I’d never heard of this term until yesterday but I intuitively understand its meaning. According to Wikipedia “decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual, after a long session of decision making.”
In plain language, the more decisions you have to make, the less able you are to make good ones.
In business, we are constantly making decisions; from what marketing strategy to employ to which phone call to return first. Some decisions will have a major impact on your business, some won’t. That’s why planning and prioritizing is so important.
I heard a journalist on the radio talking about how President Obama has cut out trivial decisions so he has more mental muscle to tackle the big problems. Eating the same breakfast every day and only wearing grey or blue suits are two ways he has reduced the number of decisions he needs to make in a day.
Decision fatigue is why a marketing plan is so essential. Spend one day making a bunch of decisions about the type of marketing you’ll do and put them on your calendar. That way, each day you don’t have to decide a) to engage in marketing and b) which marketing activity you will do. It’s already laid out for you.
Something simple like creating a posting schedule for your Facebook page can reduce decision fatigue. Knowing you’ll post at 9 and 2 on Monday; 11 and 7 on Tuesday etc will make you more likely to get it done.
How do you reduce decision fatigue in your life? Leave a comment and share your tips.
Andrea Stenberg
