Supporting Yourself Through Decision Fatigue
Do you feel like your ‘brain is foggy’ or you have a lack of focus? Do you feel unmotivated to get going again? Well, you’re not alone. Welcome to decision fatigue, 2022!
“When there are too many options, we tend to feel overwhelmed, anxious, stressed or otherwise out of sorts. This is decision fatigue, a state of mental overload that can impede our ability to make additional decisions.” - Stacy Colino, Washington Post
“…There are four main symptoms: procrastination, impulsivity, avoidance and indecision.… If your brain is worn down, it may cause you to become more reckless with your decision making or not think things through, …you might notice that you get angrier with colleagues and family, splurge on clothes, or impulsively buy more junk food.” -Sara Berg, MS, article for the American Medical Association: What Doctors Wish Patients Knew About Decision Fatigue.

Sounds daunting, right? But there is good news: we can help ourselves with lifestyle shifts that give us healthy, well-rested brains, and we can build mental muscles, too.
5 habits to improve your decision-making ability
Make your most important decisions after a break.
First thing in the morning. At the beginning of the day our brains have fresh decision-making muscles. Use this time for your most purposeful decisions or important work. Learn to take brain breaks and then use the time directly following a break to do work requiring a happy brain. Work will be easier, and you will make better decisions.
Take ‘brain breaks’.
Learn to work in pockets. Set your timer for 30-90 minutes of deep focused work. Follow this with a 6 to 30-minute brain break. By giving your brain a rest, your work will be better and you’ll feel clearer and refreshed. A brain break is like a computer reboot. Turn it off and then turn it on again and …voilà! Like magic, things start working.
Examples of excellent brain breaks:
• A good night’s sleep or nap
• A walk (As little as a 6-minute walk outside can give you a 60% increase in your creativity!)
• Being in nature

Streamline and schedule:
Make daily decisions automatically! Schedule your exercise time, pick 5 favorite meals and repeat, wear pink t-shirts every Tuesday, schedule your day the night before. Having daily life laid out saves on unnecessary decisions.
Unclutter, Simplify and Tidy up:
If you’ve ever needed a good reason to simplify your life, downsize, and unclutter… this is it. The act of tidying up and uncluttering your environment reduces the number of things your brain is processing. By keeping your home tidy and simple your brain can relax. A cluttered space will keep your brain on constant alert and always working. Clear off your desk, pick up your home, clean out the kitchen sink. Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!
Take care of your brain’s health:
A well-nourished brain, body and spirit work better. Eat a diet of organic vegetables, fruits, clean proteins, and healthy fats. Be well hydrated. Exercise both your body and mind. Make sleep a priority and go play! Play is good medicine. Be in nature, and when possible, be social.
Take that 20-minute nap. Or meditate for 5-20 minutes. Wash dishes, listen to music, unplug from media, take up yoga, practice tai chi, and play with your pets. The point is to let your brain relax, stop thinking, rest, and just be.
The last few years have been tough, so give yourself some much needed tender loving care. Approach developing some of these habits as play. Take note of how you feel as these habits become routine. Do you feel more vital, refreshed and focused? If the answer is ‘yes’, you’re successfully supporting yourself through decision fatigue!
Denise Frakes is a healthy lifestyle and home coach. She specializes in using daily practices to create the life and home you wish for. She is a Certified Healthy Home Specialist, Transformational Life Coach and the Facilitator of Puget Sound’s Asthma Coalition. Visit her website www.denisefrakes.com or contact her at dfbluesky@yahoo. com for more information.






