Decision Fatigue is Real

Every decision you make takes a bit of your energy, but some decisions are so small you don’t even realize you’re making them until at the end of the day, when your partner asks, “what’s for dinner?” and you bite his head off like he’s just asked you to go climb mount everest with zero training or gear. 

All the teeny tiny decisions you make throughout the day add up to fatigue, burnout, overwhelm, and procrastination. 

If you find yourself doing 3 or more of these: 

• Scrolling endlessly on your phone

• Staring at the wall

• Binging Law & Order or Bridgerton (you know, depending on your mood)

• Doing the laundry instead of writing your grant proposal

• Organizing your spice track when you’re supposed to get back to that client that just rubs you the wrong way

• Snapping at your partner when he asks “what’s for dinner?” 

• Having to count to 10 so you don’t shout at your kid for losing one of their shoes for the gazillionth time (how do you only lose one shoe?!)

• Locking yourself in the bathroom so you don’t have to explain to your partner’s coworkers what you do for a living

Then you’ve got decision fatigue and you’ve got it bad. 

"Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world." - Howard Zinn

How do we solve this decision fatigue thing? 

We start by asking, how many decisions do you make in a day? 

I wrote down every decision I made on a Thursday morning before I got dressed (over about 2.5 hours). How many decisions do you think I made?

I’ll give you a moment to guess before you scroll down to the answer. 

My morning decisions that day:

1. Get up with alarm?

2. Get up when kid leaves?

3. Stretch before I get out of bed?

4. Pee or make tea? 

5. Journal or meditate?

6. What type of tea?

7. When do I need to shower?

8. Meditate now?

9. Read now?

10. What am I reading?

11. Another cup of tea?

12. When make my smoothie?

13. Drink water first?

14. Do I go downstairs to get more ink for my pen?

15. When am I typing my 4Ps for TJ workshop

16. Make Canva for TJ Workshop at Sway?

17. What are my priorities for today

18. Meditate now? 

19. empty the dishwasher 

20. Make my smoothie now

21. Make a third cup of tea 

22. Make the third cup of tea a different tea

23. Meditate and then take a shower 

24. Pee, meditate, and then take a shower 

25. Meditation cushion 

26. What am I wearing 

27. How cold is it, what do I need to wear for outside yoga

28. How long do I hold down the handle to flush

29. Write a post on decision fatigue 

30. Let the cat in when she meows 

31. Let the cat out when she meows 

32. Let the cat in when she meows

Thirty-Two decisions before I even got dressed!! That’s a decision every 4.69 minutes and I bet I made a bunch of micro decisions that I wasn’t even conscious of. That means on average I’m making 204.69 decisions EVERY DAY! 

That adds up. 

It’s no wonder that we scroll our phones and binge our favorite shows, we don’t have to make decisions. The algorithm and the autoplay make those decisions for us. Your brain gets a break. 

Try it on for yourself, write down every decision you make for the next hour. Big and small, write them all down (or put them in a note on your phone). 

How many decisions did you make? 

Before you feel completely overwhelmed, let’s look at the other side. 

How do we eliminate some of these decisions? 

Automate or delegate the things you do every single day. (i.e. put yourself on autopilot as much as possible)

That creates space in your brain so you don’t have to think and decide, you can just do. 

This is why we love taking the same route to work everyday. You don’t have to use precious energy to decide which way to go. 

If you’re neurodivergent or have ADHD, your brain energy is even more sacred, it must be protected to make it through the day successfully. 

What might that look like? 

• Pick your clothes out the night before

• Eat the same thing for breakfast every single day (I’ve shared my current fav in my favorite things below) 

• Use your calendar reminders or reminder app to hold your appointment times or other time specific activities

• Eat the same type of food for dinner each night (this is why Taco Tuesday is a thing, it’s Tuesday so you know you’re eating tacos, zero decisions!)

• Batch cook your meals for the week and freeze them in single serving sized containers (lunches and dinners are ready to go)

• Tell your partner he’s in charge of dinner on Thursdays & Fridays

Bonus practices to give you back more brain energy:

• Meditate in the morning for 5 minutes to focus your mind

• Journal when your mind feels distracted to ground your thoughts

The more auto-pilot routines you put in place the happier you’ll be, the fewer fights you’ll have with your partner, and the more patient you’ll be with your kids. 

Journaling Prompt: What would help you combat your decision fatigue? 

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A Few of My Favorite Things

where I share my favorite things that I use in my life and my work that I think you would enjoy too. Some of these links are affiliates and I’ll never recommend anything that I don’t use myself.

This week's favorite thing: a protein smoothie for breakfast every day


It’s simple, fast, and requires so few ingredients

My go to recipe:

1. A handful of spinach

2. A scoop of my favorite protein powder: Arbonne’s Essential Meal Replacement in Vanilla

3. Four frozen strawberries

4. My favorite probiotic: Arbonne’s Gult Health

5. About 8 ounces of water (to the fill line on my blender cup)

Blend until smooth. Drink and enjoy. 

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