Do You Suffer from Decision Fatigue?

If you find yourself making rash, unwise choices, the culprit may be a day of mental depletion — not an inherent lack of willpower.

We live in a prosperous society, where you can walk into any clothing store and choose from more than a dozen different types of jeans. Then there are larger decisions like buying a car, a new house, deciding to switch jobs, or end a relationship. All of these choices come at a price, called "decision fatigue."

Our brains can suffer from “mental fatigue,” just as our bodies can become physically fatigued after a long workout. The worst part is that, often, none of us are aware of how mentally tired we are just from all the little or big choices we make throughout the day.

John Tierney in The New York Times has the story:

“Decision fatigue helps explain why ordinarily sensible people get angry at colleagues and families, splurge on clothes, buy junk food at the supermarket and can’t resist the dealer’s offer to rustproof their new car. No matter how rational and high-minded you try to be, you can’t make decision after decision without paying a biological price. It’s different from ordinary physical fatigue — you’re not consciously aware of being tired — but you’re low on mental energy. The more choices you make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes for your brain, and eventually it looks for shortcuts, usually in either of two very different ways.

One shortcut is to become reckless: to act impulsively instead of expending the energy to first think through the consequences. (Sure, tweet that photo! What could go wrong?) The other shortcut is the ultimate energy saver: do nothing. Instead of agonizing over decisions, avoid any choice. Ducking a decision often creates bigger problems in the long run, but for the moment, it eases the mental strain. You start to resist any change, any potentially risky move."

Using one common example, Tierney goes on to explain why this makes dieting so difficult. Dieters start out with good intentions and can readily make the tough choices to eat healthy. But by the end of the day, their brains are running out of the energy needed to keep fueling those good decisions, so they start hedging their choices and run out of willpower to resist.

Researchers theorize that low glucose levels later in the day may be responsible for poor decision-making as well. Sugar is an obvious way to get glucose, hence the reason why so many dieters crave it. But spikes of glucose that come from sweets are much worse for both our brains and our bodies, because they don’t help the brain with long-term glucose levels. The brain quickly consumes the temporary glucose spike, and then settles back into its glucose deficit an hour later.

The take-away? Don’t make important decisions late in the day or in the evening. Make your best and most important decisions before lunch, when you’re well-rested and the glucose levels in your brain are at their highest, typically first thing in the day. And eat a good breakfast to get the fuel your brain needs.

Read the full article from the NY Times.

 

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