5 ways to reduce decision fatigue

According to research, an adult makes 35,000 decisions a day. There is no doubt that as moms, we make many, many more decisions every single day.

Juggling work, kids, family, home and our personal aspirations means that we are constantly deciding what to do, executing it and even planning ahead.

From whether to change daycares, to what to make for dinner, we are at it from the time we wake up in the morning.

So it’s not surprising that we experience decision fatigue every day. 

 

What decision fatigue feels like

It is the feeling of being overwhelmed with our choices, outcomes and circumstances. 

When there’s so much to do that we don’t know where to start, we end up making immediate, smaller (maybe even easier) decisions.

We feel frustrated that we don’t have the time or the energy for things that really matter, like setting up a cleaning schedule for the home, or whether to take a better paying job that also requires a longer commute.

We might also struggle to keep track of everything. Some tasks might get delayed till the last minute, forcing us to make snap decisions which may not be the best.

When we decide something in a rush, we second guess ourselves later, going over it in our minds again and again, wondering if we did the right thing.

How to reduce daily decision fatigue

Here are 5 ways to reduce decision fatigue, prioritize your time and become more confident about your decisions:

 

1. Put it all down 

Combine your work schedule, personal schedule, family plans and everything else into your planner. 

This way you can get a bird’s eye view of your whole day, as it is, and not just one part. 

As one of our top supporters, Rachel, said, it can be scary to see everything that you do in one place. But over time, it will not only help you keep track of all your tasks, but also give you a sense of accomplishment when you check them off. 

When I first put down everything I do in My Day, it felt scary. Not because i didn’t know how much I was doing in a day, but because I didn’t want to admit to myself that I was struggling to manage everything. 

 

2. Create a routine

You can add anything that you do regularly into daily / weekly / monthly routines. In addition to reducing decision fatigue, having a routine has many benefits.

Having a day and a time for most things means that you don’t have to remember what to do next. This will free up mindspace for complex decisions that need more of your time and energy.

If scheduling everything in your life right now feels like a lot, start with one thing – for example, Friday nights can be pasta night.

Add one more item to your schedule every day or every week, at a frequency that you find comfortable.

The idea is to build a schedule that reflects your unique reality and works for you.

 

3. Maintain on-going lists 

For tasks that are not routine or immediate but need to be done at some point (cleaning the house, dental appointments, meal plans, weekly grocery shopping) you can use lists. 

For grocery lists, packing lists for travel and meal plans, you can use a master list or make a weekly list that you can rotate every month. 

The Brain Dump in MAMMA-MIYA is the perfect place to dump everything that isn’t part of your routine. You can add lists, notes, screenshots and even scanned notes. 

Bring them into your schedule whenever you’re ready. 

4. Prioritize

It’s an inevitable reality of our lives that our task lists get longer while we sleep. 

But pushing ourselves to finish as much as we can every day is not sustainable and can lead to burn out. 

Prioritizing can mean doing less by focussing on the important tasks that have to be done and give you a sense of accomplishment. 

Doing less will give you the time to put yourself first, even if it’s for a few minutes everyday. 

Prioritizing can also mean saying “no” to some things. 

 

5. Outsource / delegate more 

 

Going through your task lists is also a good time to check if any of them can be delegated.

For any task that’s on your list, ask yourself 2 questions:

1/ Does this have to be done now? 

2/ Can someone else do it? 

When things get too busy, it’s okay to outsource some jobs occasionally, especially if your budget allows it. 

For example, you can get a professional cleaner for the house every 3 months, or order in fresh meals once in a while.  

 

Reducing decision fatigue doesn’t need drastic changes

It could mean saying ‘no’ to the things that you cannot take up right now, or just relinquishing control for a while. 

One of the moms on our platform told us that she uses a Hat to help her reduce the tasks she knows she shouldn’t take up, but ends up saying “yes” to. Her goal with this hat is to reduce the tasks tagged to it to zero.

One of the moms in the r/workingmoms reddit says she enjoys an instructor-led workout class because for that 60 minutes, someone else was telling her what to do. She didn’t have to make any decisions.