The Hidden Time Drain
Let me ask you a simple question:
How long should it take a student to find this week’s assignment in your course?
A few seconds? Maybe a minute?
Now imagine it takes five.
Or ten.
Or they click three different places before they finally find it… and by then, they’re already a little irritated.
Here’s the thing, we rarely see this happening.
But it’s happening all the time.
And every extra click, every moment of hesitation, every “Where is this?” thought… adds up.
The Real Problem Isn’t Effort, It’s Energy
Students come into our courses ready to use their mental energy to:
- Understand new concepts
- Engage with ideas
- Complete assignments
- Think critically
But before they can do any of that, they have to figure out how your course works.
Where do they start?
Where is the content?
What’s due first?
Where do they submit?
Each of those questions requires effort.
And effort uses energy.
The more energy students spend navigating your course, the less they have left for learning.
A Simple Way to Think About It
Think about your brain like a phone battery.
You start the day at 100%.
Now imagine this:
- 10% goes to finding the syllabus
- 15% goes to figuring out where assignments are located
- 10% goes to re-reading unclear instructions
- 15% goes to switching between differently structured courses
Before students even start learning, they’re already running low.
Now we ask them to:
- Analyze
- Apply
- Write
- Problem-solve
And we wonder why they feel overwhelmed.
What We Don’t Always See as Faculty
From our side, everything feels clear.
We know:
- Where content is located
- How modules are organized
- What the flow is supposed to be
But students don’t have that mental map yet.
They’re building it in real time.
And if the structure isn’t clear, they’re guessing.
When “Figure It Out” Becomes a Barrier
There’s an unspoken assumption in many online courses:
“They’ll figure it out.”
And to be fair… many students do.
But at what cost?
- Extra time
- Increased frustration
- Lower confidence
- Less focus on actual learning
Some students push through.
Others quietly disengage.
Not because they can’t do the work…
But because getting to the work feels harder than it should.
This Is What Cognitive Overload Looks Like (Without the Jargon)
You don’t need a textbook definition to understand this.
If students are:
- Clicking around trying to find things
- Re-reading instructions multiple times
- Unsure where to go next
- Constantly second-guessing themselves
They’re overloaded.
Not with content.
With process.
Clarity reduces stress. Confusion creates it.
And stress is not a great environment for learning.
Small Friction = Big Impact
Here’s what makes this tricky.
None of these issues feel big on their own:
- One extra click
- One unclear label
- One buried assignment
But together?
They create a course that feels harder than it actually is.
And students respond to that feeling.
So What Can We Do About It?
We don’t need to redesign everything.
We just need to start asking better questions:
- Can students find this week’s work in one or two clicks?
- Is the path through the course obvious?
- Are instructions clear the first time they read them?
- Does everything live where students expect it to be?
If the answer is “not really”…
That’s where the opportunity is.
What’s Coming Next
In the next post, we’re going to talk about something that makes this issue even bigger:
What happens when every course a student takes is designed completely differently.
Because it’s not just about one course.
It’s about the combined experience.
Final Thought
Students don’t just need to learn your content.
They need to find it, understand it, and move through it ... often under time pressure.
The easier we make that process…
The more space we create for actual learning to happen.
Call to Action
Pick one module in your course this week.
Time yourself finding:
- The assignment
- The instructions
- The submission point
If it takes longer than a minute… Your students are feeling that too.