It’s no secret that making decisions can be daunting, especially when there are multiple options to consider. The more significant the impact of the choice and the greater the number of options, the more challenging it becomes to decide.
Depending on a person’s general stress tolerance, decision-fatigue or decision-apathy can set in. The good news is that there are ways to mitigate the effects of decision-fatigue, and reduce the stress of the decision-making process.
1. Recognise the signs
The first point is to recognise the signs of decision-fatigue, because it’s easier to thwart it in its tracks, than to resolve it once it’s set-in. Common signs are:
- Having little patience
- Considering and re-considering (and re-re-considering!) plans and options – also known as procrastinating.
- Finding it difficult to switch tasks
- Irritability
- Impulsivity and
- Avoidance – it could be argued that procrastination is essentially the same as considering and re-considering options
2. Take some exercise
Physical activity can help you to clear your mind, making it easier to make important decisions. Exercise also decreases the production of excess stress hormones like adrenaline. Reducing adrenaline levels helps to reduce stress and clear your mind, which can improve the decision-making process.
3. Practice self-care
If you’re unfamiliar with self-care, detecting signs of decision fatigue is an ideal opportunity to start. Practicing self-care can come in many forms, including (but not limited to):
- Maintaining a nutritious diet
- Prioritising a good night’s sleep
- Meeting basic hygiene needs
- Changing into fresh clothes
- Taking a day off to recharge
4. Reduced mood
When we have to make too many decisions in a day, we can become mentally exhausted, which can make it challenging to maintain a positive attitude.
5. Group tasks
When your difficulties making decisions causes difficulties switching tasks, it is often easier to:
- Group tasks together
- Otherwise limit the number of times you switch tasks
When grouping tasks together isn’t possible, reducing the number of occasions you must make a decision is important. Bear with me while I try to explain my thoughts on this one…
Say, for example, you normally check your e-mail at 9am, 10am, 11am and 12pm. That would be 4 decision points (minimum). However, for most hypnotherapists, it isn’t practical to just check email once a day (1 decision point) and you couldn’t ‘pre-check’ your 10 am and 11am emails at 9am, obviously, so you couldn’t batch them together in that way.
Therefore, a more practical alternative would be to simply limit the number of occasions you must make decisions regarding e-mail, but just reducing it to say 9am and 12pm.
Most clients don’t normally go with an alternative hypnotherapist because you responded 2 hours too late. That’s not saying it can’t happen, it just happens so rarely it’s not worth the reduced inefficiency from switching tasks so frequently.
If you’re interested, Hypnotic Universe checks our emails 3 times a day; first thing in the morning, mid-day and late afternoon or early evening. Even that could be considered excessive for some.
6. Limit options
When faced with a tough decision, it can be beneficial to adopt a yes or no approach. Take, for instance, browsing through Netflix’s endless selection of movies. It can be overwhelming to choose from the thousands of options available.
However, perusing a physical shelf and asking yourself “Am I interested in this one?” is less daunting. Even if you apply this question to over 20 movies, it still narrows down your options to something more manageable.
Conclusion
While it may not be feasible or realistic to implement these options constantly, there are ways to alleviate decision fatigue and boost your resilience to it. Remember that nobody is perfect and we all have unique abilities and difficulties. Decision fatigue can affect anyone, from students and professionals to stay-at-home parents.
Are you being too harsh on yourself and have a pattern of being something of a workaholic? If so, please contact us as we can help you move to amore compassionate and less gruelling way of working.
Find out more about decision fatigue.
