Life comes with a constant stream of decisions to make. There are the small ones, like what to wear or eat each day, while there are the life-changing ones, like what paths to take professionally, romantically, personally, etc. Is it any wonder why we feel paralyzed by decision fatigue? While it can be difficult to overcome, there are a few general strategies we can fall back on to make it a little easier.
1- Rule out options when you can.
Sometimes, decision fatigue stems from having too many options. A great way to simplify things for yourself is to eliminate any options that you know deep down aren’t as high on your list as others. If the odds of you choosing something are slim to none, you may as well declutter it from your list, and in turn, from your mind. While it can be great to have plenty of options, if you find that it’s becoming more overwhelming than expansive, it’s time to pair down!
2- Lay out all your information and factors to consider in writing.
Something that can make decision-making so overwhelming is having all the relevant information swirl in your head. Getting organized is a great way to put it all in perspective for yourself.
If the decision you’re making is emotionally complex, a journal entry format might be the way to go. Lay out everything you’re feeling and why you’re feeling it. Dig deep, delving into all arguments from all sides. If the decision at hand is more factual / less emotional, a pros & cons list or rubric can come in handy. You can even assign different weights to different factors, based on how important or unimportant they are to you. In other words, for a rubric, you can multiply the scores of more important variables by 2 and leave the scores of less important variables as they are.
While these methods may not be foolproof, as there are endless ways to arrive at an answer, they should give you some insight into which options have the most promise.
3- As silly as it sounds, flip a coin.
Not because you should then automatically follow what it says (unless it’s a very unimportant matter where you just want to be told what to do), but because your feelings about what it says should be revealing. In other words, say that you’re torn between two options for places to live. You assign one place “heads” and the other “tails”. Say it lands on “heads”. What’s your initial gut feeling about that? Are you excited? Relieved? Wanting a redo? Whatever the answer is, that should tell you something about what you truly want to do. You may have mixed emotions, which can make it difficult, but try to zone in on whichever feeling is most prominent.
4- Above all, trust yourself.
Of course, lastly but most importantly comes the mindset shift. Trusting yourself has a funny way of helping you make decisions with confidence, clarity, and even a bit more simplicity. You’ll be less hesitant to rule out the options you know deep down you don’t align with. You won’t overthink decisions where you actually do know what you want to do.
Disclaimer: Of course, having self-trust doesn’t mean that every decision will be easy to make or that you’ll never be confused, torn, etc. However, for certain decisions in life, you do have a very clear inner voice telling you the right path. The challenge can be listening to that inner voice when external voices and factors are at play. Leaning into self-trust can help you filter out the outside noise that’s only making the decision needlessly confusing. Your soul knows much more than you probably give it credit for. Start giving it credit where credit is due!
The bottom line…
Decision fatigue can come in waves, particularly when countless decisions are waiting on your doorstep to be made. However, hopefully this post showed you that your decision-making process doesn’t always have to be complicated or overwhelming. Yes, sometimes it still will be, just because that’s an inevitable part of life, but often times, we can make it simpler and more straightforward. May your decisions going forward come a little more naturally for you to make!
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