How Minimalism Helps You Overcome Decision Fatigue
In 2014, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had his first-ever Q&A publicly. He answered many questions in that session but one of the most interesting questions is this: “Why are you wearing the same t-shirt every day?”
Mark Zuckerberg wears the same gray t-shirt at most public events. While everyone is expected a playful answer, Mark said :
“I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community.”
For Mark, such as many creatives, what he is wearing is really not that important. What they wear isn’t important, they rather orient the energy on how to best work on their companies. Instead of spending time deciding on what to wear, they save their focus for more pressing matters and all of this is to avoid decision-fatigue. The small daily decisions we make impact the willpower we have to make important choices
A more concrete example that illustrates decision-fatigue is on the justice domain: Why Some Criminals don’t get a fair Hearing
In a research study published by the National Academy of Sciences, psychologists examined the factors that impact whether or not a judge approves a criminal for parole. The intuitive assumption would be that the judges get influenced by factors like the type of crime committed or the laws broken. However, the research found that what impacted the decision had nothing to do with the courtroom. It was: the time of the day.
What the researchers found was that at the beginning of the day, a judge was likely to give a favorable ruling about 65 percent of the time. However, as the morning wore on and the judge became drained from making more and more decisions, the likelihood of a criminal getting a favorable ruling steadily dropped to zero. After the lunch break, the likelihood of a favorable ruling goes back up to 65 percent. And again, as the hours moved on, the percentage would drop to zero by the end of the day. No matter what the crime was.
Many studies were conducted to study human willpower like The Chocolate-Radish Experiment. But I won’t be covering them in this article. However, in the following, I will give you practical tips on how to implement decision minimalism and to reduce decision fatigue.
First, are you suffering from decision-fatigue?
Coined by social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister, decision fatigue is the emotional and mental strain resulting from a burden of choices.
“When humans are overstressed, we become hasty or shut down altogether, and that stress plays a huge role in our behaviors,” says Tonya Hansel, PhD, director of the Doctorate of Social Work at Tulane University.
Your brain is like a muscle. The more decisions you make, the more it gets tired. Think of the brain capacity to make a decision as a battery’s charge, imagine wasting it in the morning with decisions like what to wear or what to eat. You drain your battery faster and you find yourself incapable of making good decisions throughout the day. If your days are filled with heavy decisions, you start rushing to make them because you lack the energy. This is decision fatigue.
Second, what are some of the subtle signs of decision-fatigue?
Decision fatigue isn’t always easy to spot. But Hansel offers some tell-tale signs that might suggest you’re heading for a burnout.
- Procrastination.
- Indecision
- Impulsivity.
- Avoidance.
Sound familiar? Here is what to do about it:
Third, how can you overcome it and boost your willpower?
To perform at our peak, a clear and sharp mind is required. There are numerous ways and techniques to strengthen our willpower and maximize our energy by training them regularly. However, the best way to optimize your decision-making is by avoiding decision fatigue.
- Plan daily decisions the night before.
2. Do the most important thing first.
“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” — Mark Twain
3. Automate repeated decisions (Outfit choice for instance).
4. Stop making decisions. Start making commitments.
5. If you have to make good decisions later in the day, then eat something first.
6. Simplify and declutter (Start with your wardrobe).
To know more about how to make practical plans, you can check out my article on how checklists can improve your life :
Also, for simplifying and decluttering your digital life :
The Take-Away
Decision Fatigue is a real thing. And over exhausting our decision making contributes to less focus, creativity, and quality decisions. Implementing a minimalist approach to our decisions, by simplifying and getting better at prioritizing, helps us overcome any kind of fatigue and lower the percentage of the bad decision we could be making.
