The One-Minute Practice You Can Use to Conquer Anxiety
How to use the HALT method to manage stress.
The average person makes about 35,000 decisions every day — from choosing an outfit to deciding which seat to take at a meeting. In fact, we make 200 judgments each day about food alone.
But research shows that all that decision making can be mentally and physically draining. Although the idea of willpower as a finite resource is now contested in the field of psychology, it’s well documented that humans have a limited reserve of daily energy that’s dependent on adequate rest and sustenance. As these reservoirs are depleted, our ability to make sound judgments can deteriorate — whether that means buying on impulse, skipping the gym, or overreacting to a mild annoyance.
Case in point: Hungry judges rule differently. One study found that judges’ percentage of favourable rulings was highest in the mornings, steadily declining as the day went on. Why? As the day wore on, judges got decision fatigue and needed a break to refuel. After taking a lunch break, the likelihood of a favourable ruling jumped back up again, only to fall again by the end of the day.
The trick to making better decisions, then, is to figure out how to manage your internal resources and acknowledge your limits. As a human behaviour…
