Suffering from Decision Fatigue?

5 Steps to take now

It’s January 2022, meaning it’s the start of a new year usually greeted with excitement, determination and hope. As we collectively experienced the highly anticipated turnover of 2020 fizzle into grievous disappointment with 2021, let’s agree that expectations for this year are more tempered. We are, most certainly, suffering from Pandemic Fatigue.

Pandemic Fatigue is defined by the World Health Organisation as “demotivation to follow recommended protective behaviours, emerging gradually over time and affected by a number of emotions, experiences and perceptions”. The global population generally supports measures to reduce the spread of the virus, but real and anecdotal evidence shows us we’re all just a little bit over it, and it’s starting to show.

A shift in behaviour can demonstrate our ability to make different decisions when new information arises. We can think critically in the face of new evidence, and change our actions as a result. At the start of the pandemic, many of us spent an inordinate amount of time wiping down packaged groceries. As it became clear that the risk of infection from such surfaces was fairly insignificant, we stopped.

But, the downside of any behavioural shift is when it occurs simply because we are tired of it all; when our actions change not because of a well thought-out process, but because we just can’t keep it up.

Not only are we fatigued from the pandemic, we are fatigued by all the new and risk-laden decisions we continually need to make.

In such challenging circumstances, our brains kick into a different kind of decision-making, one that over-simplifies complexities so that we can Just. Move. On. Researchers have found that such decision fatigue makes us more prone to biases, failing to consider all relevant information. When chronically stressed, we can make riskier decisions, and we can even fail to make decisions at all, where resulting actions and inactions are because we’ve become inert.

To mitigate against this tendency, it’s important to acknowledge and accept that these times are stressful; previously easy decisions have become increasingly complex and compounding and, therefore, our decision-making might be impacted. Here are five ways to help, following the acronym PURGE:

1. Prioritise and Simplify

Prioritise more important decisions and simplify the decisions you need to make. Yes, it’s ok to have toast again for dinner and, yes, let’s take some time tonight to discuss whether or not our child can attend football camp. Anecdotally, I’ve read of prominent business people and politicians wearing the same style of clothes each day, so they have one less decision to make.

2. Understand your Risk Tolerance

To avoid inadvertently making decisions riskier than usual, figure out your personal risk profile. What risks are you ok to take on? Under what circumstances? What risks are not ok? Be aware: working backwards from what you want your decision to be (such as to go to a party) is not a good way to get an accurate assessment of your risk tolerance.

3. Remove Distractions

Comments on social media pages, opinions of celebrities, community facebook posts and even friendly whatsapp groups generally fall into the category of distraction. Not only are these sources largely inconsequential to making good decisions, they can drain your energy. Stay connected, but stay focused.

4. Give Yourself a Break

Our brains and bodies need time to recuperate. This is not a time to scroll aimlessly, or a disguised attempt to procrastinate or avoid making decisions. A break is when you can be somewhere that relaxes and/or recharges you without distractions. And, yes, getting both exercise and enough sleep is vital.

5. Enlist and Engage

And finally, engaging with relevant information from a few good sources can help with reducing the effects of decision fatigue. Choose wisely and avoid the Wonderland rabbit hole of google research. Enlisting the help of someone you trust, and whose thought processes you respect, may also ease the burden.

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In the process of researching and writing this piece, I came across a request from The New York Times to contribute to a report on COVID-related decision fatigue. For anyone experiencing COVID-related decision fatigue, and interested in sharing their story, Link is here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/us/covid-decision-fatigue.html

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Coaching is not therapy. If you are feeling overwhelmed to the point where it’s getting in the way of your healthy functioning, seek help from a mental health professional.

In no way has this been written as a discourse on the validity of protective measures in place during the COVID 19 pandemic and I claim no expertise in such areas.