On decision fatigue: “Why are you so tired? The answer has to do with how many times you’ve had to make a decision throughout the day.” And: “The quality of our decisions deteriorates as we accumulate previous decisions.”
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In my work as a physician, I have found this to be absolutely true. My work is nothing but decisions, all day every day, and I find that I don't want to make them anymore once I'm home because I'm just too tired, and too tired of deciding things.
This... is not ideal.
I feel this. My roles as a project manager, and a caregiver are nothing but a chain of consequential decisions all day, every day. Often, by the end of the day something as simple as 'what should we fix for dinner' can be paralyzing.
"The brain is just like any other muscle"
That is certainly an interesting take ...
I played Dungeons & Dragons for four hours yesterday and came home feeling exhilarated and exhausted.
We have a neighbor who wears the same thing every day — black pants, black t-shirt, one of three pairs of shoes. Come to think of it we have another neighbor who only has three shirts. Anyway, this seems like a great way to not have to choose what to wear. A few years ago I bought 10 pairs of the same socks and even that little thing of not having to choose which socks, it's a relief.
Also has the advantage of not having to spend time matching socks and if you lose one, the match isn't wasted.
I have a “uniform” for this purpose. Five of the same brand and style of jeans. Ten of the same polo shirt (ten flannels in the winter). 14 pairs of the same underwear and socks. Makes life easy.
The classic work on this topic is the jam study, a famous experiment run in 2000 by some Columbia psychologists where they had shoppers taste a bunch of jam samples. People who tried six jams, versus 24 or 30, were much more likely to want to buy a jam and were happier with their choice.
Later research -- surprising to no one who has ever been poor -- shows that the cognitive burden of poverty reduces people's ability to make choices and take action.
Watch out. This one may be a victim of the replication crisis. See:
https://www.sufficientcertainty.com/writing/is-decision-fatigue-real
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stretching-theory/202309/is-decision-fatigue-real
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-025-00207-8
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