Beckie Mossor, RVT, shares information about our growing understanding of decision fatigue. It is the worst when we have too many decision to make in a short amount of time, she writes. Decision fatigue affects individuals differently, and factors like sleep, nutrition and stress also help determine our mental stamina.
She shares simple steps we can take to decrease the number of choices we have to make and increase our available mental resources for the day’s most important decisions:
- Eliminate unnecessary decisions.
- Meal planning.
- Take advantage of technology.
- Stick to your decisions.
- Prioritize self-care.
Source: DVM 360, March 2019. Link. Even after we’ve made a decision, we tend to overanalyze the outcome, contributing further to our fatigue level. When we give additional mental energy to a decision we’ve already made, we draw energy from our stamina for future decisions.
Also see: Stop telling people what to do, DVM 360, March 2019. Link. Advice only works in one case: when someone asks for it . . . and even then not so much, writes Mike Paul, DVM.
Sometimes people want to talk, not listen. Talking leads to self-reflection and gives people a chance to develop their own wisdom in time.
INSIGHTS: Dr. Paul’s theme fits into Dr. Mosser’s topic on decision fatigue. Specifically, eliminate unnecessary decisions and prioritize self care. Giving useless advice wastes our own decision-making capacity.