How to prevent decision fatigue
Do you ever feel like you’ve got too many decisions to make every day? Decision fatigue is similar to ‘overwhelm’, it stops you from being in the driver’s seat of your life, and instead you become reactionary and drift from where you want be and how you want to feel.
Life is full of decision-making, and I won’t get into ‘work life’ in this article (I’d just tell you to care a little less and delegate more), I’ll be focusing more on our behaviours outside of ‘work’ that we have more control over.
Sometimes you don’t even know decision fatigue is happening, it’s like a phone battery slowly losing charge. You reach the end of the day tired, snappy, and just wanting to shut down for the night (this can appear as binge-watching, a bottle of wine, or not being ‘present’). For most people, this is when they’re spending time with their loved ones, and decision fatigue prevents them from being their best selves for the people that mean the most to them.
When you’re overwhelmed by all the little decisions you’ve put yourself through already that day, you may not have the bandwidth to decide to be a thoughtful, caring person and ask ‘how was your day?’. In extreme cases, even figuring out what to eat for dinner can feel like the hardest decision you’ve ever made!
Most importantly, it’s hard to make the best decisions for your own happiness, mental health, and self-care if you’ve worn yourself out by having too many decisions to make. You will more easily give in to, say junk food and Netflix, when your best self really wanted to have a bubble bath and an early bedtime.
Decision fatigue is very common, but there are some easy ways to prevent it - it just takes a bit of acknowledgement and a little planning.
Here are some tips on how you might be able to lessen the decision fatigue in your day:
Notice the decisions that drain you the most
Certain moments in your day will have more friction than others. Live your normal life for a day (or a week) and take note of the decisions you usually make that stress you out and leave you feeling exhausted.
These can include deciding whether or not to go to the gym, what to wear to work, what to eat for breakfast / lunch / dinner, social itineraries, herding family and friends, gift-giving, etc..
Analyse which decisions you can declutter or delegate
Some of the things you’re spending your energy on can be deleted from your life. For instance, I’m taking a break from making social and travel plans for my friends and family because some people started expecting me to make them. Someone else can have a turn at coming up with fun ideas for us all to spend quality time, and I look forward to joining in instead of directing :) What can you declutter or delegate?
* Please note: it’s not delegating if you have to chase the person up on the task you’ve asked them to take over. It should be agreed when delegating that it’s not something you’ll ever need follow up on, because that’s usually more draining than just doing the thing yourself! Feel free to share this article :)
Make a schedule and stick to it
Sometimes I just have to convince myself to act like a very disciplined soldier to do what I said I was going to do. I need to take the thought out of it because my brain is so very good at negotiating and making excuses. This is mostly about going to the gym for me, but maybe you’ve got other goals in mind that you procrastinate and flake on. What can you schedule in advance and simply act on, like you’ve been given orders and you must obey? Planning in advance means you don’t have to think about it on the day, you simply have to do it.
One way this really works for me is by making a food plan for the week, so we don’t have to think about what to cook and we don’t even have to discuss it. It just happens. I keep a master list of meals we love on Google Docs and we just plug in whatever we want for the week. I try to do it when I’m feeling healthy :)
Picking out my outfits for the week is another thing that makes me feel great, I don’t have to think on the day. I try to do it when I’m feeling creative!
Automate stuff
Some of the decisions you’re making can be automated and done for you. Automating is my favourite way to live a frictionless, easy life and keep my energy levels up. Here are some things I automate:
Grocery store ‘favourites’ list weekly deliveries
Huel for breakfast or lunch - all you need is water. I love this stuff so much I became a Huel partner, feel free to use my code JESSINDEEDY for £10 off, from my heart to yours.
Subscriptions to oat milk, razor heads, dishwasher tablets, dog food, toilet paper, vitamins, etc.
Saving money through standing bank orders into a high interest account, I don’t even see this money and it just keeps piling up
Emails are sorted into folders for things like order receipts, my favourite newsletters for planning fun with friends, emails from my fave brands for when I’m in the mood to shop (and neatly away from my eyeline until then)
Eat the same thing on a day of the week. I know this sounds boring but wow I love knowing it’s Taco Tuesday because it’s one less thing to think about. Flex that standing grocery order and don’t forget avocados!
Which of these tips are you excited to try?
I really hope these ideas help you free up more bandwidth to enjoy yourself, feel great, and spend good quality time with your loved ones as your best self. Please let me know how you get on, send me an email, or comment on my socials!
Jess xx
