19 Tiny Ways I Reduce Decision Fatigue

You might call it a rut, I call it a relief.

I’m so glad you’re here! I’m Sarah Von Bargen, a long-time online writer, marketing consultant, and coach. Every week we’ll be exploring ideas around spending our time, money, and energy on purpose + how to build a life we love that doesn’t make us broke or exhausted.

A year and a half ago, we celebrated my husband’s 50th with a rare luxury: Taking a vacation anywhere we wanted.

See, 90% of the time our vacations are adding a long weekend in upstate New York after the family reunion in New Jersey. Or taking the boys to Anchorage while we cat sit for my cousin. Or finding the best Radisson hotel so we can use that voucher.

It is pretty rare that we just …take a vacation somewhere?

Y’all, it took us four months to decide on California. And California is lovely! We had a great time! But when faced with the semi-overwhelming prospect of going almost anywhere, it took us four months and a surprising amount of research and false starts to choose.

And I don’t think I’m alone in this. Studies show that an abundance of options can counterintuitively lead to less happiness, less satisfaction, and hamper the ability to make a decision.

Beyond that, for me and my brain, constraints breed creativity. If you tell me I have to build a wedding-appropriate outfit from clothes I already own or plan a date night with $20 or find the best things to do in Cincinnati, Ohio - I will rise to the occasion!

But if you give me unlimited options, I will flounder and sulk and turn my proverbial homework in late.

So over the years, I’ve inadvertently developed a bunch of methods (or personal policies) that help me reduce decision fatigue. I make the decision one time and then it frees my brain and time up for other, more interesting things.

And if I start to feel like I’m in a rut? I just change things up!

19 Tiny Ways I Reduce Decision Fatigue

1. I eat the same thing for breakfast most mornings: In the summer, full fat cottage cheese with cherry tomatoes. In the winter, a sweet carrot / apple high protein souffle situation I “invented.”
   

2. 90% of the books I read either come from my neighborhood's tiny free libraries or they’re set in my upcoming travel destination. I find it sort of exhausting to keep track of book recommendations and then hunt them down or wander around a library or book store with nearly unlimited options.
   
   I like the challenge of opening a tiny free library and finding the best book of the, like, twelve that are in there. This also nudges me to read writers and books I normally wouldn’t!
   

3. Almost all my meal planning and cooking is based on what we already have. The same way that tracking book recommendations can feel overwhelming, saving recipes, buying a bunch of expensive ingredients I’ll only use in one dish - it’s a bit much for me.
   
   So pretty much every meal starts by looking in the fridge and pantry and going off that. When I do make a new recipe, it’s much more likely to be on a Friday or Saturday and it’s sort of an activity or event unto itself!
   

4. When I travel, almost all my souvenirs are consumable items or things I’ll use in my everyday life. I love candles, spices, local food, bath or body products, socks, tea towels, etc. But I’m pretty maxed out on tchotchkes (UNLESS they would add to my Weird Rich Aunt mystique.)