Decision Fatigue

Ronni

Ronni

Well-known Member
Location
Nashville TN
Ever heard of it?

According to Wiki (and various other medical and osychological sources) “decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making. It is now understood as one of the causes of irrational trade-offs in decision making. Decision fatigue may also lead to consumers making poor choices with their purchases.”

“For example, major politicians and businessmen such as former United States President Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg have been known to reduce their everyday clothing down to one or two outfits in order to limit the number of decisions they make in a day.”

I find this subject fascinating! I suffer from this myself though I only recently discovered that it’s a real thing with an actual name.

It’s not just the personal decisions I make in the course of a day…decisions we ALL make… but also my work entails making countless decisions for clients. Sometimes I am SO depleted by the evening that even deciding what to have for dinner becomes too much.

“Every day, just in our personal lives, we are making a ton of decisions. And a lot of these decisions you are not consciously making. For example, you open the refrigerator door and sometimes the only thing that’s in there is bagels and that’s a pretty easy decision.

“But if there’s a lot of different things in terms of ... what do I eat, what do I wear, what do I do with my day especially on a day off, that can create stress. By the time the average person goes to bed, they’ve made over 35,000 decisions and all of those decisions take time and energy, and certainly can deplete one.”

This explains so much about why I do certain things! I have one section of my closet devoted to just work clothes so I can just grab something without having to think. Why I have tote bags for different activities, so I can just grab and go, knowing everything I need is in that tote…dance, library, swimming etc. Fascinating that so many things in my life are either a compensation for decision fatigue, or a result of it!
 

Interesting post, @Ronni. Decision fatigue...who knew? Now I know why I have so much trouble deciding what's for dinner! Sometimes I just blank out when thinking about what to cook and make the dreadful decision to ask hubby. It's always something that is prep intensive!

When confronted with too many decisions, I sometimes shut down and don't do anything. Like Scarlett O'Hara, "tomorrow is another day!" Decision avoidance??

I also have my clothes divided into different sections. One is for going out, one is for staying home, one is for "oh no, I have to dress up!"
 
Ronni said:
Ever heard of it?

According to Wiki (and various other medical and osychological sources) “decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making. It is now understood as one of the causes of irrational trade-offs in decision making. Decision fatigue may also lead to consumers making poor choices with their purchases.”

“For example, major politicians and businessmen such as former United States President Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg have been known to reduce their everyday clothing down to one or two outfits in order to limit the number of decisions they make in a day.”

I find this subject fascinating! I suffer from this myself though I only recently discovered that it’s a real thing with an actual name.

It’s not just the personal decisions I make in the course of a day…decisions we ALL make… but also my work entails making countless decisions for clients. Sometimes I am SO depleted by the evening that even deciding what to have for dinner becomes too much.

“Every day, just in our personal lives, we are making a ton of decisions. And a lot of these decisions you are not consciously making. For example, you open the refrigerator door and sometimes the only thing that’s in there is bagels and that’s a pretty easy decision.

“But if there’s a lot of different things in terms of ... what do I eat, what do I wear, what do I do with my day especially on a day off, that can create stress. By the time the average person goes to bed, they’ve made over 35,000 decisions and all of those decisions take time and energy, and certainly can deplete one.”

This explains so much about why I do certain things! I have one section of my closet devoted to just work clothes so I can just grab something without having to think. Why I have tote bags for different activities, so I can just grab and go, knowing everything I need is in that tote…dance, library, swimming etc. Fascinating that so many things in my life are either a compensation for decision fatigue, or a result of it!
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I had no idea this was a thing, but the concept makes perfect sense. But now that I've made the decision to read this, I'm gonna have a harder time figuring out what to have for dinner.... Lol. Thanks. :rolleyes:
 

My sister is a PhD clinical psychologist. I talked to her about this 38-ish years ago, which is when I learned about decision fatigue.

It came up for me when my kids were young. Three kids in two years meant an overwhelming number of decisions each day. "Can you have a cookie? I don't know... lemme see. What time is it, when did you last eat, when is the next meal, how many treats have you had today? EEEK!!!! I can't think! Screw it. Sure, here's a cookie for you, and one for your brother and one for your sister."

Better to give the cookie than deal with another grief-stricken child (who's already sure life is unfair) or having to go into a lengthy conversation with a two year old about my (mostly arbitrary) decision making process.

When DH would come home from work, I sometimes couldn't bear to make another decision. "What's for dinner? I don't care. You decide. I simply can't."
 
Ronni said:
It does make sense though doesn’t it? It explained so much about me when I read it!
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It does. I often get brain burnout because I weigh the pro's and cons of everything, sometimes to the point of exhaustion. It used to drive my wife crazy, but I guess I always hated the feeling of regret, and it just made more sense to me to spend more time trying to make the right decision instead of living with the wrong decision. But sometimes, it really doesn't matter in the bigger picture. Just decide and move on.
 

Decision Fatigue​


Ronni said:
reduce their everyday clothing down to one or two outfits in order to limit the number of decisions they make in a day
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I do that
But I think it's just another OCD thing of mine

Summer;

Tank tops (six in the drawer...all navy blue)
Plus one (old/torn) I wear all summer at home...never washed

Cargo shorts (two in the drawer)
Plus one (old/torn) I wear all summer at home...never washed

Winter;

Blue shirt and red or black undershirt
Three 'sets' in the closet
Plus one (old/torn) set I wear all winter at home...never washed

Button up Levis (four in the drawer)
Plus one (old/torn) one I wear all winter at home...never washed


Ankle sox in summer
all black 14 pair or 13 1/2 pair (no match issues)
Long heavy sox in winter
all grey 12 pair....or 11 1/2 pair (no match issues)

Jockey shorts
Boxers for bed and roaming the house at night

Hiking boots
Two good pair
Plus one ragged (needs tossed but can't just yet)

No decision fatigue issues concerning attire

me in shop 2.jpg



Now I can freely help my woman decide on breakfast.....
 
Ronni said:
major politicians and businessmen such as former United States President Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg have been known to reduce their everyday clothing down to one or two outfits in order to limit the number of decisions they make in a day.”
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I knew there was a good reason for the lack of variety in my "wardrobe"...

In my case I know my decisions can get sloppier after a long day. I just make them quickly to get it over with, and not always well.
 
StarSong said:
My sister is a PhD clinical psychologist. I talked to her about this 38-ish years ago, which is when I learned about decision fatigue.

It came up for me when my kids were young. Three kids in two years meant an overwhelming number of decisions each day. "Can you have a cookie? I don't know... lemme see. What time is it, when did you last eat, when is the next meal, how many treats have you had today? EEEK!!!! I can't think! Screw it. Sure, here's a cookie for you, and one for your brother and one for your sister."

Better to give the cookie than deal with another grief-stricken child (who's already sure life is unfair) or having to go into a lengthy conversation with a two year old about my (mostly arbitrary) decision making process.

When DH would come home from work, I sometimes couldn't bear to make another decision. "What's for dinner? I don't care. You decide. I simply can't."
Click to expand...
i so relate to your post. Had been going to post myself about figuring it 'decision fatigue (tho not labeling it as such) when my boys (twins) were young. Since i had basic guidelines in mind (having been a primary caregiver for my younger brother his first 2 yrs (my Jr & Sr years of High School) about things like snacks and bedtime etc that wasn't so much the problem.

i had the goal of allowing them to make more choices (decisions) for themselves over time, my mantra as they got old enough to talk about such things was: The more responsibility you take for your 'stuff' and your choices the more freedom to make choices for yourself i'll give you. But when they were still preschool age i'd noticed that early in the day they could be quite vocal and sure of what they wanted to wear, what to eat for breakfast. But if we'd had a busy day and stopped at restaurant to eat they were often overwhelmed by how many choices they had.

It was better for me to say--Chicken or burger? If they pointed at a photo on menu and said 'that' i'd make sure they knew exactly what that was before ordering because sometimes the photo looked appealing but it was something they might not like the taste of (too many or too little spices, etc). i did a similar thing with clothes 'This or That'? One of my sisters, who has a master's in Psychology was shocked to learn they were setting their own bedtimes by 2nd grade. In fact about 2 weeks before school started (i would mark a calendar they had access to) they would start going to bed earlier.
 
Like others i take steps to minimize the number of decisions i have to make, or at least make them easier. i tend not to eat unless hungry enough to have an idea what i want, and to want different things depending on my plans for the day. Lots of heavy work--i want a protein laden breakfast, other days a high fiber cereal. In summer my go to lunch break meal i can make and have over course of a few days is some kind of bean salad with herbs and spices. In winter we often make big pots of stew that last 2-3 days even with both of us eating it.

My wardrobe is stored with sections for different kinds of clothes. Different sections now that i'm retired. The Winter Work and Summer Work sections have been reduced to much smaller 'dress-up occasion' clothes section), but i did have to add a 'chore' section. Because if i'm going to be doing a dirty project over a couple of days, i'm not dirtying (and sometimes damaging) a whole new set of clothes each day. While i don't dress-up to go to post office, bank, stores in our little town i try to at least have on clean publicly 'presentable' jeans and shirts/blouses.

i try not to make major life decisions when stressed, toward that end i think about what my options would be in certain unexpected catastrophic or very likely difficult situations in future, particularly as age catches up with me. My daughter and i had another talk about my end of life wishes recently, and she voiced hers as well. She'll be 40 in September so is thinking about that more than when younger.

My kids and i have always tended to revisit discussions about important life choices (health, work, sex, friends, end of life) periodically usually when the topic was broached by them or came up 'organically' due to something we were watching together or one of us reading. We talk about a lot of fun 'what ifs' too being Sci-Fi fans, but the more important stuff is because my Dad's POV was 'Prepare for the worst, that way anything less than worst happens---as is usual', not only are you prepared for it as well but have a calming sense of relief.'

If you have an active enough imagination the odds of something you never considered happening are very slim. My first, estranged, husband dying when our boys just 3 1/2 was one of the few things. Luckily i had my usual small group of helpful friends who did things to give me the calm i needed to consider 'what now?'.

And this is why when friends have been going thru similar i've jumped in and done housework, made meals and entertained their kids to give them some time/space to make the unexpected choices they have to deal with. Just to be clear, depending on the person i always ask first if there's anything they really want/need me to do--if they just need me to listen to them for a while, let them cry--i do. But at some point--usually after they've fallen into an emotionally exhausted sleep, i go do some of those routine things that need daily attention, especialy when you have kids.
 
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These are some ideas to help with decision fatigue.

Decision+Fatigue-min.JPG
 
Like when I try to decide if I should buy a lawn mower or keep having someone do it for me. After 5 or 6 times, I've paid a person the equivalent of what a new mower would cost, but then if I have a mower, I have to worry about maintenance and the effort of mowing 1/3 acre on a hot summer day.

Then considering just a mower - riding or walk-behind. Gas or electric powered. If electric, corded or cordless.

It goes on and on....
 
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NOW I know why I wear what I wear! I`ve always gotten a bit complicated when it came to dressing myself-something different every day. Now I wear black leggings all winter and black athletic capris all summer. On occasion I will wear jean capris but not very often.For tops I wear different color athletic tops. In fact,I just bought 6 new ones on Saturday as my current ones kept slipping off my shoulder due to my 37 pound weight loss.
 

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Funny, I have almost always been the one making the decisions but now that I am alone I can't seem to do it. It seems the responsibility of being a wife and mother gave me the confidence to get through this everyday. Now that I am alone I feel frozen. It doesn't seem to matter since I have no one to take care of.

Now, the focus is all about the dogs. They are happy just to have food, water, play and cuddles. Things were much easier when I had a family, now I am lucky to get out of my PJ's.
 
In 1989 we and another couple bought a house - a modest starter cottage - gutted it, and our partner (more experienced than us) began the remodeling. Halfway through finances became an issue on both sides, so we agreed we would move into it, rather than just flip it. I actually didn't want to, we lived in a beautiful rent-controlled apartment. But the mortgage had to be paid somehow, so we did some redesign to the plans to fit our wants.

That started a cascade of decisions! Not many people buying their first home get to design their own interiors. Mind you, we stayed within the original four walls. But there was termite damage, so we had to put in a new foundation....so in that case, we might as well move the side porch to make a back porch instead - so much more sensible. And changing to an open plan meant structural considerations were important to the design, could we afford to do xxxx instead of yyyyy?

Everything from the height of the ceilings to the finish on the walls, the flooring, the style of windows, where to put the outlets, the layout of the new master bath, the light fixtures, the multiple light switches (open floor plan means you need to be able to turn off/on lights from any entry point), the entire kitchen layout, the appliances, the type of sink, the faucets, where to put the closets, what style of closet doors, the bathroom cabinets, the washer and dryer, yadda yadda yadda.

And of course, any time anything went wrong - which it does often, in major construction remodeling - there were more decisions I had to make, in consideration of $$$$ and time.

By the time I was asked what kind of door knobs I wanted, I was ready to scream, "ANYTHING! I DON'T CARE! Just something so I can open the &*#%* door!"

My Spouse deserves a medal for being so supportive during what was probably the most stressful experience I've gone through. Bankruptcy and a family member dying were minor hiccups in comparison, LOL.
 
Blessed said:
Funny, I have almost always been the one making the decisions but now that I am alone I can't seem to do it. It seems the responsibility of being a wife and mother gave me the confidence to get through this everyday. Now that I am alone I feel frozen. It doesn't seem to matter since I have no one to take care of.

Now, the focus is all about the dogs. They are happy just to have food, water, play and cuddles. Things were much easier when I had a family, now I am lucky to get out of my PJ's.
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That's ok. Cook for your dogs. I have one dog and I cook for her often. Or, I'll set aside what protein I'm making to exclude onions, garlic, salt, spices, etc. for her.
 
RadishRose said:
That's ok. Cook for your dogs. I have one dog and I cook for her often. Or, I'll set aside what protein I'm making to exclude onions, garlic, salt, spices, etc. for her.
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No way around it, they get a bite of everything, sometimes I have to put my foot down and tell them Mama has to eat too!! Do you know how hard it is to cook with three dogs running around your ankles. LOL
At least I know I am still a good cook.
 
debodun said:
Like when I try to decide if I should buy a lawn mower or keep having someone do it for me. After 5 or 6 times, I've paid a person the equivalent of what a new mower would cost, but then if I have a mower, I have to worry about maintenance and the effort of mowing 1/3 acre on a hot summer day.

Then considering just a mower - riding or walk-behind. Gas or electric powered. If electric, corded or cordless.

It goes on and on....
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Or just tie a goat up on the lawn. Lol
 
I don't know how one makes decisions or is somehow fatigued by them, but I do know that between 3 and 4 am, I can pretty much resolve any problem, question or decision that has been subconsciously troubling me. Don't know why, but it's a fact.
Anybody else like that?
 
Lethe200 said:
In 1989 we and another couple bought a house - a modest starter cottage - gutted it, and our partner (more experienced than us) began the remodeling. Halfway through finances became an issue on both sides, so we agreed we would move into it, rather than just flip it. I actually didn't want to, we lived in a beautiful rent-controlled apartment. But the mortgage had to be paid somehow, so we did some redesign to the plans to fit our wants.

That started a cascade of decisions! Not many people buying their first home get to design their own interiors. Mind you, we stayed within the original four walls. But there was termite damage, so we had to put in a new foundation....so in that case, we might as well move the side porch to make a back porch instead - so much more sensible. And changing to an open plan meant structural considerations were important to the design, could we afford to do xxxx instead of yyyyy?

Everything from the height of the ceilings to the finish on the walls, the flooring, the style of windows, where to put the outlets, the layout of the new master bath, the light fixtures, the multiple light switches (open floor plan means you need to be able to turn off/on lights from any entry point), the entire kitchen layout, the appliances, the type of sink, the faucets, where to put the closets, what style of closet doors, the bathroom cabinets, the washer and dryer, yadda yadda yadda.

And of course, any time anything went wrong - which it does often, in major construction remodeling - there were more decisions I had to make, in consideration of $$$$ and time.

By the time I was asked what kind of door knobs I wanted, I was ready to scream, "ANYTHING! I DON'T CARE! Just something so I can open the &*#%* door!"

My Spouse deserves a medal for being so supportive during what was probably the most stressful experience I've gone through. Bankruptcy and a family member dying were minor hiccups in comparison, LOL.
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I SO understand this!! We’ve been renovating our 1950’s ranch style house and the endless parade of decisions for EVERY step of EVERY room has MADE MY BRAIN EXPLODE!!!! 🤯
 

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