Pick Your Clothes the Night Before
Last week I found myself struggling through the morning. I had gotten out of bed to exercise and waffled between a spinning or strength work out. Then I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out what kind of ride I wanted to do on the Peloton. My internal conversation went something like this as I scanned the available classes: “How about a 45 minute pop punk ride, or maybe I should take it easy and do a 20 minute recovery ride, no Anthony- step it up and do a 30 minute HIIT ride, oooh there’s a 60 minute endurance ride - wait I don’t have time for that.” I finally settled on a 30 minute Indie Rock ride, took a shower and then spent another 10 minutes trying to figure out what to wear. Suit or sport coat? Stripes or Squares? Pink shirt or blue shirt? What Socks? What Shoes? Then came breakfast and another set of decisions to make. As I was driving to work, I realized my morning had been terribly inefficient and I was feeling exhausted as the day was just getting started.
We are faced with thousands of decisions every day, many of which we make subconsciously. Some of these decisions are major life choices and others are trivial like the ones I described above. One study done by Cornell University found that we make 226.7 decisions each day on food alone! There is an idea that has actually been studied called ‘Decision Fatigue’, which is essentially mental overload that comes from making too many decisions throughout the day that can impair a person’s ability to continue making good decisions. Now, whether this is caused by decision making alone, or a number of other factors can be debated, but I think we can all relate to a time when our exhaustion led to a lack of will power that caused us to make a decision that we later regretted.
In the midst of all of the events we have going on this month at Footers, I warned our team about the compounding effect that added stress can have on our decision making. Time is critical at events and in an industry with a tremendous amount of variables, It’s important for our team to be able to make sound decisions as they navigate the curveballs that come their way. We talked about some of the ways to combat decision fatigue:
Take a break - 15-20 minutes of not working might seem counterintuitive, but giving your mind and body a reset helps gain back mental clarity.
Get good rest - Changing your sleep routine to make sure you start the day well rested goes a long way toward making it to the end of the day with enough energy to finish strong.
Lean on others - When you are feeling the decision fatigue, it’s a good time to get a second opinion. Consulting with a co-worker on your decision to confirm it’s consistent with theirs can give you confidence that you are on the right track.
Consult your values - Personal values and company core values provide a compass that can help us make good decisions, especially when we are not at our best.
Routine and Habits - Creating habits and routine for trivial items (especially in the morning) reduces stress and the number of decisions to start the day, leaving you ready to tackle difficult and important decisions with good energy and a clear head.
In office, President Obama would only wear gray or blue suits to simplify his decision on what to wear. He said, “You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinize yourself. You can’t be going through the day distracted by trivia.” For me, I think it’s time to start planning my outfit, exercise and breakfast decisions the night before.