Decision Fatigue: The Energy Vampire Stealing Your Productivity
Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash
You make more decisions during your day than you think. What you’re going to wear. What you’re going to eat. When you’ll eat. What apps you’ll visit on your smartphones. What pictures you’ll like on your social media apps. And so on. You make thousands of decisions every day. And you don’t even realize it. This causes a massive problem for you called decision fatigue.
Each decision you make during the day drains your mental energy a tiny bit. This energy-draining has a snowball effect. Your focus decreases bit by bit. And you get more irritable, tired, angry, and so on.
Decision fatigue has a subtle, yet powerful effect on your well-being.
What is decision fatigue?
Decision fatigue is the increasing difficulty you feel to make a good decision. This is due to the number of decisions you make during the day.
With each decision you make, your judgment gets a little bit worse. It gets clouded.
And so, it becomes harder and harder for you to make good decisions throughout the day. It’s one of the reasons why you may binge eat at night. Or crash and consume entertainment all night, instead of getting productive work done.
The more decisions you make throughout the day, the more likely you’re going to give in to bad habits.
Decision fatigue breaks down your self-discipline and willpower.
And it also reduces your happiness.
The more options you have to choose from, the more unhappy you’ll be with the decision you make.
You’ll question whether you went with the right option or not. The more options you have, the more similar they tend to be. This makes it more difficult to pick a clear winner from the options you have.
What causes decision fatigue?
Decision fatigue is simply caused by the number of decisions you make over the day.
Every action you take (or don’t take) is a decision.
Think about this while you’re on your phone. You make hundreds of decisions simply by scrolling through your social media feeds in the morning. Each like, comment, share, etc is a decision. Each swipe for another post is a decision. Every story you view is a decision. Every notification you check is a decision that you’ve made.
It all adds up.
Another thing that causes decision fatigue is having too many options.
For instance, let’s say you’re going grocery shopping to make dinner tonight. There are thousands of different decisions you could make for that dinner. Do you want to make pizza, burgers, or steak? Are you going to cook it? How are you going to cook it? Do you want to have sides? What sides do you want? This can go on and on…
The more options you have, the more difficult it is to be happy with the decision that you make.
The other options could have been better than the option that you went with. Each following action provides more potential options. This makes it more difficult to feel like you made the right decision.
So, less is more.
When making any decision, limit the options you have to reduce your decision fatigue. You won’t regret making decisions when you have fewer options to choose from. One choice will stand out more than the other(s).
What are the signs of it?
There are 4 primary signs that you may have decision fatigue.
Procrastination. You put things off until a later time. You waste your time instead of getting your work done.
Avoidance. You completely avoid making decisions. And as a result, you run away from doing things. This is a form of procrastination.
Indecisiveness. You can’t make up your mind when making decisions. What should be an easy decision becomes a difficult ordeal. This frequently results in you asking someone to decide for you.
Impulsiveness. You make decisions quickly, but it comes at a cost. Your decisions are reckless. And you didn’t think about the potential consequences of your decisions. This is the opposite reaction of indecisiveness.
How to prevent it
To prevent decision fatigue, reduce the number of decisions you need to make. Especially in the morning.
You should make as few decisions as possible in the morning. Capitalize on the energy you have after recharging by getting restful sleep. Plan out what you’re going to wear, eat, do, etc. the night before.
Stay off your phone as well. It’s tempting to wake up and check your notifications and scroll through social media. But this drains you before your day even starts! Wait until the afternoon to check your phone.
A morning with fewer decisions will make it flow smoothly. And you’ll get your day started off on the right foot.
Having a routine makes this easier. Routines make your actions automatic. You won’t have to think about them… You just do them.
Not needing to think about what actions you’re going to take frees up your mind. You’ll be able to make more good decisions throughout the day without getting overwhelmed with decision fatigue.
This routine doesn’t have to be rigid to the point of you doing the exact same things every day. You can mix it up a bit by creating a menu of options, where you choose some things one day. And then do the other things the next day. This approach gives you just enough variety that you won’t get bored. But not too much variety to overwhelm you.
This menu approach has built-in categories based on each activity’s priority level for you. Priorities make it easier to know which decisions to take. The more important something is, the more likely you should do that thing.
Preventing decision fatigue is all about making decisions easy for you.
Wrapping up
Decision fatigue is an energy vampire that drains your productivity and well-being.
Know the signs of decision fatigue so you can recognize when you get overwhelmed.
When you’re overwhelmed with decision fatigue, take a step back and meditate, go for a walk, or journal. This strategy will help you clear your mind and calm you down. You’ll regain some of your mental energy back.
Prevention is the best way to fight against decision fatigue.
Reduce the number of decisions you have to make, especially in the morning. You’ll keep your mental energy levels higher throughout the day. And your day will be smoother and more enjoyable.
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