How to Beat Decision Fatigue

Cut down on your everyday choices to avoid decision fatigue and get important tasks done.

Making some 35,000 decisions a day exhausts the average person. However, you can refuse to destroy your productivity by mulling over what to eat, wear, buy, write, watch, clean and do. Instead, eliminate distractions and focus your energy on what matters. 

Make as many decisions as possible in advance or, even better, cut back your need to make them at all. Devise a meal plan for the month that derives from what you regularly eat, and prep your meals for an entire week. Like Steve Jobs and Barack Obama, wear similar clothes every day and put your outfit out the night before.

When you face the grocery store, stick with one brand when shopping. Organize your list according to the store’s layout and rely on a checklist for staples, adding items as needed, to limit your shopping to one weekly trip.

When you’re socializing, choose decisive friends who won’t sap your reserves. When working, refuse to multitask. Pare down your computer desktop with simple wallpaper and limit your immediate view to a few...