Seemingly, adults make about 35,000 decisions a day.  

Can you imagine how taxing that is on your brain? The more we do, the more decisions we have to make, the more decisions we make the more pressure is placed on our brains, minds and bodies. 

The more pressure that is on us, the less we are able to make quality decisions. 

According to Wikipedia, decision fatigue is ‘the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making. It is now understood as one of the causes of irrational trade-offs in decision making. Decision fatigue may also lead to consumers making poor choices with their purchases’. 

The above graphic is a visual explanation of this.

To a certain point, which is different for all of us, we make good quality decisions, promptly and with confidence. These decisions yield the results we want and we move forward with our lives .

Past a certain point, which again is different for all of us, we make poor quality decisions, are slow to make these decisions and make them with less confidence. These decisions do not yield the results we want and we don’t move forward with our lives. 

As you can see from the graph, when you move past this point, it’s a slippery slope!!

I know this from personal experience – a few years ago I was making good quality decisions, promptly and with confidence. These decisions yielded the results I wanted and I was moving forward with my life. 

As I took on more and more work and became busier & busier, my decision making reduced in quality, became slower and I made decisions with a lot less confidence. These decisions yielded the results I did not want and I wasn’t moving forward with my life.

In hindsight I realised I had decision fatigue! Decision fatigue eventually led to burnout where it’s difficult to make any decisions at all! 

How will you know if you have decision fatigue?

The biggest indicator of decision fatigue will be that you are getting results you don’t want. You will also notice that you are,

• Slow to make decisions 
• Making poor or bad decisions
• Overwhelmed with your to do list
• Finding it hard to focus on the right decisions 
• Feeling irritable and on edge when having to make decisions

What is the cost of decision fatigue?

There is a big cost to decision fatigue as our decisions determine our actions and our actions create our lives. Decision fatigue will cost,

• Your mental, physical, emotional & spiritual health
• Your time, energy and money
• Your sense of self

Decision fatigue can be hugely damaging yet eliminating it is very simple – if you want to make good quality decisions, slow down and take on less – the less you do, the better your decisions will be. 

When you slow down, take on less, start making better decisions and eliminate decision fatigue, 

• You will enjoy your life & work more
• You will save time, money & energy
• Decisions you make will be made quicker
• Decisions you make will yield the results that you want
• You will be less overwhelmed, frustrated, unproductive
• Decisions you make will be made with more confidence
• Your mental, emotional, physical & spiritual health will improve

Do you have decision fatigue? 

If so, what can you remove from your life to reduce or eliminate this fatigue?

I write a weekly email on all things positive change – if you want to join, download your free ebook The A-Z of Effective Change below and I’ll see you there.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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