How to recognise and manage decision fatigue

There comes a time in our lives when things just feel a little too hard.  You wake up to another day and a list that feels impossible to even start. Often it is not something monumental; it is just the one thing that seems too hard to do. It can be work related, personal or life admin, or all the above! Either way, you may have reached the point of decision fatigue. Today I want to talk to you about how to manage it.

You may not know the phrase, but you may have come to a point where you recognise the feelings. It is when you find it difficult to make a good decision, based on the number of choices you have. Simply, you are exhausted by the number of mental calculations and gymnastics you have needed to make over a short period of time. Coined by social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister, the exhaustion that occurs by having to make too many decisions can not only impact the quality of the decisions that are made but the quantity that our made (namely decision avoidance) and risk leading to burnout.

Like any good scientific theory, the experts are still discussing the lengths and depths of the causes of decision fatigue, but the hints that you are experiencing are easy to recognise! Often linked to stress levels, you may feel tired, have brain fog, and can’t settle on the most (apparently) simple decisions. If you are a little more in-tune with your decision-making process, you may notice your own red flags; this may be a case of over analysing the positive and negative outcomes, avoiding a decision, or impulse buying (if the decision can be answered with cash!)

But fear not, like every good self-reflection moment, once you recognise the issue, there are ways to manage it. It will come as no surprise that this is not an issue that is unique to you. I don’t think I have worked with any client where a moment of fatigue hasn’t come up with an important decision. However, the question you may be mulling over doesn’t have to be life-changing; sometimes it’s the number of decisions that can tip you over the edge.

Three simple ways to reduce decision fatigue

Make your decisions in advance
I notice my personal decision fatigue within a very easy, everyday moment. Simply the response to “What are we having for tea?”. The moment that I search within my cupboard and cannot even start to consider what to create, I know that I’ve reached my maximum for decision making that day!
I imagine that I’m not the only person that has moments where they wish they could “stop adulting”! One technique to reduce the amount of decisions you need to make every day is to NOT make them every day. Where you can, plan your decision in advance! One way is a literal plan. From what you do work wise, to what you are eating, make this decision once a week and then leave it. This may look like a meal plan for seven days or an out of office that tells the world what time you log off (so no making decisions around squeezing in extra tasks! )

Reduce your options
You may have read how Barak Obama wears the same things every day; he has a uniform, so no daily decisions on clothing. He feels this has given him more mental energy to focus on other, important, things.  You do not have to go to the same extent, but by limiting clothing options, it means that the decision has been made for you. So this may be a case of having a work uniform, creating rules for yourself around purchases (such as finance, time, ethical standards) or even having an “either-or” option

Delegate your decisions
Decisions can be hard, as often the consequences can have a huge impact on our lives. However, there are some things that we just onto when it’s just important that gets done, but it doesn’t have to be you that makes it happen! This can be hard if your wish is to be the decisive one; maybe you like being in control, or you appreciate being appreciated! However, at the point of decision fatigue holding onto the decision-making responsibilities is not useful. So, delegate to someone else to make the decision. You just need to make sure it gets done, rather than being the one who decides! This subtle change in language can make a massive difference.
Delegation can be a harder technique to use, but by practicing it on smaller decisions, you will discover finding relief in just moving forward. You can outsource in other ways if you don’t want to shift responsibility to another person. Maybe leave it to chance? A flip of the coin can not only tell you what you really want to do (obviously this only works if you have limited your choice to two), it appears research has found this decision making technique can make you happier too

So, the next time you find yourself saying “I just can’t decide” remember that you may be in a state of decision fatigue. Take a step back and remember one of these three ways! I think I am going to start tossing a coin more, a quick and easy way to get on with my day! What works for you?

Let me make a good decision for you! Come over to Creating Careers to Enjoy and let us know the best decision you ever made!

Are you making some career decisions right now? Some of these blogs will help!

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