to define. It goes beyond physical tasks and responsibilities. It’s the invisible work of planning, coordinating, anticipating problems, remembering commitments and carrying responsibility for making sure everything runs smoothly — both at work and at home.
For HR, health and wellbeing, and health and safety leaders, understanding the mental load is becoming increasingly important as organisations seek to improve employee wellbeing, reduce burnout and create more sustainable ways of working.
What is the mental load?
At its core, the mental load is the cognitive and emotional effort involved in managing daily life. It’s the constant background processing that keeps projects moving, families organised and teams functioning. While it often goes unnoticed, it consumes a significant amount of energy and attention.
One of the key themes we explored was that mental load affects everyone, but research consistently shows it is often distributed unevenly, particularly across gender. This creates important implications for workplaces that are serious about supporting inclusion, flexibility and wellbeing.
Why leaders should pay attention
The mental load doesn’t stop when employees log on for work. Many people are simultaneously managing caring responsibilities, household administration, schedules, appointments, children, ageing parents and the countless invisible tasks that keep life running.
For leaders, this means it’s worth looking beyond visible workload measures alone. An employee may appear to have manageable work demands while still carrying a significant cognitive burden outside of work. Understanding this broader context can help organisations build more realistic expectations around productivity, performance and recovery.
Importantly, recognising mental load is not about lowering standards. It’s about creating work systems that acknowledge the realities of modern life and support sustainable performance over the long term.
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Designing work that protects energy
A major focus of Dr Ruppanner’s work is understanding what drains people’s energy and capacity. Her book Drained provides practical tools to help individuals identify the factors that deplete them and make changes that create more space, focus and resilience.
For workplaces, this creates an opportunity to think differently about work design, role clarity, flexibility and support mechanisms. Rather than simply helping employees cope with increasing demands, organisations can focus on reducing unnecessary friction and creating conditions that enable people to perform at their best.
Final thoughts
One of my biggest takeaways from this conversation was that the mental load is often invisible, but its impact is very real. As leaders, wellbeing professionals and people managers, we have an opportunity to better understand the hidden demands people are carrying and consider how workplace design can either add to that burden or help relieve it. By recognising the role that mental load plays in everyday life, organisations can take meaningful steps towards creating healthier, more sustainable workplaces for everyone.
Written by Tom Bosna
June 2026