Author: Breanna Kinney-Orr
Buzz. A *Breaking news!* alert. You glance at your phone for just a second, intent on just reading the headline. Twenty-seven minutes later, you’ve somehow traveled from a political update to a video about deep sea creatures (now endangered) to three different hot takes on the economy, and now you’re staring at your credit card confirmation for a “revolutionary” kitchen gadget you definitely didn’t need. Your lunch sits half-eaten beside you, your afternoon meeting starts in three minutes, and that sense of vague dread in your stomach has only intensified. How did this happen… again?
This hijacking of our attention isn’t random. It’s the predictable result of what researchers at the University of Miami call “VUCA” conditions – Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity – that systematically degrade our brain’s attention systems. While their research gained significant traction during the pandemic when we were all constantly processing information to inform and protect ourselves, similar cognitive patterns emerge during any period of heightened unpredictability – including now, with our current national and global challenges.
Understanding how our attention functions under pressure, especially when it concerns an uncertain future event, can help us develop effective strategies to protect it. Here are four key insights on the impact of uncertainty on our cognitive performance and level of attention, and how we can strengthen it.
1. Too much information hijacks our attention
The relentless tsunami of information we’re all receiving currently is truly unprecedented – both externally from news alerts buzzing on our phones to the internal worry loops playing in our heads. During crisis periods, when everything arrives labeled as “breaking news,” our attention system works overtime as gatekeeper, desperately trying to sift what matters from what doesn’t, while simultaneously creating that nagging feeling we might be missing something crucial.
This creates a maddening oscillation between two extremes: burying our heads in the sand for self-protection or falling into exhausting hypervigilance. Either way, we’re not in control. When we slip into tunnel-vision we might think we’re consciously controlling our attention, even though all the while, we’re still experiencing a background hum of dread about what we might be missing. And this merry-go-round of disjointed attention fundamentally warps our perception of reality.
2. Depleted mental energy reduces our attention span
During uncertain times, our brains go into survival mode, diverting massive amounts of mental energy to threat scanning, worst-case scenario planning, and adapting to constantly changing conditions. This hyper-vigilance served our ancestors well when predators lurked in the tall grass, but today it exacts a tremendous cognitive toll.
The most obvious casualty? Our attention span. Despite how we behave online (jumping between seven open tabs while keeping an eye on the inbox and text notifications), our attention is actually a limited resource. And uncertainty is perhaps its greatest drain. That’s why after a day of seemingly doing “nothing special,” simple tasks like deciding what to cook for dinner can suddenly feel overwhelming – our mental batteries are completely drained from processing uncertainty all day.
This invisible cognitive load explains those moments when we walk into a room and forget why, send emails without attachments, or feel mentally foggy during challenging periods. Our brains aren’t malfunctioning; they’re operating on emergency power and handling the exhausting work of “data processing” loads of information (including the bits we assume we’re scanning through passively).
3. When we are distracted we are also more reactive
Beyond executive function, depleted attention sabotages our ability to manage emotions. Think about it: When you’re overwhelmed, effective emotional regulation – like reframing negative thoughts, distracting yourself, or solving problems – all require significant mental energy. When that energy is gone, we react in ways that leave us wondering, “Who was that person who just snapped at their partner over loading the dishwasher?”
This creates a perfect storm: uncertainty triggers stronger emotional responses exactly when we have the fewest resources to handle them. Picture trying to comfort a crying child as dinner burns and a telemarketer calls – that kind of visible franticness is universally recognizable. Yet we rarely acknowledge how today’s constant micro-stressors accumulate to create the same level of overwhelm. Those breaking news alerts, passive-aggressive emails, and financial worries may each seem manageable alone, but together they’re a recipe for the same frazzled state. This explains why even typically resilient people find themselves emotionally fragile during extended periods of unpredictability – it’s not weakness, it’s math. The cumulative cognitive load simply exceeds our capacity.
4. Our mind’s tendency to time-travel increases during uncertainty
Our brain’s ability to visit the past and future can be delightful – like reliving favorite memories or eagerly anticipating upcoming events. But during uncertainty, this capacity often works against us, as we toggle between nostalgia for “how things used to be” and anxiety-fueled projections about what might happen next.
Research during the pandemic revealed that people reporting more intrusive thoughts about the future experienced significantly poorer sleep quality, increased depression symptoms, and a pervasive sense of helplessness (Garguilo, 2021). Yet remarkably, a 2025 workforce study by Modern Health found that not only are 75% of American workers experiencing significant levels of current events-derived distress, almost half say life was easier during the COVID pandemic than it is now.
When unconscious yearning for ‘simpler times’ happens alongside compulsive future-scenario planning, it can create a mental pendulum that consumes enormous attentional resources. We find ourselves, without deliberate choice, burning precious cognitive fuel on imagined futures or idealized pasts – neither of which we can actually inhabit.
Deliberate practice can strengthen focus
Breaking these cycles starts with recognizing when our attention is being hijacked, and then gently guiding it back to the only moment where effective action is possible: right now.
Ready for the good news? Within all of us is the capability to intentionally engage our “attention filter,” even during uncertain times. This happens through engaging fully with what’s in front of us right now, giving us back a sense of agency when everything feels out of control.
A multitude of research shows that attention readily responds to targeted training centered on present moment awareness practices (Zhou et al., 2023). A 2021 meta-analysis confirmed that this is especially beneficial to us under stressful conditions (Sumantry & Stewart, 2021). The key is strengthening our capacity to notice when attention wanders and then gently redirecting it. This takes less time than you may think! Short practice sessions – 10-15 minutes daily – are all that’s needed to produce measurable improvements in attention regulation and emotional resilience (Remskar et al., 2024).
We’re all in this together
Now that you know how your attention contributes to your sense of (un)ease, consider one final suggestion… an antidote even, maybe not to uncertainty itself, but to the impact it has on us, as human beings. Self-compassion.
We all love a good self-care moment, but acts of self-compassion rise above bubble baths and other perceived indulgences. They’re quite simple really: a fundamental recognition that none of us are alone in this struggle and an acknowledgment that our emotional reactions are a natural response to extraordinary circumstances, not character flaws. (Or, if that’s hard to conjure up, try this – giving yourself the same grace you’d offer a friend.)
So, vent to someone who understands – or, hey, scream wildly into the void – it all counts as catharsis. Feeling connected to others recharges our emotional batteries, and even the briefest moments of genuine human contact can restore some of the attentional capacity necessary to regulate… well, everything… more effectively.
We recognize these times as a shared experience; we create space for both personal healing and collective resilience; and we remind ourselves that even in uncertainty, we face it together.