Beating decision fatigue
I’ve just had a brilliant few days away with a couple of girlfriends. Good food and wine, great conversations and a lot of laughter.
One of the best parts of our long weekend was that it felt like I didn’t need to make any decisions other than which bottle of wine would we open next. We had planned the weekend away in advance – how we would get there, where we were staying, who was bringing what, who would cook and when we would eat out.
We make around 30,000 decisions a day – the cognitive load on our minds is immense. That’s why Barack Obama only wore a blue or a grey suit every day and why Steve Jobs always wore jeans and a black turtleneck. It reduces decision fatigue, freeing up our minds for other, often more important, things.
How we feel impacts on our ability to make decisions. When we feel exhausted or overwhelmed, we are more likely to put off making a decision, make an impulsive or rash decision (often to get it over with or because we are feeling pressured), or avoid making the decision at all.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has made a costly decision under pressure, just to get the person pressuring you off your back!
If you’re feeling exhausted by decisions, take a look at what you can do to make life easier – at work and at home.
Three things you could try are:
Delegating or outsourcing – at home I’ve delegated the housework to my husband and at work I outsource various tasks that give me no joy and that aren’t where my talents lay
Planning ahead – at home I find menu planning reduced my mental load hugely. I work out what we will have for dinner 4-5 nights a week, and which groceries we need – this means it’s easier to shop and cook and we spend less at the supermarket as we’re not buying things we don’t need. At work I plan out my week and put everything in the calendar. That way I know what I’m meant to be doing, who I’m meant to be seeing and what needs to be done in advance to prepare.
Creating routines – I have a night time routine that means I’m much more likely to get 8 hours sleep. Some common routines include how you spend your morning so you can fit in exercise and breakfast, or how you spend the first and last thirty minutes of your workday or a weekly routine such as setting aside regular thinking and planning time.
Are you struggling with decision fatigue? What could you do to help reduce it?
I’d love to know.
