Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue? 5 Surprisingly Simple Solutions!
Do you suffer from decision fatigue? What is it and how do you know if you have it. Could you reduce decision fatigue and drastically improve your life? Read on to find out what decision fatigue is and how to cure it with 5 surprisingly simple solutions from the minimalist lifestyle!
When I heard of decision fatigue I didn’t even have to have an explanation. I knew instantly that I had it! I mean, I was sick and tired of making so many decisions. It was too much work to count calories and build good habits. When my husband asked what movie I wanted to watch it was just too much. Forget trying to decide what I wanted to do with my weekend. I just wanted to close my eyes and rest my brain!
Do you ever feel that way? Are some days just too full of choices and decisions? Do you ever forget important things or procrastinate on a big decision so long that the opportunity passes you by? Those are good signs you have decision fatigue. Think about your last week or month. Do you suffer from decision fatigue?
Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue? What is it?
Decision fatigue is just what it sounds like. When you have decision fatigue you are tired of making decisions. Have you ever noticed that the more decisions you have to make in a day the poorer those decisions get?
Maybe you start out with a morning run and a smoothie and you go to work like a boss but in the course of the day so many things are thrown your way that by the time you get home you are eating half a pizza with an after-party of Ben and Jerry’s?
Maybe you started decluttering your house and ended up deciding to keep everything instead.
Have you ever just wanted to hide in a hole when your family wants you to make up your mind on something?
These are all moments brought to you by decision fatigue.
We have the same brains we have had for thousands of years but the modern world demands a lot of computing power and sometimes you just need to restart your brain.
How Can Minimalism Help With Decision Fatigue?
The only way to reduce decision fatigue is to reduce the number of decisions you have to make each day. That’s where minimalism comes in. The minimalist lifestyle is all about reducing your possessions and commitments. You keep what you really need and love and get rid of the rest.
If you simplify your life you will have fewer decisions to make. Minimalism can help you simplify hundreds of small decisions you don’t even know you are making every single day.
The more I simplify my life the less I feel the effects of decision fatigue so let’s look at a few of the ways minimalism can help with decision fatigue.
Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue When You Get Dressed in the Morning?
One of the first decisions you make each day is what you will wear. Think about it though. That one decision requires lots of little decisions. What will the weather be like? Do I need to dress warm or not? What kinds of activities will I be doing today? Do I need tennis shoes or heels? What color do I feel like wearing today? Which purple shirt do I want to wear?
All these little decisions become a lot more complicated when you open a messy closet that is bursting at the seams. Do you ever look at your full closet and feel like you have nothing to wear? Do you suffer from decision fatigue when choosing your clothing?
If you look at your wardrobe like a minimalist though, you won’t keep things that don’t fit or itch. You will get rid of clothes you never wear and you won’t have 10 different purple shirts! If you simplify your wardrobe you will make it a lot easier to see what you have to wear and decide quickly.
Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue at Home?
After you get dressed you are going to be looking for your keys. But where are they? Are they in yesterday’s coat pocket or did they fall between the couch cushions? Are they are on the kitchen counter or in the bathroom? Nope, they are under your husband’s jacket on the arm of the couch!
Instead of wasting a lot of mental energy and time looking for your keys what if your house had a place for keys right by the door? What if your house had a place for everything in it and you were never scrambling to find something you use every day again?
When you declutter your home and get rid of all the extra junk you neither use nor love, you will find that the stuff that is left isn’t that hard to organize after all. If you don’t have way more than you need it will be easy to see what you are looking for cause it won’t be camouflaged by visual clutter.
Also, decluttering your home and keeping it simple will reduce the number of decisions you have to make because it will reduce the number of choices you have to make in the first place. You won’t have to decide which spatula will best flip your egg or which coffee-making machine you want to make your coffee. You will use the ONE you have! Decision averted!
Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue At Work?
Sure you can simplify your home and your closet but can you really simplify your work? Yes! Depending on what kind of work you do you may be facing different challenges.
If you work at a desk, is your desk a tidy space where you can reach of state of flow when you are working? Or is it more like the end of an Avengers movie? If you have tons of junk on your desk you are giving your mind a lot of extra little decisions every time you look at it and try to find what you need for your next task. Instead, creating a minimalist workspace will help you focus on what actually needs done.
If you do manual work, you can still simplify your work and reduce decision fatigue by building routines and keeping your tools tidy and organized. Don’t keep tools or supplies that are broken or that you don’t use. Don’t throw things in one big pile. Give everything a space. Try not to carry more than you need because the more stuff you have the easier it is to lose things. When you approach your supplies like a minimalist you will reduce decisions and save a lot of time!
Try Task-Batching
Regardless of where you work you can simplify your work and reduce the number of decisions you have to make at work with “task-batching”. That means you do all the tasks that are similar at the same time. For example, if you need to respond to a lot of e-mails or create a lot of reports don’t switch back and forth. If you need to paint a wall and then paint trim, paint all the walls and then all the trim. Dedicate time for each activity and do everything like it at the same time. This will save you tons of time and mental energy!
When You Are Eating
How in the world could you reduce decision fatigue when it comes to eating? I mean, if you love eating a variety of foods like I do, you might not even want to read this part. But there are actually a few ways you can simplify the way that you eat to reduce decision fatigue.
One of the best things I ever did was start drinking a smoothie every day for breakfast. This not only greatly improved my immune system but also simplified my morning tremendously! I used to have to ask my husband if he wanted cereal, oatmeal, an English muffin with an egg, or a bagel in the morning and I used to keep all those options on hand. Now there is no question. Just a delicious smoothie!
Maybe you don’t want to have a smoothie every morning. That’s okay. But could you eat the same thing every day for breakfast or lunch? Choosing one meal you always have will reduce decisions when shopping and when preparing your meal.
Another way you can simplify eating to reduce decision fatigue is to create a meal plan each week and buy all the things you need for those meals at one time. If you do this you will never have to panic about what you are going to make for dinner again! You know that you have what you need to make the things you have already planned.
When Your Are Relaxing
One of the biggest contributors to decision fatigue is something that we do when we are relaxing. You sit on your couch at the end of a long day and you pick up your phone. When you are looking at your phone you are constantly making quick decisions. You are taking in tons of information and filtering it at lightning speed.
To make it worse, not all the information you take in benefits you or makes you feel good. A lot of what we take in on our smartphones is negative or causes us to feel worthless, or even depressed.
Why not put your phone down sometimes and take in the real world? Stop giving your mind so much junk food. It’s not good for it!
Another way minimalism can help you with decision fatigue while relaxing is that it will encourage you to focus on what you truly love. When you know what you love to do and you do it with the people you love, it doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated. The best times you will have are focused on the simple things!
Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue & Want to Try The Minimalist Lifestyle?
Minimalism is all about removing things that don’t really matter to you. It’s about clearing away the clutter in your entire life. Minimalism can help with decision fatigue by removing a few of the choices you have to make each day.
When you only have your favorite clothes it’s easier to get dressed! If your home only contains what you need and love, it will be easy to find your stuff. When your workspace is tidy and streamlined you won’t find yourself forgetting what you were doing in the middle of a task. If your meals are planned ahead you won’t worry about what to make for dinner. And last but not least, when you stop taking in all the junk food your smartphone offers your brain your mind and heart will start to feel a lot healthier!
Stop feeling overwhelmed and stop decision fatigue in its tracks! Simplify your life and simplify your decisions. Then, with a clear mind, I know you can achieve your goals!
How do you reduce decision fatigue? What do you simplify and streamline to make life easier? Please share in the comments below!
Reduce Decision Fatigue with Minimalism Today!
There is really no reason not to start enjoying simple living! Now is the time to try the minimalist lifestyle! Learn why minimalism is good for your mental health and relationships, how it can transform your finances, so you can start having more energy and time for the things that matter!
But what if simplifying your life sounds like an overwhelming task?
If you want to simplify your life but the big bad word MINIMALISM scares you let me help! I wrote Doable Simplicity (Minimalism For Normal People) to help you get the inspiration you need to simplify your life and then take solid steps that make simple living doable for you!
