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Have you ever felt like your brain is in a fog at the end of the day? You just CANNOT make another decision right now? I have and it may be related to the mental load we carry in our lives. Let’s talk about decision fatigue today.
Welcome back to The Burnout Doctor Podcast, I’m your host Dr. Jessica Louie. Today, we are talking about decision fatigue and what to do about it. Thank you for sharing your action steps from our last episode how to stop feeling behind in life and how we paid off massive student loan debt. Many of you are taking action by using our complimentary Burnout Starter Kit and Financial Freedom Kit – don’t forget to download yours today! We all write our own stories in our lives and homes. Let’s all bring joy into home and joy into work.
Have you ever felt like your brain is in a fog at the end of the day? You just CANNOT make another decision right now? I have and it may be related to the mental load we carry in our lives. Find out what the mental load is, how it relates to mental clutter and why we want to address it for our well-being.
See all my Book Recommendations here!
What is Decision Fatigue?
Before we get into the definition of it and why it is important, let’s take a moment to think and reflect. Have you ever felt like your brain is in a fog at the end of the day?
Have you ever felt that you just can’t make another decision right now?
Have you ever felt so overwhelmed that you want to cry?
I’ve felt all these ways.
These are all examples of the mental load.
What is Decision Fatigue?
Deteriorating quality of decisions made after a person has already made a lot of decisions.
The problem with the mental load?
It effects our stress levels and well-being.
It may be interesting for you to know that how we perceive, react and view stress has more impact on our well-being than our actual to-do list.
So, if we are feeling mental overload and mental clutter, it may adversely affect our well-being and our physical health because we know cortisol levels are related to our stress.
This is also a reminder that BUSY is NOT better. Many of us brag about our responsibilities and role in our households, and this may correlate with our mental load. It doesn’t need to be that way.
We choose what is on our calendars, where we spend our time and how we simplify our lives. It’s a choice.
Let’s go back to our questions from earlier. How did I feel these examples in my own life?
My brain has been in a fog after going from activity to activity and not giving myself a break or a breath. I’ve felt like screaming when another decision needs to be made. And I know many of my healthcare colleagues can relate. When my fiancé gets home from the hospital and we’re talking about dinner, there is NO way he wants to make another decision about what to eat. This was a point of contention at one time and now we have our Weekly Joy Check discussions so we know what we’re eating in advance and who is making out take-out food for date night. I’ve felt like taking in another piece of information will put me over the edge – too much news consumption – to just want to cry and put it all away. My brain is done processing information – done consuming from digital media sources and digital clutter in my life.
Let’s also think about where we find mental clutter in our lives. Many times it’s related to our digital clutter because yes, we have amazing technology now but it’s also interfering with our joy sometimes.
For example, how often to you check your phone? Your email inbox? Your internet browser and bookmarks?
I’m going to guess…A LOT!
I used to do this too! I cluttered my life with notifications. I checked my phone constantly because there was a ding for a new text message or like on facebook or comment on Instagram. I checked my email as they came into my phone and early in the morning and right before bedtime. I opened up my internet browser and had a long list of bookmarks to search through to find what I was looking for. I opened my laptop and had files scattered with no organization.
But it doesn’t have to be that way, right? We don’t need our digital clutter running our lives. We can teach others how to communicate with us and stop reacting to our mental clutter.
We are the CEOs of our lives. We run our lives. Life doesn’t run us.
Get help with decision fatigue with our Digital Decluttering Workshops.
In my Joy at Work Course, you can get even more advice and action steps on how to make decisions with confidence and how to say no with confidence.
Make sure you’re following along on our YouTube channel (youtube.com/drjessicalouie) as well with new videos going live every Saturday!
Until next time, spark joy my friends!
Note, my views are my own and are not associated or representative of my employer(s).
This podcast is for educational purposes only and not medical advice.