Are you struggling with decision fatigue?
That familiar feeling of exhaustion when you need to untangle one more detail for a project at work, or decide whether to cancel a playdate tomorrow because your kid has a runny nose today, or figure out what you’re going to eat for dinner. Again.
Your brain just goes UGH, and it feels like there’s less rational-cognitive-processing and more of a soup sloshing around in there between your ears.
So you rush through a decision, picking the first thing in front of you. Or you put it off until later, rub your forehead, and wish this was all easier.
You’re not alone.
Decision fatigue is real. As we’re overloaded with information, constantly processing in an ever-changing world, we’re all facing this challenge. The good news is, there are four straightforward ways to overcome this exhaustion.
What is decision fatigue?
Decision-making expert Sheena Iyengar has estimated that we make 70 decisions per day. That’s a lot of deciding to do in a 24-hour period. It turns out, when you make that many decisions in a row, your brain gets tired.
Decision fatigue is the state of mental overload that hinders our ability to continue making decisions. Basically, after you make a lot of decisions, it becomes harder for you to make good ones. It is physically, mentally, and emotionally draining.
It also makes you make bad decisions.
The effect can be more pronounced when you need to make stressful or complex decisions, and when you need to make decisions that affect other people. It can even be worse when you’re hungry. It can also have a snowball effect: the more you feel exhausted by your decisions, the more you are worn out by each subsequent decision. Your brain treats small decisions – what to wear, what route to drive – the same way it treats bigger decisions – company strategy, accepting a job offer.
Some research has suggested that processing information to make a decision is akin to muscle fatigue after exercise, depleting your resources and ability to regulate your behavior. This can explain why making many decisions can not only cause you to make worse decisions, but also lack willpower against temptations, and take mental shortcuts.
Symptoms of decision fatigue
When your brain is exhausted by decision fatigue, it affects your mental and emotional state in noticeable ways that extend beyond the direct act of making decisions. You might have it if:
- You’re make impulsive decisions, like purchases you wouldn’t have otherwise made or eating junk food
- You’re feeling brain fog, in other words, forgetfulness and difficulty focusing
- You feel overwhelmed
- You feel numb
- You are irritable, with minor frustrations affecting you more than usual
Additionally, the way you deal with subsequent decisions will be affected.
How you deal with decisions when you’re fatigued
Once your decision-making ability has reached the point of impairment, there are typically four ways that you will deal with the decisions on your plate.
- Procrastination – you’ll put off decisions that need to be made until later
- Impulsivity – you will make a rash decision, based on little evidence or consideration
- Avoidance – you won’t make a decision at all, choosing instead not to decide.
- Indecision – you will waffle between the choices available to you, unable to pick one.
Decision fatigue examples
So what does decision fatigue actually look like, when it’s happening? Research in a variety of fields has provided us with examples of this phenomenon in action.
Perhaps the most well-known study found that judges were far more likely to make favorable rulings earlier in the day or directly after a lunch break. As sessions of decisions wore on, the judges were more likely to make the “default” decision of denying parole requests.
Another study found that clinicians were more likely to prescribe antibiotics for acute respiratory infections as it got later in the day, likely because antibiotics are an easy option, which the clinicians were more apt to make as the day wore on and their mental states wore down.
One study in a banking setting looked at credit loan applications evaluated by credit officers of a major bank. They found that in one month, the sub-optimal decisions made by fatigued loan officers after several hours of decision-making cost the bank $509,023 in revenue.
Librarians are not immune, nor are serious game-players, neurosurgeons, cybersecurity professionals, or nurses.
Like I said: you are not alone.
How to overcome decision fatigue
Thankfully, there are several strategies you can employ in order to reduce decision fatigue by streamlining your decision-making processes and planning in advance.
Make big decisions in the morning
Plan your most important decisions for the first part of your day. My husband and I have a long-standing rule of “no logistics after 9 PM.” We know that by the evening, our brains will be exhausted from work and parenting. So plans for the next day and beyond need to be handled by 9 PM, so we can flip that mental “off-switch” and have time to wind down.
If you are a manager at work, you might block the first hour or two of your day for strategic thinking. For personal decisions, it may mean setting aside time on a weekend morning to work through your options or sit down with your spouse to chat about joint decisions.
I would also consider this factor when others will be making decisions on your behalf. That is: schedule doctors’ appointments, interviews, and any other consequential appointment for as early in the day as you can, before others are weighed down by their own fatigue. Your second-best option will be right after the decider has had lunch, if you can estimate that.
Make fewer decisions
Remove options from the table by making batch decisions or intentionally opting out of decisions. For example, create a “uniform” of the same outfit or pants and shirts that all match, so you can spend less mental energy deciding what to wear. Arrive at the grocery store with a list you plan to firmly follow, or do your shopping online with boundaries in place to only get exactly what you need. For more extreme changes, are there any activities or commitments you can remove from your schedule entirely? Any volunteer positions you can step down from? Prioritize the areas of your life where being the decision-maker is important to you, and find ways to let the rest go.
Delegate decisions
In a similar vein, what decisions can you delegate to other people in your life? Are there big questions you can break down into smaller pieces and divide up? Can your kids decide what’s for dinner? Can you and a friend agree to take turns planning meetups instead of planning each one together?
Make sure you eat
As a habitual granola-bar-carrier, I know the power of staving off hanger. Ensuring you eat regularly can not only improve mood, but your capacity for decisions, as well. Research has shown that when hungry, people are more likely to prioritize immediate gratification, even on choices that aren’t food-related. When deciding on a full stomach, individuals were more likely to make choices that required delayed gratification for bigger rewards. So, grab a snack or eat a full meal before tackling decisions, especially taxing ones.
Don’t rehash decisions already made
Easier said than done, I know. But going over and over a decision in your mind can be just as exhausting for your mind as making the decision in the first place. Try writing down your decisions on paper to give them an air of finality.
Have you ever faced decision fatigue? What did you do? What changes will you make to the way you deal with it in the future?
