Decision Fatigue

When you’re tired of making decisions!

What does Steve Job’s turtleneck, Mark Zuckerberg’s hoodie and Einstein’s grey suit have to do with why you may be exhausted and at the end of your rope right now?

What do the closets of some of the greatest minds in history have to do with the stress and overwhelm YOU’RE feeling right now?

Two words … decision fatigue!

Have you heard of it?

Let’s start by defining it.

Decision fatigue is the emotional and mental strain resulting from a burden of choices.

In laymen terms… you’re tired of making decisions. While decisions are a part of life, we’ve never been forced to make THESE kinds of decisions before. I’m talking about the kind of decisions that are made during a world wide pandemic.

Instead of deciding when to leave for soccer practice, you’re having to consider whether or not it’s safe to go to practice at all?

Instead of deciding where to go for dinner, you’re considering whether or not it’s safe to eat out right now?

Then there are the decisions that seem to be at odds with one another like…

What do you do when you want to protect your kids and reduce their exposure so you want to say ‘no’ to seeing friends BUT that goes against wanting to support their mental health and knowing they need social contact so you want to say ‘yes ‘to seeing friends?

What do you do when you want to hang out with family because you love and miss them but don’t want to hang out with them because you want to protect their health?

We’re all making complex decisions everyday, under some very challenging circumstances.

Our brains are tired. Our hearts are tired. Sometimes the only solace we can find is that we’re not alone and everyone’s stumbling through it right now.

I just want to tell you stress, burnout and fatigue are normal in these abnormal times.

Right about now you may be saying, okay great now I know. So, what can I do about it?

You can run your own race. That means, don’t compare the decisions you’re making to the decisions other people are making. Not everyone will make same decision and that’s okay.

Comparing your decisions to others decisions is only going to make you tired and we all need to conserve as much energy as possible right about now.

Keep in mind that their situation, their tolerance and their needs are different then yours.

All any of us can do right now is our best. Remember though, your best today can be very different from your best last week, month, or last year. So be kind to yourself.

In fact, you be okay with something today like meeting up with friend … but in a week you’re not okay with it.

It’s okay to be inconsistent. We’re all adapting, evolving and learning. And we’re all doing it at different rates.

All anyone can do is make the best decision possible at this time, with all the information you have and then move forward.

Don’t spin in the what if’s ! Make a decision, move forward and have your own back on it. The information and circumstances may change later on down the road and you can make a different decision THEN but don’t, under any circumstance, beat yourself up for making the best decision you can right now with the given information you have. That’s what it means to have your own back.

Lastly, cut yourself, and the people around you, some slack.

Even the chillest among are getting a little hot under the collar having to make all these decisions.

It’s decision fatigue, it’s normal given the circumstances and you’ll get through it. We all will!