Listen to this episode on the Pgh Dreamer’s Pod

The house is a mess. The shelves aren’t stocked. The dinner isn’t made. And the kids’ homework isn’t complete. A typical night in my home.

Best of all, this situation hits me like a ton of bricks every evening AFTER my day job. I just spent the last 8+ hours crafting emails, taking diligent meeting notes, and completing work only to be left with yet another list of decisions. Talk about decision fatigue!

Decisions are more than just choosing between A) and B). They require action once the decision is made. The action part is what totally exhausts my brain. It would be one thing to simply check the box next to the best choice at the time, but it’s a whole other task to move my butt off the couch to make it happen.

Sure, a part of me realizes that eating dinner is a necessity. And the kids doing their homework is best for their education. But another part secretly considers what would happen if I just stopped. How many hours would it take for my family to take it upon themselves to make something to eat? And how many days of not turning in their homework would it take for my kids to take control of this task independently?

While these may be “extreme” examples of negligence (LOL), I employ you to think about ways in which you could remove some decision fatigue by simply ignoring the self-imposed responsibility.

For example, I can’t sit down until everything is tidy. No, I’m not a clean-freak, I rarely dust anything. But the thought of toys scattered or clothes unfolded lingers. I MUST do the things before I can relax. But what if I chose not to fold the laundry before I got needed rest? Or if I let the toys pile up and become a huge mess? Would it really shake my household to a point of failure? Not in the slightest. When we run out of clean underwear, I’d eventually have to fold. In terms of the toys, when things got so bad that we couldn’t walk through the upstairs, maybe I’d employ the kids to give me a hand. However, the world would not stop spinning if I didn’t do something.

And at work, perhaps you’ve been pushed past a point of decision fatigue. You are now feeling a little rebellious. What would happen if you talked to your boss about taking this decision off your plate? Would they be open to it? How about modifying the frequency in which you need to make decisions and do tasks? Is there room for flexibility or better yet, delegation? Will the company come to a halt if you cannot get the meeting minutes done within 24-hours or the slides updated for the next group session? Probably not. If anything, you may get a side glance – but as long as the meeting still goes on and topics are discussed, what’s the harm in adopting this ‘stop doing’ approach?

What do you want to try and stop doing? I’d be curious if it helps boost your overall well-being!

Need help figuring out what to offload? Let’s discuss through an Accountability Buddy session!