Running any business effectively requires frequent decision-making. Every day brings countless small personal choices, plus bigger professional decisions about managing employees, finances, sales, marketing, customers, products, services, and workloads.
Many small business owners experience decision fatigue in the workplace. Decision fatigue is the mental exhaustion caused by making too many decisions, which impairs the ability to make sound decisions later. Decision fatigue builds up daily and becomes worse later in the day as more and more decisions drain mental energy. It usually resolves overnight, but can last longer if you are experiencing chronic stress or burnout.
Decision fatigue is more likely to happen for people who are perfectionists, overthinkers, or high achievers. When small business owners can recognize the signs of decision fatigue, they can use techniques to remedy it. Instead of focusing on speed in making many decisions, learn how to manage your mental energy to make better decisions.
1. Check for Signs of Decision Fatigue
Mental energy is not endless. There is only so much your brain can handle in one day before you start experiencing decision fatigue. Many factors contribute to decision fatigue, including stress, pressure, overload, chaotic environments, and a lack of self-care. A company culture with too many meetings and approval requirements, frequent interruptions from working in open spaces, a poor work-life balance, unrealistic expectations, and/or disconnected systems also contributes to decision fatigue.
When you are experiencing decision fatigue, you may quickly say yes or no without spending the necessary energy to carefully consider all factors. As impulsivity increases, the quality of decisions deteriorates. You may also find yourself avoiding or postponing making decisions. By the time your workday is over, you may have difficulty making even small personal choices, like what to eat for dinner or what television show to watch.
Decision fatigue is a psychological phenomenon, not a physical or mental condition. There are common signs, but no set list of symptoms or diagnostic criteria. Decision fatigue may be associated with other conditions, such as burnout, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The Cleveland Clinic describes eight signs of decision fatigue: procrastination or decision avoidance, impulsivity, exhaustion, brain fog, irritability, feeling overwhelmed, regret or dissatisfaction, and physical discomfort. The stress of making decisions can trigger physical reactions such as headaches and stomach problems.
A conceptual analysis of decision fatigue grouped the attributes into three categories: behavioral, cognitive, and physiological. The behavioral attributes are the most common and involve an underlying state of ego depletion, which means depleted executive functioning. In order to prevent further ego depletion, individuals unconsciously alter their behavior by procrastinating, avoiding any action, acting impulsively, displaying less persistence, and/or settling on default options.
Ask yourself these questions to see if you may be experiencing any signs of decision fatigue:
- Have you been making choices that are quicker or more impulsive than usual?
- Are you making rash choices or snap decisions?
- Do you find yourself procrastinating when you need to make decisions?
- Are you avoiding making decisions?
- Do you feel overwhelmed when you have to make choices?
- Does it take more energy to make decisions?
- Are you getting stuck weighing pros and cons?
- Are you ruminating about the decisions you have already made?
- Are you experiencing brain fog or difficulty concentrating?
- Are you feeling impatient, overloaded, or irritable?
- Are you feeling more tired than usual?
- Does the stress of making decisions trigger physical symptoms?
2. Plan Your Day and Week
The best way to avoid overtaxing your brain with too many small decisions is with planning. By using schedules, routines, default choices, to-do lists, and time management techniques, you will conserve brainpower for bigger decisions. Default choices could be as simple as deciding to always eat cereal for breakfast, so you eliminate the daily breakfast decision. Use these planning ideas to reduce the number of daily decisions:
- Create a daily to-do list and schedule.
- Write down tasks and sort them by priority.
- Set up daily routines.
- Schedule breaks, exercise, chores, and time off.
- Automate workflows, bills, and personal items.
- Establish default choices.
- Make a shopping list.
- Do weekly grocery shopping.
- Stock your kitchen and desk with healthy snacks.
- Pick out your clothes the night before.
- Plan your meals for the day or week.
An important aspect of effectively planning your day is identifying the time of day when your mental energy is the highest based on your chronotype. Peak performance is highest in the morning for larks (morning people), while for night owls, the peak performance window is in the afternoon and evening. Once you have identified your peak energy hours, this is when to tackle complex decisions.
Throughout the day, everyone moves through three periods in different orders: peak, trough, and recovery. Avoid making tough decisions when your energy and mood are low during the trough period. If you find yourself feeling run down during your usual morning peak energy window, defer making a decision until either the recovery period later that day or your peak energy time the next day.
Making decisions during a low energy period in your day can be detrimental. “Many of my clients are successful small business owners who deal with decision fatigue at the end of their workday, and that’s a risky time to make a costly decision,” said Lisa Chen, LMFT, founder and executive director of Lisa Chen & Associates Therapy, a boutique practice for executives, founders, and high achievers. “They’re burnt out and depleted, and with this emotional state, it’s easy to say yes or no to a favor. It might be a costly decision you regret later.”
Before making decisions, ask yourself how you are feeling physically and mentally. “The solution is to plan to make decisions at a time when you’re grounded and emotionally well-regulated. One in which you can tap into your analytical mind, that’s most likely a time when you’re alert, calm, and emotionally well-regulated,” recommends Chen. “It’s important to find out what and when works for you, as some clients find early in the day to be the best, while others might prefer a certain scheduled day to set aside for major decisions. You want to be making decisions with a clear head, not an exhausted or emotionally drained one.”
3. Pay Attention to Overthinking
Overthinking causes additional challenges when dealing with decision fatigue. “When you’re constantly second-guessing yourself, researching every option, or worrying about making the wrong choice, you’re using up a lot of mental energy,” said Meredith Van Ness, LCSW, psychotherapist and owner of Meredith Van Ness Therapy. “All that extra thinking doesn’t necessarily lead to a better decision, either.”
When you are able to catch overthinking, you can use helpful strategies to interrupt the loop. “Notice when you’ve gone from making a thoughtful decision to going around in circles. Maybe you’ve rewritten the same email five times or spent an hour researching something that really doesn’t need that much attention,” remarked Van Ness. “Ask yourself whether you have enough information to make a reasonable decision. If you do, make it and move on. You can also give yourself a time limit for smaller decisions. Every decision doesn’t deserve the same amount of your time or energy.”
4. Create Boundaries Around Your Workday
When running a small business, it can be a struggle to maintain a healthy work-life balance. “This is a big one for small business owners because there’s always something else you could be doing,” said Van Ness. “You can finish your work for the day and still have emails waiting, things on your to-do list, and decisions that haven’t been made.”
Creating boundaries in your day can help. “Decide when your workday ends and let some things wait until tomorrow. Getting enough sleep, spending time with people you care about, and having a life outside of work matter, too,” said Van Ness. “Paying attention to how much you’re asking of yourself throughout the day can help you recognize when it’s time to simplify something, take a break, or call it a day.”
5. Lead with Positivity
According to Barbara Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory, positive emotions broaden mindsets while building personal and social resources. When you approach decisions with positivity, it opens up new possibilities. Unlike negative emotions that narrow mindsets, positive emotions lead to more creative and flexible decisions.
Fredrickson identified 10 elements of positivity: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love. The good news is that it only takes micro-moments to boost positivity, which can have a real impact for leaders and their teams. For instance, before making team decisions, begin the meeting by expressing verbal gratitude for the team and/or bringing in delicious treats to share.
6. Use Decision Caps and Frameworks
By setting and sticking to a predetermined limit for the number of big work decisions you will make each day, you can better regulate your mental energy. Tailor the decision cap to the needs of your business and personal preferences. It is usually better to focus on a maximum of two or three key decisions per day instead of trying to tackle many at once. Additionally, you can batch smaller decisions to complete similar items at one time, such as meal prep or responding to emails. Some people find it helpful to set a time limit for making small decisions.
Utilizing a decision framework provides structure and reduces uncertainty for solo and team decisions. The best formal decision framework to use depends on the specific situation and number of people involved. Forbes provided a brief overview of four decision frameworks for CEOs, including the rubber band method, where you identify the sources that are holding you back and pulling you forward.
You can also create informal structures to guide your decisions and reduce mental exertion, like making a pros and cons list, using a rating scale with pre-set criteria, or asking specific questions. The 10-10-10 rule coined by Suzy Welch involves asking what the consequence of this decision will be in 10 minutes, in 10 months, and in 10 years. When you add effective and efficient structures to your decision-making process, you conserve mental energy instead of depleting it.
7. Set Default Answers
Do you really need to waste time deliberating each time a small question arises? “Most of the business owners I work with assume decision fatigue comes from the big choices, but it’s usually the small ones wearing them down in the background,” said Elizabeth Bodett Dresser, LCPC, founder of Still Oak Counseling. “Each of those tiny calls pulls from the same tank you need for the decisions that actually grow your business.”
So how can you eliminate some of the tiny decisions from your day? “My best advice is to decide things once. Choose your default answer to the questions that come up every week, like which days you take calls or how quickly you reply to new inquiries,” recommended Bodett Dresser. “Then write it down so you stop reopening it. A decision you made once intentionally will always beat one you remake fifty times on fumes.”
8. Sort Decisions into Two Piles
High achievers often strive for perfection, which adds even more pressure to decisions. “The other piece I see constantly with high achievers is that the fatigue isn’t only about how many decisions they’re making; it’s about the standard they’re holding each one to,” explained Bodett Dresser. “When every choice has to be the perfect choice, even picking a scheduling tool turns into a three-day research project. There’s usually a part of you that’s trying to protect you from looking foolish or getting it wrong, and you mean well, but it’s exhausting to run a business that way.”
How can you remove some of the pressure from work decisions? “I ask clients to sort decisions into two piles: the ones that can be undone and the ones that can’t. Anything reversible gets a ‘good enough by Friday’ rule,” said Bodett Dresser. “You’ll make some imperfect calls, and your business will survive those far better than it survives an owner who’s burned out.”
9. Prioritize Self-Care
In order to better cope with the demands of being a small business owner, prioritize self-care, which means regular and intentional action to protect your health. Research shows that decision-making becomes worse the longer people go without a break. Taking a break is just one form of self-care that can help combat decision fatigue. Incorporating the following self-care techniques will help you manage stress, health, and decision fatigue:
- Utilize relaxation techniques: Identify and use the relaxation techniques that work best for you, such as mindfulness, meditation, deep breathing, guided imagery, soothing music, progressive muscle relaxation, sleep podcasts, journaling, or yoga.
- Take breaks: Take quick breaks throughout your day to stretch and utilize relaxation techniques. Give yourself a real lunch break without doing any work or rushing to do errands. As you set up your calendar, schedule and block break times as well as brief windows between meetings.
- Maintain a work-life balance: Create protocols that will allow you to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Determine your work-life boundaries and implement methods to stick to them, like dedicated times to unplug and not bringing home unfinished work. If you work from home, it is essential to be proactive in creating a balance that prevents burnout. By taking evenings off to do the personal things that you enjoy, you will be able to approach decisions from a fresh perspective the next day.
- Schedule exercise: Find a form of exercise that is realistic and practical for you to regularly incorporate into your life. Instead of debating about when to work out, schedule it in your daily calendar and stick to it.
- Prioritize sleep: Create a sleep routine, block ample time for sleep, and ensure that the environment is conducive to sleep. On days when you are feeling extra tired, a short power nap can help.
- Eat healthy: Strive to eat nutritious meals and stay hydrated by drinking water throughout the day. By simply planning your meals and snacks ahead of time, you will not only make healthier choices and be less likely to skip meals, but you will eliminate last-minute decisions about what to eat.
- Let it go: Once you make a decision, let it go. Do not waste more energy by second-guessing yourself or ruminating.
- Use self-compassion: Treat yourself the same way you would a friend. Replace negative thoughts with positive self-talk that shows gentleness, kindness, love, and gratitude.
- Take a vacation: You may feel too busy to plan and take a vacation. However, taking a vacation will not only help you to relax and recharge, but also to work more effectively when you return. Incorporate frequent mini-vacations and days off in your calendar, plus plan a real vacation each year.
10. Seek Support
Support for decision fatigue can come from a variety of people, including peers, team members, trusted advisors, and therapists. “If you find yourself breaking your own rules, this might be a time to consider talking with a therapist,” said Chen. “Chronic burnout, avoidance of making decisions, or making decisions impulsively are red flags.”
Consider the following forms of support:
- Surround yourself with a talented team: It will be easier to delegate tasks when you hire a talented team of employees and take steps to build trust and loyalty. The more smaller decisions you can delegate, the more space you will have for bigger decisions.
- Talk to a trusted advisor: Identify at least one unbiased person to confide in about big decisions. A trusted advisor could be someone inside or outside of your organization who can offer you a confidential, strategic perspective and point out any blind spots. Your advisor could be a board member, executive, or director at your organization. Outside advisors could be peers, mentors, coaches, or consultants.
- Consult a therapist: Decision fatigue is usually an acute psychological phenomenon that can resolve overnight. If it becomes a chronic condition that persists for weeks without periods of recovery, you likely need extra support. When decision fatigue is having a major impact or if it is related to chronic stress, burnout, depression, or anxiety, working with a mental health professional is recommended.
Compare Your Options with SBG Funding
Financial decisions for small business owners can be overwhelming, time-consuming, and frustrating, especially when dealing with traditional banks. SBG Funding is a direct provider of revenue-based financing and a marketplace offering a broad range of funding solutions through an extensive network of lenders. One application covers options like working capital and a business line of credit, with funding in as little as 24 hours, freeing up valuable mental energy for you to focus on other business matters.
Get Started Today:
- Fill out our online application.
- Speak with a funding specialist to discuss your options.
- Submit your documents and receive funding quickly.
Typical Requirements:
- Four months of bank statements
- Minimum FICO score of 500, six months in business, and $150,000 in annual revenue
FAQs
Decision fatigue is the mental exhaustion that comes from making too many decisions, which makes later decisions worse. It builds through the day and usually clears overnight, though chronic stress or burnout can make it last longer.
Common signs include putting off decisions, making snap or impulsive choices, brain fog, irritability, feeling overwhelmed and second-guessing choices you’ve already made. Some people also get headaches or stomach problems from the stress.
Take a real break, get enough sleep and push big decisions to the time of day when you’re most alert. Over time, cut the number of small decisions you make with routines, default answers and delegation, so your energy goes to the choices that matter.
