I noticed a while ago I was feeling more tired and sluggish than usual.  It seemed strange because I was getting good sleep and exercising. 

Decisions Drain Us

As I thought about it more, it occurred to me that one reason might be decision fatigue.  Most people make over 35,000 decisions every day. 

Ironically with MORE time and MORE flexibility during COVID-19, we actually make MORE decisions every day. 

For example, instead of just getting up at the same time and getting everyone out the door for school and work, now I had the option to sleep in, exercise now or later, choose whether to do math with my daughter or do the dishes first, get dressed or stay in my workout clothes, and decide what to make for dinner.

Too many decisions deplete us.  Even small micro-decisions like these require headspace and mental energy.  I decided to limit the number of decisions I make each day in order to have more energy.   

Three Ways to Limit Daily Decisions

Here are a few ways that have helped me to limit my daily decisions.

1. Commit to a routine

Even though there aren’t external constraints demanding a routine right now,  we try to get up at the same time, exercise at the same time, and have meals around the same time, have school hours, regular breaks and family time that everyone can count on. 

2. Plan once for the week

I try to make a meal plan for the week and even plan days for household chores like laundry and bathrooms.  We plan fun family activities for the week too and enjoy looking forward to them. 

3. Draw bright lines around certain behaviors  

Just like the street has bright solid lines indicating when you cannot cross–it can help to make bright line decisions on behaviors so you aren’t using energy to constantly decide what to do.  For example, our family tries to have just one treat a day after lunch.  I decided I don’t want to look at social media until the afternoon when I have personal time.  

I find I have a lot more energy and clarity when I follow a routine, plan once for the week and stick to my bright line decisions.   

Sticking to the Plan

Sometimes I don’t feel like sticking to the plan and it’s tempting to do something else more fun or comfortable in the moment. 

But when I vary too much from my routine, I slide right back into decision fatigue.  And that ISN’T fun. 
 
If you want to clear some headspace and have more energy, consider decreasing decision fatigue by limiting the number of decisions you have to make every day. 

How to Avoid Decision Fatigue

1. Create routines so that your brain can function on autopilot and not have to make decisions about things you know you wan to get done each day.
2. Plan once for the week on anything you can such as activities, meals, when to get to-do list items done.
3. If you find you spend headspace on deciding whether or not to eat something, how much time to be on social media–set bright line rules for yourself so you don’t have to constantly be regulating yourself.