Decision Fatigue Is Real—Here’s How a Wakefield Therapist Helps You Navigate It
What Is Decision Fatigue?
Meet with a therapist in Wakefield to get help with the burden of decisions
Decision fatigue is similar to any other fatigue…when something is overdone, our bodies simply can’t keep doing it. If you are doing bicep curls, you are going to lose your form and then simply not be able to complete any more reps. Decisions can be very similar, even though we have a capacity for high rep counts. Make too many decisions and they start to lose the quality of their form, meaning they might not represent your best interests and best judgement. Keep going and you simply might struggle to complete decisions entirely.
With decision-making, we don’t feel the same sensations as we do with muscle fatigue, yet our brain is managing complex tasks requiring a lot of effort and it can get fatigued from repetition. We can even feel significant physical fatigue as a result! Unfortunately, these decision repetitions can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed, stressed and stuck. Then, for many people, there is a lot of guilt and shame for feeling that way. You might wonder why you can’t seem to “keep up” with everyone or why you can’t be “more productive,” yet the reality is that you might be faced with an overpowering amount of decisions.
Therapy can be a resource to develop strategies to manage decisions, determine what decisions can be made in a way that is more sustainable and importantly, to soften the way you treat yourself for finding this aspect of life hard. If you want your daily life and well-being to feel lighter, meeting with a therapist in Wakefield to determine how to reduce the fatigue of decision-making may be an important step for you.
Signs You’re Experiencing Decision Fatigue
How do you know if you’re experiencing decision fatigue? Well, you might have already felt it in your gut which has led you to click on this article! If so, you are in the right place 😊 If you are unsure what is decision fatigue versus general fatigue, anxiety, attention problems or otherwise, here are some common ways that decision fatigue can be recognized:
1. Feeling frustrated by decisions that you have made for a long time, yet which suddenly seem like too much. For example, you have surely needed to choose what to wear every day of your life for years, but maybe lately you have nearly been in tears or wanting throw your clothes across the room because choosing what to wear today felt intolerable.
2. Feeling resentful of others who put you in a decision-making position. For example, instead of appreciating that your friends sought your input on where to go out for dinner together, or taking it as a compliment that they appreciate and value your taste, you felt really bitter and annoyed that they didn’t just pick a place on their own where you could simply show up to join them.
3. You delay the decision-making process. You realize one day that you need to figure out what to have for dinner the next day because tonight is the only time you can shop for the food…yet you don’t decide. Instead, you keep thinking about how you need to decide and how annoying it is to have to decide because nothing sounds right. Maybe dinner ends up being some sort of scrounge through what is left instead of something really satisfying.
4. You are increasingly unhappy with your choices and trust your judgement less. Perhaps you keep choosing hotels that are way too expensive just because they were at the top of the list online, even though they weren’t even well-suited to your needs. Maybe you keep signing up for classes that aren’t that interesting just because other people suggested them. Either way, you feel like you can no longer even make a good decision.
Why Young Adults and Adults Struggle With This
If there aren’t helpful emotional and practical systems in place, it is honestly no wonder that decision fatigue hits hard and often as anyone moves into adulthood. We simply are responsible for A LOT and a lot of those responsibilities involve choices. Some of the choices are far-reaching, like career decisions and romantic partnerships, though many of the decisions are in the minutiae of daily life, such as what to eat for breakfast, when to do your groceries, when to buy new clothes, etc.
Parents can be particularly bombarded with decisions, as they are maintaining all the usual decisions, though now also have to make a myriad of decisions for their child(ren) and also for their family system as a whole.
Additionally, there is a lot of pressure in society to get the decisions “right,” and in American culture, undesired outcomes are often met with shame and disappointment, rather than understanding and eagerness to learn. The consequence of this is not only a desire to make a helpful decision but also the pressure not to make a poor decision. This added pressure is the last thing anyone needs and can really sow a lot of anxiety and self-doubt.
Techniques to Reduce Decision Overload
There is no magic wand to reducing decision demands, yet some strategies can help and often, when a little bit of pressure is alleviated, it goes a really long way to providing relief. There are experts in decision-making and organizing responsibilities who can speak to a myriad of strategies in more details, but as a bit of a preview, I will include some notes below on some of the components which I think are important to consider. As a therapist in Wakefield, whenever I am working with someone on managing decision-making challenges, these are the key areas where I will encourage exploration:
1. Automate digitally: The era of automated functions like auto-ship can be helpful for things like toiletries and medications which might be ordered online anyhow. If you can predict when you need items, set it, but do not forget it! Make sure to schedule a time annually at least to check in and make sure the rhythm still works for you. While I am a big fan of the human touch, there are some things that are simply left to the machines to manage!
2. Automate routines: Are predictable tasks bogging you down? Try to put them on a calendar if you can. Many people really appreciate this with meal planning. I admit I was very slow to come around to meal planning, but I got worn down during the pandemic when I had a toddler and a baby, and in addition to feeding them all day long, I also had to be sure to feed the baby certain foods related to a food allergy, which meant exposure to three different foods at least two times a week, but exposure to something every other day. It was time for a calendar system and it has grown from there. While earlier me rolls my eyes, I recently finished the two-week rotating breakfast/snack/lunch calendar for my kids and the amount of daily decisions this reduces for me daily is SUCH a relief!
3. Delegate decisions: Use your judgement to determine how much you really care about everything, and if there are some things that might be done well enough by someone else. Perhaps your partner can plan when to clean the apartment. Perhaps you can let your friends figure out what activities on a day trip. Perhaps a coworker can make the agenda for the next team meeting at work. Challenge yourself to find at least one decision in your personal and one decision in your academic/professional life that you can ask someone else to take on to help.
4. Find frameworks that work for you: Take time to reflect and even research a little to see what frameworks resonate from you, then rely on them to help with indecision. For example, in a business setting, work decisions might be framed by “what would enhance the mission of the organization best?” or “would this help revenue or not?” Christians often refer to the concept of “what would Jesus do?” In your personal life, there can be a lot of nuance, but I recently saw a podcaster, Kendra Adachi, who has a clever tagline to “be a genius about the things that matter, and lazy about the things that don’t” A link to a podcast she has on how to implement this can be found at https://www.thelazygeniuscollective.com/lazy/principles and can simply used as food for thought, to consider what you might have as your own principles. This can really help with the how of decision-making, so each decision itself comes with more ease.
The Importance of Self-Compassion in Decision-Making
Making decisions gets a lot easier when you can trust that you will be kind to yourself no matter the outcome. If you are concerned that moving to a new city might not work out, feeling like you are ready to take care of yourself compassionately if you end up miserable is a lot more welcoming than expecting to beat yourself up emotionally for having wound up there in the first place.
As a child, there is a lot more credit given for effort, and this external validation for exploring, using curiosity and simply trying things out can fade as we get older. You have the opportunity to keep it alive for yourself though, and to feel the freedom that can come with a pat on your back for navigating as best you can.
This can be really hard to do if perfectionism is entrenched or if you simply haven’t done it for a while. Meeting with a therapist in Wakefield can be a really helpful way to restore kindness toward yourself so that you feel it is easier to make the changes you need to make the decisions you want.
How Therapy Supports Healthier Decision Habits
In addition to helping strengthen self-compassion, meeting with a therapist in Wakefield can be really helpful if you are struggling to manage all the decisions and the weight of these decisions. Whether it’s wading through the overwhelming minutiae of daily life or facing big decisions that feel like they have major consequences, like medical treatment decisions, decisions around caregiving roles or more, therapy can help you recognize what matters most to you, simplify the decision-making process, and leave you feeling more confident about your decisions and importantly, with leftover energy.
Feeling overwhelmed by decisions? A therapist in Wakefield can help you reduce decision fatigue and build confidence.
Whether you are entering therapy for the first time or looking to reconnect with the process, I offer a welcoming, supportive space to explore your challenges and goals.
With the flexibility of in-person and online therapy, we can find a space for therapy in your lifestyle and schedule.
Are you ready to take the next step?
Let’s connect over a free, 15-minute phone consultation for therapy in Wakefield