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Abstract

ryday life too. Remember that time when you didn’t want to decide about dinner and asked your spouse? But, instead of suggesting something, he/she put the decision-making back on you by saying ‘Anything.’ You ended up ordering your ‘favorite’ order of pizza, which is pre-saved in the app, and all it required was the click of a button.</p><p id="a8a9">Now that we know how decision fatigue can affect us, we need to find ways to tackle it. Here are a few methods that can help us combat decision fatigue.</p><h2 id="a221">1. SIMPLIFY LIFE</h2><p id="6a15">Every day, we face mundane questions like what to eat and what to wear. Even to answer these seemingly trivial questions, we dig into our will power reserve, which we also use for more critical decisions.</p><p id="8cfb">To solve this problem, many successful people have <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/10/09/world/gallery/decision-fatigue-same-clothes/index.html">designed ways</a> to reduce the number of everyday decisions. For example, Barack Obama said in an interview with <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2012/10/michael-lewis-profile-barack-obama">Vanity Fair</a> that he always wears gray or blue suits because he wanted to cut down on the number of decisions he took. Mark Zukerberg shares the same feelings and so, is always seen with his signature grey t-shirt.</p><p id="aa2f">Now for us regular people, it is boring to wear the same clothes every day. Moreover, it would mean 90% of our wardrobe will go unused!</p><p id="c737">So, I applied this policy with a twist. Instead of choosing my clothes every day, I took this decision once a week. Every Sunday evening, I planned out my clothes for the whole week. This way, I had a variety without wasting my energy every day.</p><h2 id="402f">2. ROUTINES</h2><p id="c01d">Routines go a step further in simplifying our lives. They help improve our productivity by (sort of) automating our lives. When we follow a routine, we eliminate the ‘when should I do this?’ question. We have a regular set of activities that we do every day. Blocking time for them in our schedule is all that goes into creating a routine.</p><p id="148d">The one habit that I follow religiously is my morning routine. It is my answer to questions like what time should I wake-up, when should I work-out, which exercise regime should I follow, etc. All these tasks now happen in the ‘auto-pilot’.</p><div id="3946" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/5-things-i-learned-by-following-a-routine-for-3-months-9b91e9413c6c"> <div> <div> <h2>5 Things I Learned By Following A Routine For 3 Months</h2> <div><h3>Following a daily routine brought order to my life and increased my productivity.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div>

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    </div><h2 id="b00d">3. TAKE A BREAK</h2><p id="c5f4">Decision fatigue is a sign that our brain is tired and needs a break. A break is a fuel that recharges our systems and helps us get back to the grind. So, slow down and relax for some time. You could pursue a hobby, practice self-care, or just hit the bed.</p><p id="5dc4">My favorite form of stress-buster is a DIY project. Even though most of these projects end up being unsuccessful, they at least help me reset my brain.</p><figure id="a4f6"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*tgM3UWJTjux4aimHIRfPcg.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@nelliakurme?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Nellia Kurme</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><h2 id="9b00">4. PLAN AHEAD</h2><p id="3632">Planning is another effective way to combat decision fatigue. The following two are tried and tested techniques that have helped me.</p><p id="e747"><b>MEAL PREP- </b>For me, deciding what to cook is a tougher task than cooking itself. And even if I do decide what to cook, I never have all the ingredients at home. Frustrated, I end up ordering pizza. Meal prep helped me solve this problem. Now, I create a menu for the entire week and over the weekend shop and prep the ingredients. This way, I have one less decision to make every day.</p><p id="12d9"><b>PLANNING AND PRIORITIZING- </b>I work from home with my 4-year-old son beside me throughout the day. It is easy to forget essential tasks while hustling between these two roles. I have missed project deadlines, forgotten to pay bills, and have mismanaged many time-sensitive activities. After a few faux-pas, I realized it was essential to plan my day. I generally work in the mornings before my son wakes up. Now, as a pre-plan, I review my day’s calendar the night before. I prioritize and schedule critical decision-making and time-sensitive activities first thing in the morning. This way, my work gets done at a time when my energy is high, and will-power is at it’s best. I take-up household chores in the late afternoon or evening.</p><p id="b3fd">With each passing day our life gets busier and the number of choices increases. As we toggle between these choices, our will-power starts to deplete. This marks the beginning of decision fatigue. It is inevitable. But we can minimize its effects by planning our day better and taking breaks. So, slow down and make a few lifestyle changes. Soon, you will notice the difference in your well-being and productivity.</p></article></body>

Tips To Deal With Decision Fatigue

We make so many decisions in a day that we are bound to have decision fatigue. We cannot avoid it but can follow certain tips to minimize its effects.

We start making decisions the moment we wake up — can I sleep for five more minutes? What should I have for breakfast? What should I wear to work? Which route should I take to the office? And in this way, we make about 35,000 decisions in a day.

Now, with so many decisions, we are bound to be mentally exhausted. This state of exhaustion is called decision fatigue. It is a decline in the ability to make quality decisions after a long session of decision making. To understand this concept, think of how you feel after an intense work-out. You are tired and don’t want to do any other physical activity for a while. Similarly, our brain too gets tired after making a lot of decisions.

Decision fatigue is a relatively new term coined by social psychologist Roy.F.Baumeister. Through his experiment, Baumeister says that our will-power draws from a limited pool, which can eventually deplete.

This pool of will-power is at its maximum level in the morning. As the day proceeds and we take more and more decisions, it depletes and reaches the lowest level by the end of the day. At this time, any decision, no matter how trivial it is, seems big. Therefore, we try to avoid it or end up choosing an option that is easier for us.

A study on parole decisions of Israeli prisoners is a classic example of decision fatigue. It analyzes judgments for 1100 prisoners over a year. Results show that prisoners who appeared early in the morning received parole 70% of the time. This percentage reduced to less than 10% for those who appeared later during the day.

The judgments were not ill-natured or unusual. The culprit here was decision fatigue. After making decisions the entire morning, the judges were mentally exhausted. So they chose the less demanding option of denying parole.

We face this in our everyday life too. Remember that time when you didn’t want to decide about dinner and asked your spouse? But, instead of suggesting something, he/she put the decision-making back on you by saying ‘Anything.’ You ended up ordering your ‘favorite’ order of pizza, which is pre-saved in the app, and all it required was the click of a button.

Now that we know how decision fatigue can affect us, we need to find ways to tackle it. Here are a few methods that can help us combat decision fatigue.

1. SIMPLIFY LIFE

Every day, we face mundane questions like what to eat and what to wear. Even to answer these seemingly trivial questions, we dig into our will power reserve, which we also use for more critical decisions.

To solve this problem, many successful people have designed ways to reduce the number of everyday decisions. For example, Barack Obama said in an interview with Vanity Fair that he always wears gray or blue suits because he wanted to cut down on the number of decisions he took. Mark Zukerberg shares the same feelings and so, is always seen with his signature grey t-shirt.

Now for us regular people, it is boring to wear the same clothes every day. Moreover, it would mean 90% of our wardrobe will go unused!

So, I applied this policy with a twist. Instead of choosing my clothes every day, I took this decision once a week. Every Sunday evening, I planned out my clothes for the whole week. This way, I had a variety without wasting my energy every day.

2. ROUTINES

Routines go a step further in simplifying our lives. They help improve our productivity by (sort of) automating our lives. When we follow a routine, we eliminate the ‘when should I do this?’ question. We have a regular set of activities that we do every day. Blocking time for them in our schedule is all that goes into creating a routine.

The one habit that I follow religiously is my morning routine. It is my answer to questions like what time should I wake-up, when should I work-out, which exercise regime should I follow, etc. All these tasks now happen in the ‘auto-pilot’.

5 Things I Learned By Following A Routine For 3 Months

Following a daily routine brought order to my life and increased my productivity.

medium.com

3. TAKE A BREAK

Decision fatigue is a sign that our brain is tired and needs a break. A break is a fuel that recharges our systems and helps us get back to the grind. So, slow down and relax for some time. You could pursue a hobby, practice self-care, or just hit the bed.

My favorite form of stress-buster is a DIY project. Even though most of these projects end up being unsuccessful, they at least help me reset my brain.

4. PLAN AHEAD

Planning is another effective way to combat decision fatigue. The following two are tried and tested techniques that have helped me.

MEAL PREP- For me, deciding what to cook is a tougher task than cooking itself. And even if I do decide what to cook, I never have all the ingredients at home. Frustrated, I end up ordering pizza. Meal prep helped me solve this problem. Now, I create a menu for the entire week and over the weekend shop and prep the ingredients. This way, I have one less decision to make every day.

PLANNING AND PRIORITIZING- I work from home with my 4-year-old son beside me throughout the day. It is easy to forget essential tasks while hustling between these two roles. I have missed project deadlines, forgotten to pay bills, and have mismanaged many time-sensitive activities. After a few faux-pas, I realized it was essential to plan my day. I generally work in the mornings before my son wakes up. Now, as a pre-plan, I review my day’s calendar the night before. I prioritize and schedule critical decision-making and time-sensitive activities first thing in the morning. This way, my work gets done at a time when my energy is high, and will-power is at it’s best. I take-up household chores in the late afternoon or evening.

With each passing day our life gets busier and the number of choices increases. As we toggle between these choices, our will-power starts to deplete. This marks the beginning of decision fatigue. It is inevitable. But we can minimize its effects by planning our day better and taking breaks. So, slow down and make a few lifestyle changes. Soon, you will notice the difference in your well-being and productivity.