September 22, 2016
In
PC Pointer
By
Cindy Fassler
Are you experiencing decision fatigue?
You may have heard about prominent industry leaders and even our Commander in Chief’s seemingly bizarre behavior: President Obama wearing the same suit every day, Steve Jobs always wearing a black turtleneck and jeans, or Mark Zuckerberg wearing the same gray hoodie and jeans 5 days a week. Why do these strong, innovative, and accomplished leaders do this?
The answer is decision fatigue.
If you have not heard about decision fatigue before, it is the idea that constantly making decisions, small or big, can leave one weary. Whether it is deciding which brand of Greek yogurt to buy at the store or which insurance plan best fits your lifestyle and budget, can take the same amount of energy and your decision is mostly affected by how tired your brain is. Making too many decisions in the morning can lead to decision fatigue by the end of the day. Being in a powerful position of high responsibility where one is in regularly in charge of making decisions will lead to burn out. Eliminating as many small decisions possible, such as what to wear each day, will cut down on stress and ultimately fatigue.
Most people don’t notice the signs of decision fatigue. In an article published by the New York Times, they conclude that the more choices you make throughout the day, the more your brain looks for shortcuts. The brain copes with this in two ways; one is by becoming reckless and acting impulsively, the other is by to going into an energy saving mode and shutting down, where no decisions are made. I know I have personally felt this way so I looked to some experts on advice of how to combat this issue.
To quote President Obama, “You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinize yourself. You can’t be going through the day distracted by trivia.”
So how can you implement structure in your life so you can save the most amount of energy for the tasks that really matter?
Here are my best tips to beat decision fatigue:
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