Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
It’s not always easy to get up and get going . . . especially when the sun has barely risen, the weather’s dismal, and the destination is a pool reeking of chlorine. But, after weeks of forced inactivity due to foot surgery, I’ve been trying to get back into swimming three days a week. I’d prefer to ease into my day rather than push myself out the door, so I do everything I can to make it less painful. I set goals. I write the dates in my planner. And I pack my bag the night before.
That last step seems pretty insignificant, but it turns out that it may be the most significant: I keep my willpower up by keeping my decisions down. And that’s especially important because decisions are hard for me.
As I mentioned last month, I’m a “possibilities person.” A positive, except when it comes to decision-making. I feel a little trapped when I have to pick one path from a myriad of possibilities. If I make this choice, what am I overlooking? If I go this direction, what opportunity am I passing up?
After all, the word “decide” comes from the Latin word “decidere,” which literally means “to cut off.” And it’s true. Every decision we make means we’ve “cut off” a different choice. We use the word “decidere” a lot in our house; even our tween has embraced it. Like her dad, Josie has also embraced being decisive, in ways I can only aspire to. She’s able to wash her hands of a decision immediately, while I often wonder if I made the right choice.
Like it or not, I’m faced with decisions at every turn. And I can’t just scream “Enough!” Sooner or later, stuff must get done. Unfortunately, if I over-indulge my “possibilities” nature, it might be later rather than sooner.
(Yeah, I know. I’m working on it!)
But I suspect you feel the same pain . . . because the sheer number of decisions we make in a day is astounding. According to studies by Cornell University’s Food & Brand Lab, we make over 200 food-related decisions a day. A day! Just for food! That means a typical day starts with a dozen decisions before we’re even out the door!
So, it’s hardly surprising that at the end of a day filled with decisions big and small, we feel like our brains are tired. They are. All that decision-making results in “decision fatigue.”
At EPI, we’re updating our problem-solving and decision-making course materials, and we’ve learned a lot about decision fatigue. If you make too many decisions over the course of a day, the quality of those decisions deteriorates. We pay what science columnist John Tierney calls “a biological price.” Our mental energy is drained and our brains look for shortcuts. Unfortunately, these shortcuts often lead to impulsive decisions with unintended consequences, or making no decision at all.
When we use up our mental energy and our willpower, our decision-making becomes impaired. We grab that candy bar at the cash register because we’ve made so many decisions in the aisles that our willpower is exhausted.
As leaders, we need to be aware that we might not make our best decisions at the end of a heavy decision-making day. Whether we’re interviewing candidates, preparing to give feedback, or deciding when to buy that expensive hardware, decision fatigue can have dire ramifications.
Here are some things you can do to combat decision fatigue:
Learn to recognize it.
Structure your workday to make the important decisions first.
Augment your energy levels throughout the day.
Establish habits that eliminate mental effort.
Know that sometimes it really is better to (briefly) postpone a decision rather than make a bad one.
Just think of the possibilities!
Michelle Kelly, CEO (Chief Enjoyment Officer)