One of the biggest roadblocks to making better and faster decisions is decision fatigue. In this article, we will explore what it is, how you can spot it, and which are some of the most straightforward ways to avoid it. After all, you don’t want to be the kind of global leader who makes bad choices. And decision fatigue leads you to make exactly that: very bad choices.
What Is Decision Fatigue?
Coined by social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister, decision fatigue is a physiological phenomenon around the person’s ability to make decisions. Decision fatigue is the deterioration of the quality of decisions over time after the individual has made too many decisions. In other words, the brain gets tired of making too many decisions and starts to circuit-break. It’s both an emotional and mental strain that saps our energy and reduces our cognitive functions.
It’s like if you had a “decision fuel tank” in your brain, and every time you make a decision, a part of that fuel is consumed. During the day, because we are faced with many decisions and choices, both small and big, our decision “fuel” gets consumed.
Bigger decisions consume more “fuel,” and smaller decisions consume less. Depending on the choices you have to make throughout the day, you can face decision fatigue sooner or later in the day.
Stress has shown to also play a role in decision fatigue. The more stressed an individual is, the quicker this “fuel” gets consumed during the stressful period.
Because decision fatigue is difficult to quantify and test for, researchers were not yet fully able to fine-tune a way to grasp it completely. But they all know the effects and consequences are pretty real.
What’s worse, when you are facing decision fatigue, you not only make bad choices yourself, but you end up impacting other decision-makers, regardless of their decision-making styles, which in turn will derail the entire decision-making process. Learning about decision fatigue and how to prevent it will also help you make better decisions because it will enable you to weave the right strategies for group decision making, without making the group feel the effects of decision fatigue. Sounds pretty exciting, huh?
Why Does Decision Fatigue Create Bad Choices?
The main reason why decision fatigue is so harmful to making decisions is that it creates awful effects on our bodies and minds that prevents us from clearly seeing the right path. Let’s explore some of these effects and give you some examples.
What Are The Effects Of Decision Fatigue?
✅A reduced ability to make trade-offs. Trade-offs are choices that exclude each other. For example, you can choose A or B. If you choose A, you automatically exclude B. When fatigued with decision-making, making this kind of choice is taxing.
✅Impaired cognitive functions. This can cause things like brain fog, low concentration, and anything that prevents you from using your regular “brainpower.”
✅Procrastination and decision avoidance. When under decision fatigue, because you are “out of fuel”, you avoid making decisions or procrastinate on taking action on things you know you have to do.
✅Reduced endurance, resilience, and self-control. Also associated with Willpower Effect, it is more difficult to keep a sharp mind and good mental health when under decision fatigue. We might resort to things like binge-food, drinking, etc., in the attempt to gain “energy.” Unfortunately, we are working on the wrong thing.
✅Easily prey to impulse purchases. This is associated with self-control. It is actually a spin-off from the previous item. When you are fatigued with making decisions, your self-control goes down the drain, and that is why, besides binge-eating or drinking, you might also go on a spending spur. Messing up with our finances and making bad financial decisions is a common effect of decision fatigue. Avoid going to the mall or your favorite shops when you know you are tired from making decisions.
✅Impaired attention to self-care. When under decision fatigue, it is common to neglect self-care and give attention to more entertaining things. And that is why we end up doing things that might even hurt our self-care, like eating foods that we shouldn’t, spending when we don’t have the money, or even avoiding those gym classes that we already paid for.
✅Susceptibility to decision-making biases. Biases happen with everyone, and we might unconsciously favor or disfavor certain things and people. When your “fuel tank” is full, though, you usually have the self-control to make the right decisions. When the fuel is empty, you don’t even know about it, but you might let your biases cloud you when making choices.
✅Decisional Conflict and Regret. When our “full” is nearly empty or empty, it’s easy not to know the best course of action to take on certain topics, and even second-guess yourself. And often, after making a choice, you end up regretting it later.
What's An Example Of These Decision Fatigue Effects?
Imagine the following situation: you had a long day at work and made many important and challenging decisions. On your way home, you also had to stop by your Pharmacy to solve an issue with your prescription. You had to wait in line and avoid looking at the products, as you know these products are more expensive there. But you’ve been wanting that new hair spray so much! You have a simple trade-off: buy now and pay more, or wait and pay less. Because you are already suffering from decision fatigue, your self-control is lowered, and you give in to an impulse purchase. On your way out, the cashier offers a good deal on a product that you have been needing. But when you ask the origin and learn it’s foreign, you let your bias kick in, get suspicious, and pass on the deal. When you arrive home, you have no energy left. So you end up ordering in for the entire family, and you end up eating less healthy food than you know you need.
This is an ordinary day in the lives of millions of people. If you see similar things happening to you, don’t blame yourself. You are not alone in suffering from this issue. Decision fatigue effects are real and impact millions of people every single day.
Signs Of Decision Fatigue
What are some signs that can tip you off about decision fatigue? A person with decision fatigue may feel tired, experience brain fog, or show signs and symptoms of physical or mental fatigue. Let’s explore what they are.
How To Recognize It?
- Heath signs: irritability, anxiety, stress, tension headaches, digestive issues. If prolonged, these symptoms can trigger other issues and lead to even depression.
- Behavioral signs: impulsivity, indecision or decision avoidance, procrastination, reclusion, defensive body language
- Cognitive signs: becoming easily distracted, difficulty focusing for longer periods, problem-solving becomes more challenging, small cognitive tasks become tiresome more easily
Examples Of Decisions That Lead To Decision Fatigue
1. Simple examples may include what kind of clothes to wear, what to eat or cook, where to park your car, what coffee to purchase at Starbuck, and what to listen to or read on the way to work.
2. Slightly more complex decisions could be enrolling in training, changing passwords, choosing a book to purchase on a specific topic, selecting a present or gift, and if you should choose food A or B to comply with your Keto diet.
3. Complex and impactful decisions could look like this: For example, Bob. Bob is an executive and project manager for a change management program in a Turnaround company. He had to make a bunch of decisions and meetings throughout the day. His “fuel” got consumed with all these meetings and decisions, but it got especially consumed when they were faced with the decision of calling a vendor and letting go of them.
The call was bad, but what happened next was the worst. The vendor expressed their wish to sue them, so Bob had to go to the legal guys right after and decide on the best course of action based on what was said on the call.
Bob got home that day pretty exhausted. His wife wanted to talk to him about the childcare facility. They have to make a decision pretty soon, as the application window will soon close. Bob turned to his wife and said, “Honey, I can’t think about this today. Can we go over this tomorrow?” His wife got pretty angry, and she blurted something like, “you don’t care about this family.”
Is it true that Bob does not care about his family? Hum… I don’t think it’s true. I think the problem is decision fatigue. If Bob is forced into making a decision now about this family matter, he actually might make a bad decision. That’s how decision fatigue works.
What Can You Do To Avoid Decision Fatigue?
Now that you know more about decision fatigue, its effects, and how it can show up, it’s natural that you might be asking how to freaking avoid it!
Here are some options you can use:
Streamline. The more you have to decide during the course of the day, the greater the chances of experiencing decision fatigue. So, streamline your day, and make it easy for you to avoid making choices. For example, prepare your meals ahead, what you are going to dress, etc.
Delegate. Another popular option is delegation. Delegate smaller decisions to other trustworthy people or professionals. There is nothing wrong with doing that. On the contrary, it’s a wise decision to delegate certain decisions!
Remove distractions. Believe it or not, choosing how to focus your attention is also a decision that can drain you and create decision fatigue. Have periods of what I call “Focus Time.” For example, if you are about to start working on something important, put your phone on “Do Not Disturb,” turn your Slack or Teams off, and remove any other distractions possible.
Make important decisions in the morning. That a super pro tip. During your mornings, you are refreshed and full of energy. Make sure all important decisions are made first. So make sure that important meetings, discussions, and decisions are always booked during the morning. That’s not only for preventing your decision fatigue. Your colleagues and other decision-makers will also make better decisions if you pull important things for mornings.
Develop daily routines with pre-made choices. Aligned with the idea of streamlining, just make things a routine, and you won’t have to lose decision power making smaller decisions. Create a routine for your coffee, choosing your parking lot, choosing your path to work, and so on. The more you include in your routine, the fewer decisions you’ll have to make during the day.
Take breaks. That might sound obvious, but it’s not just because most people don’t even do it. Take regular breaks that are part of your routine and during that time, meditate, do a breathing technique, take a power nap, use that massage chair in the employee’s convenience room, and so on.
Plan ahead. If you take the time to plan ahead, create lists and checklists for you to use when you really decide to take action on that topic, things will flow more naturally and you won’t have to use your brainpower at that time. By planning ahead when your mind is fresh and rested, you ensure more success when you have to finally engage it.
Seek help. If symptoms worsen and the effects described above get worse, please seek help. You don’t have to face this alone. Find an executive coach or other professional who can help you drill down on your day and find opportunities for changing your routine. In a way that enables you to end your day still remaining upbeat and energized for your family and personal life.
Have an executive coach. When you have a sounding board for very big decisions, you will feel better supported and more confident. A coach is not a miraculous godmother. It’s just a person to help you bounce back ideas, map situations, check-in with reality, and make sure you are making realistic plans and goals that will work for you in the long run, as a person and as an executive.
Have supporters and avoid naggers. We have one unique lesson on our Global Executive Leadership Program just on this topic, because it’s a gamechanger for most executives I know. Surround yourself with supporters — I did not say flatterers — so that they can support you when you feel down and push you when you need an extra nudge. At the same time, avoid toxic people who nag all the time and criticize you without giving you a solid solution as a countermeasure.
Fuel-Tank Check-Ins. Throughout the day, make sure to have regular check-ins with your Decision-Fuel-Tank to see its level and replenishment needs. If you see you are really low on energy and “Decision-Fuel,” it’s time to either cut your day short or take a break to replenish it.
What Does Time pressure, Choices and Decision Fatigue Have In Common?
Time pressure and decision fatigue do have something in common. Both of them create stress that depletes “decision fuel” faster. Any type of pressure or stress can cause this. More especially, time pressure can catapult the consumption of decision fuel. It’s like turning on the “turbo” on your car. The fuel will get consumed faster. And that’s because taking actions while under stress consumes more brainpower.
What Are Some Other Risk Factors That Can Lead To Faster Decision Fatigue?
- Decision Volume. Too many decisions throughout the day
- Stress. Stressful situations that cause negative feelings and emotions.
- Value Conflict. Decisions that conflict with personal values or that has great effect on other people
- High Stakes Decisions. Having an impactful and very complex decision in the day
- Conflict Management. Conflicts with other people.
- Spotlight. Competitions, challenges, and events that put you on the spot.
Final Thoughts
Decision fatigue is one of the most common roadblocks to good decision-making, but it’s totally manageable and avoidable. Now that you learned more about it, I challenge you to review your day and go over our article again to see which of the suggestions can be implemented in your life.
If you are interested in developing your decision-making skills further and want to learn how to make faster and better decisions, check out our online Global Executive Leadership Program. We go over all 4 success pillars of Global Leadership during 9 online modules, including 2 dedicated modules on Organizational Leadership, where decision-making falls under.
Suppose you need some help to get a make-over in your routine to avoid decision fatigue and improve performance or a situation in which you or your team feel stuck. In that case, you can purchase one of our executive coaching packages. We can help you sort the issue or topic out during your program and find the best course of action to make things better for you and your team. Executive coaching can be an incredible support for empowering leaders to make better decisions, and many high executives make constant use of it.
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