Choices & More Choices: Decision fatigue weighing you down?

As we approach the end of 2021, one of the themes I see emerging in my conversations with clients is some serious decision fatigue. It makes sense. Prior to the pandemic, statistics reported the average adult was making over 35,000 decisions a day. Even early in the Covid crisis, we had fewer decisions to make than we have had over the last year. As restrictions loosened and vaccines became available, suddenly things weren't as black and white as they had seemed early on. Are we ready to gather? Indoors or outside? How many people is too many? It's exhausting. If you are a parent, you have to make these decisions for more than just yourself. As they like to say here in the south, Blessings on you!

​Being overwhelmed can lead to a host of unproductive behaviors. Sometimes we procrastinate and avoid decisions. Other times, we may swing to impulsive or even irrational decisions. Enough already. How can we make it better?

 After asking that question and doing a little research on choices and how we can set ourselves up to make the whole process easier. Here are my top tips:

1. Minimize choices whenever possible. You may have heard the story of how Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple eliminated having to make clothing choices by always wearing a black turtle neck and jeans. Your uniform might not need to be that simple, but how can you streamline choices in your day to day life.
2. Make your decisions in blocks. Time blocking to create energy and focus on a specific task is a well known productivity tool. We can apply that to decision making. Decide what you are going to wear every day for the week in one session. Get everything together in one place ready to go. Make a meal plan. Decide on a workout schedule. The more things you can preselect in a batch the better.
3. Create routines. Along the lines of point #2, do the same thing at the same time as much as possible.
4. Know your priorities. The more clear you are about what is most important to you, the easier it is to make that decision.
5. Enlist a team. All of this is more fun when you have folks to share the process. Invite a friend to meal plan with you. Consult a family member on clothing choices. Be creative.

This may all seem like a lot when you are already overwhelmed, but being just a little proactive on the front end can really make a difference.

If you want to join a group to learn more and work through some of this together, join us for the Fall Fifth Friday Forum, this week, Friday October 29th from noon to 3 EDT. We are going to get into the brain science behind all this and spend some time prioritizing and planning together.

Because you are Worth It!
Heidi