Decision Fatigue… Carrie was overwhelmed from the start of the day. Child #1 needed a decision about whether she could register for VBS online. Carrie had to get back to a coworker about when they could fit in a meeting for the day. The doctor had posed the question the day before to her and her husband about changing a medication that one child was taking. She was weighing what to wear for her meetings for the day and what to have for breakfast. They had started the conversation about whether to take a trip this summer or stay home. Carrie just felt exasperated by the load and decisions that were all on her plate at once.
Exhaustion from all of the decisions and hard decisions is called, decision fatigue. It’s actually a thing. There is a lot to think about and weigh. With this comes the challenge of feeling like we don’t have the capacity, the strength, or ability to make all of the needed decisions.
This can happen any time…but in a pandemic, it is natural to get tired more easily and the decisions…well, let’s be honest…they just have a different weight to them. It is definitely one of those times where we can get overwhelmed by decision making.
This can cause us to:
- Feel exhausted mentally and emotionally
- Have difficulty making decisions, especially solid ones
- Or not know what to do at all
Here’s some relief:
~Take some of those decisions off the table.~
What?! You might be thinking, how is that even possible?!
Two Ways…
#1 Put a daily or weekly decision on autopilot
By making up schedules, doing the same things again and again, or deciding on a delegation schedule you can put some of those decisions on autopilot to take pressure off of you.
Here are some examples:
- Make a meal plan for the month with at least some of the meals being on repeat every week or every other week. This will make shopping and preparation easily
- Have a uniform, in a manner of speaking, wear similar or the same outfit everyday to minimize this decision
- Have a monthly calendar of household tasks, having delegated in advance who will handle certain things
- Make a decision about what products to buy and then have them come as a subscription through a service like Amazon Subscribe and Save or Grove Collaborative
#2 Put off a decision for another time
There is a lot on our minds for now and the future. A million questions enter my head about the fall and winter if I let them. But there are some decisions that just need to be put on the back burner maybe just for today or for longer. When all of the questions pop up or a future decision comes up. Write it down and schedule when you will think about it again, giving yourself a deadline for when a decision needs to be made about it.
You are not alone. It is an intense time. Here some specific ways to take the decision fatigue pressure off caused by so many decisions. Let me know if I can further support you by meeting with you in a coaching session to work through solutions for the mental fatigue you are experiencing.
