There is such a thing called decision fatigue. It’s when our willpower is tapped out because we’ve been making a lot of decisions. It could be in a short time, all day, or over a week. It gets exhausting making all those decisions.
Most people think they’re in control of their lives because they make all the decisions, but the truth is that they prefer to have automation in their lives. I know I do.
We may see an ad that makes it so easy to buy something that it’s hard to say no. The Starbucks app offers deals all the time and extra stars (points) which can lead to free things if you just come in and buy something you like. I see it all the time.
You may see a sale on something you want that makes it irresistible, at least to you.I mean after all, you really want it and you’ve waited so long, it’s cheaper now, you have to buy it…. Right?
Again, I am no exception, in fact, in the part I felt like I made the decision, but to be honest, afterward I often felt like I’ve been taken advantage of, after all, did I really need 2 cordless drills?
However, at work and at home we also get decision fatigue. That is why so many people like schedules because it makes the decision for them ahead of time. At 3:00 PM you do this at this time, the calendar told me so.
What about when you have a job where you have to make instant decisions? When working a job, at a job site, putting a presentation together, building a business model, or any task that required multiple decisions to be made up front then second guessed down the road? It can suck out your will power at the end of the day. Too many decisions can drain you of rational thoughts.
Like a battery, it can run out of juice. Soon, all you have is an empty tank of willpower.
I like to take a break if I can. When I was younger, I would never take much of a break because I felt I had to go, go, go, and go. Now, I am older, and I would like to think I’m a bit wiser, I see the value in taking breaks and getting plenty of sleep. Believe it or not I think my decision making is better.
Don’t get me wrong, I still make dumb decisions, but they’re well thought out dumb decisions based on what I knew at the time. Sometimes we are wrong when don’t have all the information. We can’t always wait until we have all the information, then it would be easy but slow. We don’t always have the time to do that.
So don’t beat yourself up over bad decisions, maybe you were just tired. Just try to do better in the future. Gain some wisdom from it when you reflect.