I’d never heard of this term until yesterday but I intuitively understand its meaning. According to Wikipedia “decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual, after a long session of decision making.”
In plain language, the more decisions you have to make, the less able you are to make good ones.
In business, we are constantly making decisions; from what marketing strategy to employ to which phone call to return first. Some decisions will have a major impact on your business, some won’t. That’s why planning and prioritizing is so important.
I heard a journalist on the radio talking about how President Obama has cut out trivial decisions so he has more mental muscle to tackle the big problems. Eating the same breakfast every day and only wearing grey or blue suits are two ways he has reduced the number of decisions he needs to make in a day.
Decision fatigue is why a marketing plan is so essential. Spend one day making a bunch of decisions about the type of marketing you’ll do and put them on your calendar. That way, each day you don’t have to decide a) to engage in marketing and b) which marketing activity you will do. It’s already laid out for you.
Something simple like creating a posting schedule for your Facebook page can reduce decision fatigue. Knowing you’ll post at 9 and 2 on Monday; 11 and 7 on Tuesday etc will make you more likely to get it done.
How do you reduce decision fatigue in your life? Leave a comment and share your tips.
Andrea Stenberg
Andrea,
In general, I’ve taken the exact opposite approach to President Obama. Maybe that’s why he is president and I am not.
Instead of doing the exact same thing every day to avoid decisions, I make unimportant decisions and break unimportant resolutions without sweating it.
Sometimes I simply enjoy making unimportant decisions and allow myself the luxury.
I once read about someone who always bought the toothbrush that was first on the shelf, regardless of color, to save himself from making trivial decisions. I take the totally opposite approach. I look at all the colors and choose the one I like best.
So what if it takes time? If I have the time to go to the drugstore for a toothbrush, I have the time to waste choosing the color I like best.
Once I make the decision, the decision is final. I’ve never returned an unopened toothbrush to the store to exchange it for a different color.
Cheers,
-Diana
Thanks for the post! I can’t say that I’ve reached that point yet in my life or my business, but its something to think about! Thanks for sharing.
Great article. I need to do that as well, schedule things ahead of time and not have to worry about it all at once. I need to schedule my time better. Thanks for sharing.
Oh my goodness, who doesn’t have decision fatigue! Great post on how to reduce the fatigue and confusion!