Decision Fatigue
The longer an employee works, the less effective the person becomes. This is decision fatigue
We all make hundreds of decisions every day. What to have for breakfast? What to wear to office… wait, the answer to that has not changed in the last two years. Barack Obama has solved this mystery when he described why choosing what to wear to work was not a decision he wanted to make every day.
“You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits. I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”
Productivity hacks
Obama used to get all the papers to his office with 3 choices to make.
agree
disagree
let’s discuss
That sped up the decision making process and also prioritised where he would spend his time.
Despite the punishing work schedule, he said exercising helped him get more done. <Read more>
Our best ideas come when we take breaks and not when we slave away at our desk for hours. When we work from home, we do not have a colleague who taps us on the should and asks us to accompany them to the coffee machine. On the way you exchange pleasantries, trade gossip and crib about the boss. The breaks matter - especially when you are working on something creative.
How to avoid ‘Decision Fatigue’
A study in Health Psychology found that nurses tended to make less efficient and more expensive clinical decisions about patient care the longer they went without a break.
Schedule chunks of “white space” in your calendar.
Take a shower if you are in need of new ideas
Go for a walk and exercise
Here are some more ideas for being productive <Read this>
