How Decision Overload is Sabotaging Your Health Goals

What do you feel like eating for lunch today?

What shoes will look best with your new work dress?

What time do you need to leave the house to get the kids to pre-game warm-ups based on traffic?

What do you think mom might like for a birthday gift?

Should you order a cake or make one this year?

Is anyone gluten-free, or will they all be okay with the boxed cake mix?

Did you remind your sister to send out the party invitations?

When is the deposit due for summer camp?

Sound familiar? This list is just a few of the decisions you need to make in a day that may be running through your head in just a minute!

Yep, that’s right. Did you know we make thousands of decisions each day? Yes, thousands.

And decision overload can significantly undermine your health goals. The more decisions you have to make each day, the more likely you are to make poor choices and experience increased stress, derailing progress toward your health-related goals. In this post, I’ll explain decision fatigue and how it depletes your mental resources, impacts your self-control, and negatively affects your health.

What is decision fatigue?

Decision fatigue refers to the mental exhaustion and reduced cognitive ability after making numerous decisions, leading to poorer choices and decreased willpower. Making decisions requires using cognitive resources; as these resources are used up, our mental energy decreases, leading to decision fatigue. When decision fatigue hits, we have less ability to resist temptations and impulses, and our decisions become less thoughtful, leading to a higher chance of defaulting to what feels easiest. AKA running through the drive-thru instead of making dinner on Monday night between two kid baseball games after a long day at work. Have you been there too?

Sometimes, decision fatigue results in increased procrastination, like when you delay grocery shopping for those lean protein sources you know you should be eating and end up running out altogether, and DoorDash a less optimal choice for dinner—yep, also been there too!

What Causes Decision Fatigue?

Everyday life requires making many decisions, even very trivial choices like what shirt to wear to more significant ones like career moves. We also have to make complex decisions that require more cognitive effort and deplete our mental resources faster, like when working on a cross-functional team project or planning a large extended family vacation. Then, we add the stress of juggling multiple tasks simultaneously, which exacerbates cognitive depletion.

Eight years ago, I was the queen of decision fatigue! I found pride in being a master multi-tasker, trying to make simultaneous decisions all day long. And I was so exhausted from all the decisions I had to make each day at work and home that I couldn’t make any decisions in a way that helped support my nutrition or fitness.

Sound familiar?

How Decision Fatigue Impacts Our Health?

By the end of the day, after making so many decisions, people often feel exhausted and overloaded and find themselves choosing unhealthy snacks or meals over nutritious options due to depleted willpower. When you’ve already made thousands of decisions each day, deciding what to cook for dinner might feel too heavy and result in a less-than-optimal meal choice. This is how I found myself overweight, in pain, and both physically and mentally exhausted! Balanced nutrition decisions were hard enough, and just thinking about workouts overwhelmed me.

Decision fatigue can also impact sleep quality and bedtime routines, making it harder to establish and stick to healthy sleep habits. The lack of a consistent bedtime routine due to decision fatigue can lead to irregular sleep patterns, which disrupt the body’s circadian rhythm and can result in poorer sleep quality. This can look like procrastinating about going to bed, endlessly scrolling Instagram, binge-watching Netflix, and less-than-optimal evening choices, like consuming caffeine, alcohol, or heavy meals close to bedtime, which can interfere with sleep. Staying up too late, watching screens for longer than you planned, snacking on foods you didn’t intend, running out of time for your evening routine to unwind, waking up with your mind racing, and having anxiety over the next day in the middle of the night.

Sound familiar?

Managing Decision Fatigue

The good news is that there are many ways to manage and reduce decision fatigue! I had my awakening over eight years ago when I took steps to simplify my life. Looking back, I realize this was the key to helping me not only lose 75 lb but maintain it while navigating my busy single mom life! Now, I help other women do the same.

The number one strategy I use and teach my clients to support their health goals is to start by uncluttering their lives, both physically and mentally. The less stuff you have to deal with, think about, clean, maintain, and organize, the fewer decisions you make each day. Fewer decisions free you up to focus your time and attention where it matters most, allowing you to stay on track with your health goals.

Creating rituals and routines to support less decision-making & prioritizing where and how you spend your time are all topics I cover in Unclutter Your Life in 14 Days, my new group program starting in late July. In this program, you’ll learn how to simplify and organize to reduce stress and waste so you can focus on the things that matter the most!

Unclutter Your Life in 14 Days officially opens for enrollment on Monday with an early-bird discount rate of $87 through July 7th.

Sign up today to reserve your spot at the ridiculously discounted $67 pre-sale rate.

I hope to see you there!

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hi, i'm lauren!

I help successful, high-achieving women like you implement efficient, proven and sustainable ways to prioritize your health and find your confidence again.

Hi, I'm Lauren!

I help successful, high-achieving women like you implement efficient, proven and sustainable ways to prioritize your health and find your confidence again.