How do you make your decisions?, At what time of the day do you make your decisions?, Do you spend a lot of your time making certain decisions? Have you ever made a decision, and when you look back, you realize that oops, I could have done better than that? After listening to his speech recently, these are some of the questions this article, written by my friend and a seasoned Toastmaster, Patrick Gachau, answer
President Obama wore the same blue or grey suits daily for the 8 years he was in office. He was quoted saying, ‘I don’t want to make decisions about what I am wearing because I have too many other decisions to make.’ He was avoiding decision fatigue. https://www.fastcompany.com/3026265/always-wear-the-same-suit-obamas-presidential-productivity-secrets
Decision fatigue does not only affect the Obama’s of this life. It, in fact, affects all of us. Our brains, unfortunately, cannot distinguish the difference between big and small decisions like whether to put on a blue or grey tie vs whether to relocate to a new country. Both of those decisions use up glucose in the brain. The more decisions we make as the day progresses, the more tired our brains get, leading to decision fatigue.
Decision fatigue can have negative consequences. Dr. Howard Forman of Montefiore Medical Centre in a CBS New York report in 2016 was reported saying, the lesser the glucose we have in the brain, the more we lose self-control. That means it is easier for us to snack on an unhealthy snack in the evening than in the morning. In short, the more tired our brains get, the more we make bad decisions.
Another example of effects of decision fatigue was seen in a study carried out in 2011, about judges making harsher and more punitive decisions in the afternoons than in the mornings.
So how can we reduce or eliminate decision fatigue? By forming routines and habits, which means wearing blue and grey suits every day like Barrack Obama. You can take it a notch higher and dress the exact same way for the rest of your life, like the CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg does or like the late CEO of Apple Steve Jobs used to. Go buy yourself blue jeans and a black turtle neck. These routines and habits help us beat decision overload and that way, we have enough mental capacity to make bigger decisions later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdUVQUp6vG8
However, we are living in unprecedented times. In this COVID-19 period, even our old effective routines have been obliterated. We used to get up at a certain time of day, prepare ourselves, and get to work. Now, our decisions have changed to deciding when to leave the bedroom to the sitting room via the fridge. Some of our roles have turned from being one role eg parent into multiple roles eg parent, nanny, cook, and teacher. The result is that we are feeling more and more tired because we are having to make more and more decisions as we move along the day.
Decision Fatigue is going to be a big factor for us to consider during this COVID-19 period mainly because we can no longer have your normal life. There are a few adjustments we can try to make during this period.
One, try to come up with a new routine in the house. Personally, I am currently trying to work out every morning for 15 minutes before engaging in the activities of the day. Come up with a new routine.
Second, eliminate making small decisions especially in the morning. If you are not a grey and blue suit person, decide what you will wear the night before. Also decide what will be for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, who will do the dishes, etc. Look at your diary the night before and plan for the coming day. Plan the day the night before.
Lastly, let’s try making the most important decisions earlier in the day. If a big decision to be made arises later in the day, try and push it to the following morning. Literally sleep9 over it.
Dr. Githinji Gitahi, the Global CEO of Amref Health Africa reckons this period is a marathon, not a sprint. He thinks the social disruptions caused by COVID-19 will be here for the next 3-5 months. Since it takes between 21 – 60 days to develop a habit, time is on our side. Remember, routines and habits are energy savers. They not only help us survive, but they also help us thrive.
As we all struggle to beat decision fatigue, let us remember the words of Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.
Patrick Gachau is a seasoned Toastmaster, Speaker Coach, and a Youth Leadership Programs Facilitator :You can follow him on https://medium.com/@gachaupatrick
