Do you have decision fatigue?
If you are not aware, decision fatigue is a state of mental exhaustion (tired, anxious, stressed) after making too many decisions. It can affect the ability to make the right decision or even lead to procrastination, to “figure it out later”. Now don’t confuse this problem with its close relative, indecisiveness, which is the chronic inability to make decisions stemming from low self-confidence. Decision fatigue is more prevalent in today’s society as technology bombards us with information and stimulation. Don’t believe me? Go backpacking without any tech. The decisions get really simple. Where am I going, do I have enough water and food, and can I find a sufficient spot to spend the night? Otherwise, it’s just one foot in front of the other. Ok, backpacking isn’t for everybody, but it illustrates my point. Humans used to have far fewer decisions to make in a day and it is starting to really impact our health.Fortunately, our brains have evolved to try and handle this decision overload by creating habits or “short cuts”, recognizing patterns, and making assumptions. In my opinion, the first two are definitely a plus whereas the third is more of a problem. Assumptions, by definition, are “a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof”. Your mind takes what little information it has, any pattern it can discern (usually not consciously) and you make a decision. Often this leads you to feel confident in that decision as well. But you have been deceived by your own brain. Sure, it means well (your brain) and it’s trying to help but many of the things we say or do have no proof. And it’s getting worse. The more we bombard our brains with information and decision-making without learning to strengthen our minds, the more we will lean on assumptions for those decisions.
Maybe an example will help. You get a new job but it requires a long commute through a congested area you aren’t very familiar with. The first few weeks driving, you are on high alert, anticipating everything because it is all new (and often concerning). As the weeks roll into months or even years, you start to get complacent. Your mind drifts to problems at home or at work, maybe discussions on the radio, or even what you are being texted. Maybe you even try to work in the car or put on your makeup or read a book (looking at you Tesla drivers!). The point is you are clearly far less situationally aware because your mind has slipped into assuming everything will be fine because it has been for all the previous days. You assume all the other drivers will do what they are supposed to do. The weird thing is, most of them are likely doing the exact same assuming your brain is. Dulled by the repetition and the brain’s desire to minimize decisions in your day.
One day, someone cuts you off and you rear-end them. Everyone is ok but cars are smashed, nerves are frazzled, work hours and money are lost, and it just sucks. You chalk it up to bad luck or the other driver, but your insurance says it’s a rear-end collision so it’s your fault. Your insurance goes up. Life happens. The weird thing is this accident was completely avoidable. If you had been paying careful attention (as you should when driving), you would have seen the other car coming on quickly on the onramp with nowhere to go. You would have seen the person who ended up cutting you off talking on the phone. You would have put those two things together, realized nothing good was going to come of it, and taken your foot off the gas, or braked or changed lanes. Something to anticipate the outcome. Instead, your brain has you in assumption mode and checked out, and suddenly what could have just been an annoyance was a huge bummer in your year. And it could have been much worse.
Food for thought: How do you think you will drive to work for those next few weeks? Super cautious again because the assumption proved false and now your brain knows it and it is preparing you again for the possibility. Your situational awareness has returned.
The hard truth you should be asking yourself is: Am I experiencing decision fatigue and how many assumptions is my brain making to help with the problem? Notice I have not defined what constitutes decision fatigue because it is different for everyone. Some people have worked to strengthen their minds to handle an elevated number of decisions and others could be overwhelmed with only a few decisions in a day. It is subjective. What isn’t subjective is the brain’s workaround if it feels it is overwhelmed. What might really flip your lid is countless people assume they don’t have decision fatigue and therefore make more assumptions.
The simple truth is just that, you need to humble yourself, realize many of the things you think or do might be based on assumptions, and start to try and simplify your life. Are you just assuming the government is working on your behalf? Are you just assuming what your friend told you is true? Or what you read on the internet is correct? Or that how you do things is the best way to do them? Are you just doing something because that is how you were raised? Stop assuming. Go find out. Get proof. This is how you strengthen your mind. You test it. Don’t just gather information. Test it and then critically think about the outcome. Repeat it again. And again. Form a foundation of knowledge that you can trust. You aren’t too busy either. That is an excuse. That’s laziness talking. Or fear. What could be more important than ascertaining the validity of why you do what you do or say what you say? Seriously.
The second thing you can do to simplify and strengthen your mind (and improve your decision-making abilities) is to build yourself a system of schedules and habits. I know, you are too cool for schedules. You fly by the seat of your pants. Are a free spirit. I get you. You still can be but when you organize the other things in your life and reduce all the daily decisions to knowing what is next, you are actually free to do what you want. The system can actually give you more independence because the other stuff is done and now a rested and stronger mind is available to you. With far fewer assumptions. This gives you more confidence. Why is that a bad thing?
Decision fatigue in today’s world is a real thing. Maybe you are experiencing it, maybe you are not. The important thing is to not assume you aren’t. It doesn’t take much effort to figure out either. Just do an honest assessment of yourself on any given day and see if you might be compromised. And if you are, here is a real thing you could fix in your life that doesn’t cost a bunch of money or mean tackling difficult emotions. Just look for ways to cut out decisions with schedules and habits that make the decisions for you. Also, look for ways of strengthening your mind by finding proof of your convictions and staying diligent in being situationally aware. Minimize “bad luck” and free yourself to be your best self.
