Decision fatigue is the deterioration of a person’s ability to make good decisions after a long period. Or explained another way—it’s that stressful feeling you get when you’ve had to make too many choices in the run of a day. If you’ve ever felt it, you know what we’re talking about, and you’re not alone.
According to a 2021 survey, 32% of adults struggled to make basic decisions due to pandemic-related stress (WFH certainly falls under the “pandemic-related” umbrella). But has working from home really compromised our ability to make good choices? Let’s talk a bit more about how we get decision fatigue in the first place to find out.
Working from home is making us work harder. It’s true, we’re more productive, but at what cost? Think about it: not being interrupted by serendipitous conversations with coworkers, not taking a walk for a coffee, not standing up from our desks to walk to meetings. We’re getting more done in less time, often because we’re not taking breaks.
At home it’s easy to forget to take breaks because those typical sources of disruption don’t exist. People are forgetting to take breaks and walk away and studies show they’re working longer hours to boot.
In short, that’s how we get decision fatigue. Staying too focused for too long, with not enough time for breaks.
When we make too many choices in the run of a day, our brain gets worn out, and eventually starts to look for shortcuts. This can lead to us making spur-of-the-moment decisions purely so we can move on from the stress of having to choose.
While sometimes having to make a rapid decision is necessary or even beneficial (see: trusting your gut), in the case of decision fatigue, our brain is too tired to give us the time we need to weigh out our options correctly. As a result, we can end up making a choice that we later regret.
TLDR; after a certain point, our decision making mechanism (i.e. the brain) gets overloaded and is no longer effective, and overloaded brains make poor choices.
One way to stave off decision fatigue is to simply give our brains a break. Breaks help rejuvenate us to the point where we can think clearly about the information that’s being presented to us in a decision making scenario.
Studies show that people naturally lose focus after about 90 minutes of working. Rather than jumping from task to task or distracting ourselves with something that only further wearies our brain, taking a good break can help us recharge for another focused work session and prepare our faculties to make measured decisions.
Brightspot reminds you to take breaks with the Brightspot Break Scheduling tool. Once you tell Brightspot when you’re working, we’ll tell you when to stop—to stretch, to stand, or just chill out. The best part is, our Break Scheduler syncs with your calendar of choice to integrate seamlessly into your day. Download the Brightspot App and complete the Focus-Break Scheduler plan to unlock your Break Scheduling tool today!
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Decision fatigue is the deterioration of a person’s ability to make good decisions after a long period. Or explained another way—it’s that stressful feeling you get when you’ve had to make too many choices in the run of a day. If you’ve ever felt it, you know what we’re talking about, and you’re not alone.
According to a 2021 survey, 32% of adults struggled to make basic decisions due to pandemic-related stress (WFH certainly falls under the “pandemic-related” umbrella). But has working from home really compromised our ability to make good choices? Let’s talk a bit more about how we get decision fatigue in the first place to find out.
Working from home is making us work harder. It’s true, we’re more productive, but at what cost? Think about it: not being interrupted by serendipitous conversations with coworkers, not taking a walk for a coffee, not standing up from our desks to walk to meetings. We’re getting more done in less time, often because we’re not taking breaks.
At home it’s easy to forget to take breaks because those typical sources of disruption don’t exist. People are forgetting to take breaks and walk away and studies show they’re working longer hours to boot.
In short, that’s how we get decision fatigue. Staying too focused for too long, with not enough time for breaks.
When we make too many choices in the run of a day, our brain gets worn out, and eventually starts to look for shortcuts. This can lead to us making spur-of-the-moment decisions purely so we can move on from the stress of having to choose.
While sometimes having to make a rapid decision is necessary or even beneficial (see: trusting your gut), in the case of decision fatigue, our brain is too tired to give us the time we need to weigh out our options correctly. As a result, we can end up making a choice that we later regret.
TLDR; after a certain point, our decision making mechanism (i.e. the brain) gets overloaded and is no longer effective, and overloaded brains make poor choices.
One way to stave off decision fatigue is to simply give our brains a break. Breaks help rejuvenate us to the point where we can think clearly about the information that’s being presented to us in a decision making scenario.
Studies show that people naturally lose focus after about 90 minutes of working. Rather than jumping from task to task or distracting ourselves with something that only further wearies our brain, taking a good break can help us recharge for another focused work session and prepare our faculties to make measured decisions.
Brightspot reminds you to take breaks with the Brightspot Break Scheduling tool. Once you tell Brightspot when you’re working, we’ll tell you when to stop—to stretch, to stand, or just chill out. The best part is, our Break Scheduler syncs with your calendar of choice to integrate seamlessly into your day. Download the Brightspot App and complete the Focus-Break Scheduler plan to unlock your Break Scheduling tool today!
