Decision Fatigue

surprise episode on travel. But this can be related to everyday things. So I was listening to a podcast the other day that made a light bulb go off in my mind. So travel can be especially fatiguing because of the amount of decisions you have to make that you wouldn't normally have to make. So, for example, every day you normally probably get up, go to work, come back from work, eat, brush your teeth, your shower, do all of those things.

 

Some of it is probably rote and some of it is new things. But we know that we can only make a certain amount of decisions per day before we get decision fatigue. And so this is why people end up crying in airports out of frustration. Part of it can be the system. And part of it is when you are traveling, almost everything you do requires you to make a decision. What time are you going to the airport? When you get to the airport, you go left or right.

 

Where's the check in desk? Which Check-In desk do you pick? Then you pick that check in desk, you load up all your stuff and then you go through. Which line do you pick for security? Do you which lounge do you go to? Where do you go and get food? What food do you get? What's available? Is it going to be food that you like? Oh, where's my gate finding my gate. How do I find my gate.

 

Look left. Look right. Do I take the left, I take the stairs. All of these tiny tiny decisions. But you're making them almost constantly, which is not what you would normally be doing. And every day occurrences. And then there's the once you get on the plane, what do you do? Do you have like do you read, do you eat? Do you know what time you going to get set. Oh you get drinks.

 

Is it different airline like all of these things that you have to make decisions upon and that's just if everything goes OK, hey, what happens if your flight then gets delayed?

 

What if you have to stay overnight? What if you then have to pick a hotel to stay at? What if you then have to pick up when the next flight out? Which flight should I pick? Which airport when it go? Is it going to be direct? And do I have to pick new seats? What happens to my luggage? All of these things end up increasing your decision fatigue hugely. And that's why when you then have to make a decision of no eggs or no eggs, you kind of stand there going, I don't know, just feed me.

 

I don't know, because you've had to make all of these little micro decisions so much. And this is why. Travel can be super stressful, so when you are traveling again, please keep that in mind. But in the meantime, let's take this decision fatigue and apply it to everyday life.

 

This is why checklists and subtasks and managing your tasks is super, super important. Having like a task manager can help you immensely because you don't have to make all of these decisions planning the night before what you're going to do, putting it in your task manager and then the next day you just get up and work through the task. Yes, stuff will come up, but at the end of the day, you have less decisions to make off the cuff.

 

So this is why planning your day is hugely beneficial, even if it's just three things. Three top things that you want to get done today can be top two things that you want to get done per day, put it on your to do list and then checking it off is a really good feeling. Anything that you can do to reduce the amount of decisions that you have to make per day will help you in the long run. Even something as simple as what to cook, I know a lot of people like when they're doing laundry, is launching a book and the podcast like have a really heavy week.

 

They tend to meal prep for the entire week. So they don't have to think about food. They can just concentrate on that thing that they're doing or you have a regular delivery. So it's done like clockwork. So, you know, every other Saturday you just get the same veg every time stops you having to think and scroll through the list of veg that might be available to you. So I highly recommend just bit by bit in your everyday life, see what you can do to reduce the amount of decisions that you have to make daily.

 

That way you will increase your creativity, space and bandwidth and decrease your likelihood of getting decision fatigue. Thank you for listening. This is Janice@thecareerintrovert.com. If you have any questions for me, please email me at janice@thecareerintrovert.com. Helping build Bill Brand and get odd. Thank you for listening. Have a great rest of your week.