You’ve only got so much mental shelf space.
Your brain isn’t a junk drawer — though some days, it might feel like one.
Although the average person has somewhere between 12K-80K thoughts per day and has the memory capacity of 1M gigabytes…
We’re all operating with limited mind share — the mental bandwidth we have available to focus, make decisions, and drive momentum.
And an overloaded mind produces mental clutter, not clarity.
Most leaders only have enough room for 3–5 big things to actively live in their heads. Think of these as your mental “browser tabs”:
- A major initiative
- A team you’re leading
- A key relationship
- A big trip
- A volunteer role
The problem? We try to keep 14 tabs open — and wonder why everything’s lagging.
Here’s the truth:
You don’t need to do it all — you just need to own it all.
There’s a difference. Owning a project doesn’t mean doing every task. It means knowing the outcome, direction, and who’s responsible. It means sharing the load.
That’s where your team and your EA comes in.
A great Executive Assistant isn’t just a helper.
They’re an extension of your mind — a trusted strategic partner who can hold some of those “tabs” for you. They can nudge, track, coordinate, follow-up, and close tabs when they’re properly resourced and entrusted.
When that happens, you’ve freed up your mental shelf space — and your focus starts firing again.
You weren’t made to carry it all on your own. Yes, that’s my bias, you were made on purpose for a purpose, I truly believe that. And you’re supposed to carry what only you can carry.
Micah Foster, Co-Owner
Micah Foster is a partner at Dream Support LLC who has been providing remote executive assistants to busy leaders who need administrative and organizational help for over five years.
He has a passion for creating and maintaining positive and productive work environments and empowering people to reach their full potential.