There are so many options in our world: what to eat, what to wear, what to watch, and even which alert to check first. Despite their apparent innocuousness, every choice has a psychological cost. Decision fatigue is a phenomena that is more potent than most people think.
Research indicates that our brains have a limited capacity for making decisions every day. The quality of our decisions starts to deteriorate as we make more of them, particularly unimportant ones. CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg wear the same clothing every day for this reason: making fewer decisions frees up more brain space for the things that really count.
Compared to late afternoon sessions, judges were more inclined to grant parole earlier in the day when their minds were clear, according to one well-known experiment. The inference? Fatigue literally impairs judgment and fairness in addition to making us feel exhausted.
How can we prevent it, then?
The secret is micro-habits, which are easy, recurring patterns that remove the need for ongoing decision-making. (The Rise of Micro-Habits – internal link here — will go into greater detail on this.)
High-impact judgments can take precedence over low-impact ones. Fatigue can be significantly decreased by meal planning, restricting your clothing selections, or setting off “decision-free” periods of the day.
Keep in mind that not every choice is worth your time and effort.