Decision Fatigue

Do you find yourself unable to make sound decisions at the end of the day?
Does the smallest of choices have you spinning into overwhelm?
You could be suffering from Decision Fatigue.
This weeks message is to help you simplify your choices, your life.

Welcome to Authentic Living Coaching, The Podcast,
I’m your hostess, Linda Codlin

I am a certified life coach, and the founder of Authentic Living Coaching.
I am passionate about helping you to help yourself.
It is my intention that each and every one of us has the
information we need to make the best decisions about the way we choose to live our lives.

Living life on your terms, and being your authentic self.

Hello, My Friends
Welcome to Episode # 31

Today I want to talk about making decisions.
For some of us making a decision is a very difficult process.
We are faced with making decisions hundreds of times a day.
Little decisions and not so little decisions.

Have you thought about your process for making a decision?
Often we make a decision on a whim, or a feeling without investigating what is driving that feeling.

Decision fatigue is the mental exhaustion you experience after making a lot of decisions.
The more decisions you are required to make early on in your day, the greater is the likelyhood of of mental fatigue around making decisions in the latter part of the day.
This is part of the reason, That the, what shall we have for dinner question is so tiresome, most of ask this question at the end of a long and tiring day, when we have already made many decisions and this one seems too hard.

How do you know when you are suffering from decision fatigue?
You may begin to feel more negatively towards yourself and others, your physical energy is depleted and everything is an effort, and normally it wouldn’t be an effort.
You feel mentally drained, like you are in a thinking fog, it is difficult to gain any clarity around what you are thinking.
Your judgement is impaired, because you are mentally drained your ability to think and act in ways that are good for you is also affected. You may find you take the easy way, the path of least resistance, n the evening.
And then beat yourself up mentally about it in the morning, claiming you know better than that, and promise yourself you’ll do better next time. Only to repeat the process all over again in the afternoon.
Another way you may be suffering from decision fatigue is that you find yourself avoiding making decisions, you become resistant to deciding on anything, and slip into procrastination behaviours.
Which of course leave you feeling bad about yourself.
On the flip side, you may jump into decisions without due thought, just to get it over with, and then suffer from decision regret. Wishing you hadn’t made that particular choice.

Decision fatigue is when you are mentally exhausted.
It often hides behind other actions or non actions. Which we then focus on trying to fix ourselves, as an aside you are not broken, you can not be fixed, you can be enhanced, and expanded on, not fixed.

To overcome decision fatigue, there are a few decisions that need to be made ahead of time.
I know it seems counter intuitive.
Follow along and I’ll tell you more.
Simplifying your life will help to reduce the amount of smaller, less important decisions.
Things like what to wear, if you have what is called a capsule wardrobe, you will always know what clothes to wear with what, they match each other. Less decision making around the questions of “What shall I wear today?”
If you only purchase three breakfast cereals instead of five, you have reduced your decision making choices. The same with meals at the end of the day, plan a menu for the week, allow for the mental fatigue at the end of the day. Make meals easy for you to follow through with preparing. Set yourself up to succeed.
Simplify your home environment, clutter can be stressful and with a fatigued brain, clutter can be overwhelming.
Start small, throw away seven pieces of rubbish everyday, tidy one small space. And do it earlier in the day so the task is not so overwhelming. With consistency your home will become a safe haven to return home to.

When you begin to feel your mind wandering off topic, take a break, if possible splash a little cold water on your face, have a drink of water, stretch your arms above your head, relax your shoulders, these small actions make a huge difference, get some fresh air.
Become mindful of the thoughts you are thinking, write a list of all the thoughts that are circulating in your mind.
Remember thoughts belong on paper where we can look at them objectively.
Write a pros and cons list for the major decisions, and remember to include what you REALLY want to see happen in there as well.
And finally delegate, or hire someone to help you.
Ask the children to pitch in, use a reward they enjoy as a carrot, ask your partner or spouse for their participation, “I know, they should already know and be helping, partners are not mind readers, they also need direction)

The biggest takeaway I want you to have from today is by simplifying your life you can reduce decision fatigue and improve how you feel about your life.

Have a fabulous day my friends. Until next time…
Begin small to simplify your life, one small action can create huge results, make one decision now to reduce making the same decision every day. Creating space for you to make more better decisions.
Live your best life, one small compounding decision at a time, Know yourself and live your life authentically.
If you want help to simplify your decision making, connect with me for coaching. You can find me on Facebook and Instagram. Linda Codlin and authentic living coaching
If what I am sharing resonates with you, leave a comment,
hit the like button, share with your friends and follow me.
Thank You for listening.

xoxox Linda

As a certified Life Coach, I help you to help yourself, so you can create a well lived life your way. 

If what I am sharing resonates with you, follow me, reach out, share with a friend, like or leave a message below,

When you are ready to make a transformational difference in your life, contact me for a one on one coaching session.