Are You Experiencing Decision Fatigue?

Who’s with me?

You love Chinese food, but the 72 page menu is a bit overwhelming.

The seemingly simple task of grabbing a box of cereal at the grocery store, turns into a 12 minute scavenger hunt, amid the 217 different types of cereal to choose from.

You stand at your closet every morning feeling inadequate.  You look at the sea of clothes and every piece suddenly has a complexity to it that you can’t seem to figure out.  Does that skirt I’ve had since 9th grade go with that modern day shirt?  Do stripes and plaid go together or is that just in home decor??

Here’s the deal…

We live in a society with many, many choices, and yes, we are totally blessed.  Most of us can afford to eat out from time to time.  Many of us actually go clothes shopping for fun (you know I don’t fall in this category!).

However, when the process of decision-making becomes overwhelming, inefficient, stressful, time consuming, or we’re just making bad choices, we’ve reached a point of decision fatigue.

Yes, there’s a term for it!

Decision fatigue is when we make worse decisions, or find it hard to make a decision at all, when we have, or have had, lots of decisions to make.

Here’s the question: How do we overcome decision fatigue?

My answer: We create a life with fewer decisions.

Of course, we can’t get rid of all decisions, but there are clear and very attainable choices we can make to facilitate a decision fatigue-less life.  To bring it home, let’s address the three areas of decision fatigue I mentioned earlier in this post regarding eating out, grocery shopping, and dressing yourself each day.

How to deal with restaurant menu selection fatigue:

1. Just ask what the most popular item is and order that.  Period.  Whether you like it or not, record it.  (See step 3 below.)
2. Find a favorite meal and order it every single time.  I’ve been ordering #20 at my favorite Mexican restaurant (shout out to Cocula’s!) for nearly five years and love every bite!  If someone judges you for your lack of experimentation, who cares!  Ignore them and enjoy your delicious meal.
3. Keep a list of things you like at different restaurants in your phone or in a notebook you can keep with you.  Whip that baby out at order time and instead of spending 20 minutes reviewing the menu, enjoy your free time in the company of your dining partners.

How to deal with grocery store selection overwhelm:

1. Shop where there aren’t so many options.
   Supermarket News (What?? You don’t read this publication??) published findings that indicate that “63% of consumers are willing to pay more for simpler experiences, and 69% are inclined to recommend a brand because it’s simple.”  Guess who was voted the world’s simplest brand for the 3rd year in a row?  Aldi!  My Aldi only has six aisles.  I heard a few people raving about Aldi a few years ago, went, and came away unimpressed and suspicious of everything.  I thought everything was either outdated or off-brand which equaled GROSS!  Oh, how my heart has changed!  After some serious prompting from friends who love and adore Aldi, I tried it again last year, with a new and improved attitude, and I love it!  There’s a blogger named Ruth who compiled a list of 15 things to buy at Aldi and 5 things to avoid, click here to check out her helpful list.  P.S. Publix grocery store, also received a high ranking in the simplicity department.  Publix is big, with way more aisles than Aldi has, but I do like it, too.
2. Be prepared when you enter a grocery store.
   The two rules for grocery store shopping are: 1. Don’t enter a grocery store without a grocery list, and  2.  Stick to the outside aisles (this is where the healthier items are).  The key is to stick to your list and keep your eyes off the “shiny objects” that the marketers use to draw you in to the latest and greatest queso dip!   My friend Nancy has a printable grocery list she created in Excel that includes all the typical items she shops for by store and by aisle.  This helps to keep you organized, on track, and limits those, “Oh, man! I forgot the peanut butter!!” moments in the car ride home.   
   

How to deal with the daily clothing selection panic zone:

1. Lay your clothes out the night before or even a week in advance.  I know this is the right thing to do, but I struggle with taking my own advice.  When I do, I’m a much happier person and probably look more put together, too.
2. Wear the same thing every day.  (I am seriously contemplating this option.)
   I know this may sound like a stretch, but Mark Zuckerberg does it and he’s reasonably smart, right?  Here’s a picture from his closet that he posted on his Facebook page earlier this week:
   
   You may be saying, “Well, he’s a guy!  Guys can get away with wearing the same outfit every day…Hold on!  Ladies, here’s our role model!  Her name is Matilda Kahl and she’s the art director for a leading creative agency in NYC.  She’s got major street cred, awesome fashion sense, and made a decision to cut down on the stress she experienced with decision fatigue related to clothing choices.  She decided to wear the same outfit to work every day.  This is HUGE!  I could pull this off without much notice, but she’s the art director for a NYC agency!!  Here’s the cute outfit she landed on…simple and elegant:
   

   Photo credit: Rasmus Keger.

The moral of the story: Make life more simple, so you’re able to enjoy the life you have.

Question for you?  Do you struggle with decision fatigue?  What have you, or will you, cut down on to limit the fatigue?

As always, I appreciate you spending time with me here today, and appreciate your insight and thoughts, should you choose to share them.

Have an awesome day!

Jill xx