How to Reduce Decision Fatigue

To reduce decision fatigue, decide recurring things once instead of every day. Give each weekday a theme, pick one most important task for each day, write checklists for work you repeat, and set one simple rule for what goes on the calendar and what goes on a list. Every decision you settle in advance leaves more energy for the ones that matter.

Here's what I've settled in advance, and why it helps.

What decision fatigue feels like

“Here's how it feels to me: my brain only has so much "decision juice" every day.” Some days I'd get stuck in front of my inbox, unable to decide between answering an email and going to eat lunch.

The book uses a well-known example: "Barack Obama famously wore the same suits and ate the same meals to save his decision power for what mattered. I'm not presidential, but I get it now. The less I try to remember and the more I plan ahead, the more energy I have for the stuff that actually counts."

So the goal isn't to make better decisions all day. It's to make fewer.

1. Give your days a theme

"Instead of bouncing between emails, admin, calls, and deep work, I started grouping tasks by type." My week uses themed days, for example:

• Mondays and Thursdays: content creation.
• Tuesdays: admin.
• Wednesdays: networking.

"It sounds rigid, but it freed me up to actually get stuff done." When the day already has a theme, you don't spend the morning deciding what kind of day it is.

2. Pick one most important task

Each day I pick one MIT (Most Important Task, a term Leo Babauta made popular): "the thing that, if I do nothing else, will make the day a win." I usually do it first, before distractions get in.

One task is a much smaller decision than a ranked list of twelve. If your energy is low, start with just this one.

3. Write checklists for anything you repeat

"For years, I resisted standard operating procedures (SOPs) because I thought they were for big companies, not creative people like me. But honestly, creating clear checklists and routines for recurring work is what saved my sanity."

A checklist means "I don't have to reinvent the wheel." When something breaks, I update the checklist. "It's not just about efficiency—it's about freeing up my brain for the creative, strategic work that actually matters."

4. One rule for calendar or list

Where does a task go? I decided once:

• Calendar: anything with a date or time, plus big blocks like deep work and rest.
• Task list: everything else.

"If something has a date or time, it goes on the calendar. Everything else goes in Notion. If it's a two-minute task, I just do it." (The two-minute rule is David Allen's, from Getting Things Done.)

5. Reset your space to the same baseline

Barbara Hemphill said, "Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions." That's why I reset my space: “Every item has a place. After I eat, after I work out, after I finish a project: I return my space to "baseline."” If I skip it, "the mess becomes my first project of the day."

Set up your space so the default is what you want. "The key is to reduce friction for the things you want to do, and increase friction for the things you want to avoid." (James Clear makes the same point in Atomic Habits.)

6. Automate, but only if it lowers stress

Automations can remove decisions too, with one condition: "automations are only a help if they reduce your stress. If you're constantly tweaking, fixing, or adding new automations, you might just be creating more digital noise." If an automation turns into a new chore, I let it go.

Don't over-plan your way into more decisions

Planning can become its own decision trap. My rule: "Plan enough to get moving. Then move."

One thing to try today

Decide tomorrow's one task tonight (2 minutes). Before you stop for the day, write down tomorrow's most important task and put it where you'll see it first. Tomorrow morning there's nothing to decide; you just start.

For a weekly version of the same idea, see my simple weekly review.

Free: Chapters 2 to 5 of After the Crash cover themed days, the most important task, the calendar-or-list split and setting up your space. The free edition: isakvidinghoff.com/free-book

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Sources

• After the Crash, Ch 3: “my brain only has so much "decision juice" every day.”
• After the Crash, Ch 2: "It sounds rigid, but it freed me up to actually get stuff done."
• After the Crash, Ch 2: "the thing that, if I do nothing else, will make the day a win."
• After the Crash, Ch 4: "creating clear checklists and routines for recurring work is what saved my sanity."
• After the Crash, Ch 3: "If something has a date or time, it goes on the calendar."
• After the Crash, Ch 5: “I return my space to "baseline."”
• After the Crash, Ch 5: "reduce friction for the things you want to do, and increase friction for the things you want to avoid."
• After the Crash, Ch 6: "automations are only a help if they reduce your stress."
• After the Crash, Ch 3: "Plan enough to get moving. Then move."