Whilst out with friends a few of weeks ago, we were chatting away about the style and colour of our clothes.  I was reminded of a phase I went through at work several years ago when I decided that the core colour of my work wardrobe would be black with just a splash of colour to bring a little added zing and richness.  Recalling this time, I spoke about this being primarily about lessening the number of daily decisions I had to make – I had heard that some of the most successful people in the world had a self-imposed ‘work uniform’ and thought why not give it a try myself?

This lovely conversation prompted me to think more deeply about this topic area.  We make so many decisions from the moment we wake up in the morning to the moment we go to sleep at night. It’s no wonder our minds become fatigued. To top this all off, other factors also impact, for example, the amount of information we absorb constantly throughout the day, for example, doom-scrolling, which may be an area to explore another time.

Image with thanks Jens Lelie @madebyjens via Unsplash

It seems that even shopping for essentials has become a task that requires far more thinking than necessary at times.  For those of you old enough to remember a time without the internet, say for example, we wanted to buy a duvet set, off we would go to our local high street store, pick one and hey presto – a decision made, move on.  Today, if I want to buy a duvet set, I would scroll through multiple websites to decide from a hundred different options.  Great decision made! – no hold on, what if it’s cheaper on another website, then type in the exact duvet set into the search browser to check I’m not paying over the odds. Think I’m finished? Well no, perhaps I need to go and see it in person or do I chance the quality of the fabric and the vibrancy of the colours? And so it goes.

Back to the even more mundane everyday decisions we have to make.

What shall we wear today?

What shall we eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner?

Plus the multiple decisions we make on behalf of others; children, partners, parents, you name it and we haven’t even begun to think about decisions in the workplace or decisions that are more complicated because they have an emotional, mental, physical, or financial aspect to them. And if you’re anything like me, I will ruminate over decisions I have made that I am unsure about, which adds more to the emotional load. Decision fatigue leads to poor decisions or decision avoidance.

It is a good thing sometimes that as humans 95% of what we do is unconscious – the body takes over as the mind can only really process 5% of all the information coming at us daily moment by moment.

So it would make sense that we learn some strategies to cope with all the decisions we have to make to avoid feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

Let's get back to “decision fatigue” – this term was coined by social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister as the “emotional and mental strain resulting from a burden of choices.”

Recognising decision fatigue is the first step to being able to do something about it, to avoid stress and burnout:

• Procrastination – putting things off, even the simplest things as they seem too difficult to tackle.

• Impulsiveness – making decisions, especially important ones, hastily without thinking through the impact of them properly.

• Avoidance – when you know you need to decide something and just ignore it because it appears too large to handle.

• Indecision – when you’re not sure and constantly overthink the consequences of saying yes, no, or maybe.

Here are some ideas to help combat decision fatigue:

1. Prioritise Important Decisions – identify the most critical decisions you need to make and make them a priority with a timescale to avoid indecision and ill-timed decision-making.

2. Limit Choices – for those day-to-day functions and decisions, try to establish routines and stick to them.  This is especially good for meal planning, clothing selection, household chores, and physical and social routines.

3. Schedule Break – taking regular breaks during your day whether you are working or not is an important factor here.  These small, even micro-breaks help to rest and recharge you.  Suggestions might be to do short meditations, breathwork, go for a walk, or spend some time outdoors.

4. Batch Similar Decisions – this is especially important if you are working with a busy schedule.  Dedicating specific times during the day to answer emails, make phone calls, or review documents is far better for you than addressing them individually throughout the day.

5. Set Personal Decision Making Criteria – ensuring you make decisions congruent with who you are and your values can help greatly, not only when making them but also once you’ve made them, when doubt creeps in. Reflect on past decisions and learn from them. Some questions to ask yourself are listed below.

6. Allow Others to Help – you don’t have to make all the decisions. Sometimes decisions in the workplace can be delegated to others or may be more informed or best placed to make the decision. Outside of work, others in your close circle could be called upon to make joint decisions, for example, weekly meal planning could be a joint family decision-making process or asking friends for recommendations when in need of services such as plumbing.

7. Practice Self Care – give yourself a break and do things that you enjoy and prioritise your well-being with quality sleep, nutritious food, and exercise – avoid making important decisions when you are tired - all good for maintaining cognitive function and decision-making capacity.

8. Limit Information Overload – remain consciously mindful of information overload. Set boundaries on the amount of information you take in and filter out non-essential or distracting stimuli.

9. Decision Making Tools – use things like pros and cons lists, decision matrices, and decision trees, to help structure and simplify complex decisions.

10. Establish a Routine and Plan – these may include timetabling important things you need to get done throughout a week or as simple as making lunches the night before, deciding on the clothes you want to wear the next day the evening before, which days you’ll hit the gym, and what day you’ll do your grocery shopping.

Useful Questions to Consider

1. What are my options?

2. What are the pros and cons of each option?

3. Do my values and beliefs align with this decision?

4. What is my intuition telling me?

5. What will happen if I do it?

6. What won’t happen if you do it?

7. What will happen if I don’t do it?

8. What won’t happen if you don’t do it?

9. Do I have all the information I need to make a sound decision?

10. How will this decision affect others around me?

11. How confident am I in this decision?

12. How much impact will this decision have on my life?

Question - How do you check in with yourself to ensure you are making sound important decisions?

Thank you for reading.

Jackie