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(CNN)Here’s a figure to boggle the mind: we consume about 74 gigabytes — nine DVDs worth — of data every day. It’s amazing we’re able to process and make sense of it all. So how do you think straight in the age of information overload?

“Information overload refers to the notion that we’re trying to take in more than the brain can handle,” says neuroscientist and psychologist Daniel Levitin.

“We used to think that you could pay attention to five to nine things at a time,” he added. “We now know that’s not true. That’s a crazy overestimate. The conscious mind can attend to about three things at once. Trying to juggle any more than that, and you’re going to lose some brainpower.”

Information overload also leads to something called “decision fatigue.” It’s why Albert Einstein is nearly always pictured wearing a gray suit, why Steve Jobs usually wore a black turtleneck and why Mark Zuckerberg is almost always sporting his signature gray T-shirt. They didn’t want to waste valuable energy making inconsequential decisions about their clothes.