7 Tested Ways to Beat Decision Fatigue

With the outburst of choices that we are experiencing — starting from which pen to buy to which show to watch on Netflix can be overwhelming and draining. We are not even aware that such trivial decisions are taking so much of our energy on a daily basis.

While it may appear that choices give us freedom, they can actually limit our freedom as we end up spending a lot of time deliberating. Infact, limiting your options and discipline creates more freedom and better decision-making.

I did not know about “decision overload” until I read about it in the book “The Organized Mind” by Daniel Levitin. We face so many trivial decisions daily that we don’t have time for the important decisions. One of the interesting learning was — “The decision-making in our brain doesn’t prioritize”

Did you know that every status update you read on social media uses the resources in your brain and is competing with important things like where to go for vacation with family or where to invest your money.

Here I am listing some of the tried and tested ways that you can reduce decision fatigue or overload.

1. Eliminating or Delegating some decisions.

You don’t have to make every decision by yourself.

If there is a friend who loves watching movies, you can just ask him or her for movie suggestions rather than spending all your energy on finding a good movie to watch. Similarly if you want to invest in stocks and a lot of time is going in deciding which one to invest in, you don’t have to take the complete responsibility for it. You can hire an expert if your time does not allow.

2. Decrease your options.

Many of the choices that we need to make daily are tiny decisions which end up taking our brain power. Decreasing options can help in various ways.

At one point I felt overwhelmed by the number of news apps that are out there and kept switching from one option to another. This stopped when I prioritized what information I wanted to read about and what best sources would help me get that information. I decided to reduce my option to 1 or 2 news sources that I would follow regularly and I stuck to them.

Similarly while working out, Youtube has a huge collection of videos but choosing which routine everyday can be overwhelming. Here again, I decided to limit my option to one trusted source. Similar approaches can be applied for what to wear, eat etc.

3. Make some decisions beforehand so that you don’t have to make it on the day of execution.

One of the things I like to do is make some of the decisions on the weekend or early in the morning so that I can focus more on executing them during the week. Let’s say if it’s a song I want to dance to, I would select a list of 2–3 songs and choreographies beforehand so that the day I need to learn it I know what to do and I don’t waste time deciding.

4. Having a routine

Having a routine makes sure that you don’t have to make the same decision everyday about what time to do an exercise or which exercise to do. Having a weekly routine and fixed timing for some of the tasks like reading books or investing in stocks or fixing time for the office or having fun etc. gives you more flexibility. You don’t have to spend every day deciding what to do.

5. Don’t make decisions when you are tired or not in a good state of mind.

If you can postpone the decision for the next day, you should do so. Not being in a good state of mind would lead to poor decision making. When the intensity of emotion is high, it is difficult to think clearly.

6. Prioritizing important tasks and limiting the daily number of tasks.

A lot of us would already know about this. Having a prioritized list of things to do automatically limits the number of decisions one takes. Having a limit on the number of core tasks to 2 or 3 increases our productivity, focus and decision making.

7. Set a time limit for decision making

This is an important thing to do especially when there is a lot of information and many options. Blocking 10 mins to choose which book you want to read or which topic you want to go deep into helps you in not getting lost in the pool of information. Setting a time limit makes you realize that you have limited time and in that timeframe what would be the best decision you would take.

What are some ways that you are reducing decision fatigue? Please do share in the comments below.

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