5 Ways To Prevent Decision Fatigue

Have you ever experienced decision fatigue? Read on for what it is and five tips for preventing it. No hard decisions needed, I promise.

So. I’ve been sitting here trying to make a decision on my blog theme for the last three hours. My eyes are getting grainy, I’m getting silly and short tempered, and my head is starting to hurt. I’m looking at one with a description full of technical jargon I can barely understand, I don’t really like the font, but suddenly it’s in my shopping cart because, honestly. I can’t stand to look at one more option that isn’t quite what I’m looking for.

Then I realize…I’m having decision fatigue.

Decision Fatigue, Explained. Sort of.

Decision fatigue happens when we’re faced with a long period of decision-making, and refers to a state where our brains are so overloaded with input that the quality of our decisions gets bad. In some cases, really really bad.

When we’re tired of making decisions, we might:

• Make tradeoffs or agree to things we might not normally agree with
• Go with the status quo against our better (normal) judgment
• Get impulsive and make bad choices
• Experience “buyers remorse” after making a decision to buy something
• End up with something we won’t want or use when we recover

Decision fatigue happens, and not just with big decisions, or even potentially life changing decisions (like what my blog will look like, which is clearly a decision upon which the fate of the world hinges).

It can happen when you go to the grocery store, and you are faced with rows upon rows of merchandise. Or in a clothing store, or craft store, or when online shopping. It can most certainly happen at work. And when you’ve had a long day making decisions, then get in a situation where you need to make yet more decisions, that’s when decision fatigue can strike.

Decisions, decisions

According to this article, researchers at Cornell estimate that the average person makes around 227 decisions a day, just based around food. It goes on to say that in general, the average adult makes about 35,000 remotely conscious decisions a day. That’s a lot of freaking decisions.

Think about how you might go grocery shopping after work or a day managing the kids. You’ve already made a bunch of decisions that day, and now you have to make yet more decisions about what to buy. You may make impulse purchases, like those the Twinkies you see there, or the more expensive coffee, or the industrial size package of toilet paper. Worse, you might just leave without buying anything, because it’s just too much to have to decide one more thing.

5 Tips

Avoiding decision fatigue is hard, especially if you’re someone that has to make a lot of big decisions in a given day. There are no surefire strategies to preventing it, but here’s some strategies I use as often as I can, plus a one or two nuggets I picked up in my Googles.

1. Make your hardest decisions early in the morning.

When you have tough, choice-filled decisions to make, see if you can set aside time to make them in the morning hours. We are less fatigued in general in the morning, have a fresh perspective (and probably fresh coffee), and will make smarter decisions.

2. Put it off.

If you can, try delaying the decision until you’re more clear-minded. This is especially helpful if your fatigue is making you emotional and that emotion will color your decision. It also works well if the environment is chaotic and making it hard to concentrate.

3. Have a list.

Being that I love lists, this one works for me most of the time. If I know I will have a lot of choices, it helps me to make a list in advance (early in the morning!) of the things I’m looking for. Then, when I’m evaluating options, I can refer to the list I made of my must-haves and nice-to-haves. I can use this to quickly narrow my choices to only those that fit the list. An argument for making your shopping list in the morning if you’re not going to be able to make it to the store until later in the evening!

4. Have a routine.

Daily routines mean we don’t have to decide everything to do moment to moment. The fewer decisions you have to make in a day, the less likely it is that you will be decision fatigued when it comes time for the big decisions.

5. Watch what you eat…and eat breakfast!

Not because decision fatigue necessarily leads to overeating (but if you’ve ever gone to the grocery store when you’re tired and hungry, you know that it can). Instead, because certain foods can help your brain function better, especially when it comes to making decisions. This article has a whole laundry list of food that is good for that purpose. So eat up and then make great decisions!

How do you experience decision fatigue? Do you have additional strategies for preventing it? Share in comments!

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