Decision Fatigue. The chronic condition we keep perpetuating in our daily lives.
Have you ever been so exhausted that even the smallest choice feels overwhelming?
Trust me, you are not alone. So what can we do about it?
Did you know that time of day is one of the biggest factors affecting our decision making? It makes sense, right? Throughout our day, we are inundated and exhausted by more choices and tasks that use up our time and energy coins.
This means that, as the day goes on, and our f*ck budget dwindles, we do not have as much time and energy to allocate, leaving us overwhelmed by and/or apathetic to the decisions left to make and often just doing what we can to stay within the status quo.
But the problem is that it is not just a greater sense of hurriedness or apathy that develops. See, the greater our mental fatigue, the less likely we will make decisions in line with our values. We become impulsive, our judgment gets skewed, and our shame brain has a much better chance of guiding our thoughts, feelings and actions.
This phenomenon is called, “Decision Fatigue” or simply, the inability to make constructive or rational decisions due to a depletion of energy and willpower.
And here’s the rub — time is not the only battle we have to fight against with this.
This issue is made more prominent by:
The increase in choice and possibility in our everyday life.
The wiring of our brain to be more completion oriented.
We are faced with so many choices now that our brain is having to make decisions about things we never really anticipated. Even tasks as simple as what to wear or eat for breakfast have become more involved given the rise of consumerism and abundance. Complicating this is that our brains have, over time, become wired to focus on this idea of quantity over quality meaning we feel more accomplished and "successful" the more we can cross off of our list.
This often leads us to put more important and complex decisions off until later in the day when we may not have as many energy coins left to invest. This can lead to overwhelm, incomplete work or avoidance, or a deliverable below our normal or standard mental, emotional and/or physical capacity.
This means that we are spending more time making choices on things that are not important and focusing on meaningless energy expenses that often detract from where we want and need to be investing.
What can we do about it?
Do the "hard" or "important" things first in the day - when you have greater energy stores. To get a sense for where you are spending your f*ck budget everyday (time, money and energy) check this out.
Remove unnecessary distractions such as email, social media, etc when working on projects or tasks. The more "choice" we have about what to engage in, the greater the "behind the scenes" energy expense.
Go minimalist. Can you adopt a uniform (black shirt and jeans) for your everyday routine? Can you minimize the choices you have on hand? Read more about minimalism in this article I wrote for Brava Magazine.
Make "easy" decisions the night before. Pack your lunch, choose your outfit, pick what you will eat for breakfast. All of these decisions require an energy load in the AM and use up precious energy coins early on. Shift to making those choices at a time when you can use less stores.
Use the power of "3". When overwhelmed with options, focus on just 3 at a time. Ex. on a menu, look at just 3 options at a time. Either pick one from there or decide to move on to the next 3.
Automate, delegate and delete whenever possible. Not everything we have told ourselves has to be done truly does. And in many cases, we can shift the way we accomplish or do that task. Ex. setting bills to auto-pay versus having to review and pay bills individually each time.
Click the button below to get a copy of a handout I created on this topic that dives a bit deeper and is an easy tool to share within your circles — personally and professionally!
For more on this topic, check out these other resources:
Learn how to Invest your Time More Wisely and consider how to pursue things that truly resonate with you rather than feel like you “should”
Understand the cycle of unhelpful habits and how to break it
See why sometimes time and choice can keep us stuck
Answer the question “Can You Really Do It All?”
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