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What happens during high & low workload:

• OPTIMUM WORKLOAD: Everything works great here!  We're challenged enough to stay awake and alert; not overburdened to the point where performance breaks down.
• WORKLOAD TOO LOW: No challenge. Boredom, dissatisfaction and complacency set in.  You're open for mistakes because your thinking is not focused on what really matters!
• WORKLOAD TOO HIGH 
--  Sudden loss of judgment
--  Irrational responses to problems
--  Exhaustion
--  Illness
--  Low self esteem/confidence

Classifying Workload:

• CRITICAL:  Must do something NOW to prevent a catastrophe
• IMPORTANT:  If something isn't done soon, this will become a critical item
• ROUTINE:  A normal occurrence, but if left long enough this could become an important item (then, ultimately elevate itself to critical if left unresolved even longer)

What happens when people get overloaded?

• Work faster - trying to keep up when you know you've gotten behind
• Overall view of the flight becomes shorter - the big picture of the purpose and scope of the mission is lost
• Attention becomes 'tunneled' - As if looking through a soda straw, yoou will fixate an inordinate portion of attention on one item.  It may not even be an item that should receive such honor at the time . . .
• Revert to old habits - either good or bad . . .

What are the signs of being overworked?

• Difficulty sticking to normal performance standards (heading, altitude, hearing radio calls, etc.)
• Errors or erratic (unpredictable or inconsistent) performance
• Uncertainty, indecision, discomfort (that nagging feeling you just can't put your finger on it . . . )
• Loss of good instrument scan - tunnel vision and fixation
• Temporal, or time, distortion - A few seconds seem like eternity, halff an hour goes by in a flash and feels like five minutes.  Fixation on past, present or perceived future events at the sacrifice of the big picture.
• Hesitant or confused speech (often apparent on ATC tapes just before an accident . . .)

High workload stress inoculation:

• Intimate KNOWLEDGE of the business
• Professional ATTITUDE
• SKILL to fly without excessive attention to aircraft

Tools to manage HIGH workloads:

• Delegating tasks to others, as feasible, to lighten your own burdens
• Prioritize - do the most important things first!  Easy to say, maybe hard to do.  Judgment . . .
• Expand available time - Put off less important tasks until latter; break large tasks up into a series of smaller ones . . .

• PRIORITIZATION:  It there are a large number if workload items and distractions, all working on you at once, attention can become overloaded. 
• IGNORE: Ignore anything that doesn't have to do with aircraft control and hazard avoidance. Plan to reduce or avoid distractions at critical points in the flight.
• DELAY: Some distractions can wait a while!
• DELEGATE:  Maybe you can get somebody else to do it?!
• HANDLE IT: But if the distraction needs attention now, then handle it!  It is important to not become fixated on the distraction at the expense of aircraft control or hazard avoidance.
• STERILE COCKPIT is a tool used to reduce distractions.
• USE JUDGMENT - developed from training & experience.
• CHECKLIST:  use it

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