Decision fatigue is exhausting!

I first learned the phrase, decision fatigue in the book, Modern Romance, where Aziz Ansari writes about how more people are staying single because they are paralyzed by the number of choices of partners. With so many choices (think global now with online dating), people end up staying single thinking, 'There must be someone that is just a little bit better for me out there.' He went on to use the example of when he needed a new coffee pot he spent DAYS researching which one to get. I am totally guilty of this. We want to get the best deal for the item with ALL of the features we want. I do not spend money easily, and have noticed I pour lots of time into any minor purchase. Since time is money, is all of this time worth it?

Amazon, oh my!
As many of you know, I get up early to get a jump start on my to-do list. This has really helped me get s*&^ done! There is a clear deadline (kids get up) so I can't dawdle, if I want to check it off the list I need to get it done before I hear those footsteps! Just this week I needed a few items from Amazon, I only shop on Amazon every 3 months or so, so it feels like a splurge.  When I sat down to order I said out loud, "I"m going to place the order today!" I'm not going to look for coupons, I'm not going to get lost in the reviews, I'm not going to second guess my decision, I'm going to make the best choices I can in the time I have! It worked great and I got it done!

Every.single.day
Did you know we make 35,000 decisions a day?! 35,000!!! God Bless the researchers that documented that, I'm exhausted just thinking about it but I believe it! "What cup should I use? What should I eat for breakfast? What chair should I sit in? What should I wear?" I definitely feel this fatigue in my day. I have a lot of flexible as I work in visits to my grandma's home around home visits for work. If someone cancelled a visit (which happens almost daily) I have to assess; "Do I have time to squeeze in a make up? Who should I offer a make up to? Should I stop and do my documentation instead? Should I go to the office or work from the library? If I don't have time to fill in, should I build the facebook page, make resources, catch up on my mileage? Should I stop at the grocery store? Will I have time to swing by the post office? Maybe I'll do these errands and clock back in later."  I could go on and on and on. Flexibly is wonderful but it can also be exhausting.

Simple and Straight-Forward Adi. 

Grocery Grind
Another way I've recently won the battle over decision fatigue is shopping at Aldi! Since moving, we're now 5 miles from an Aldi. If you don't have an Aldi nearby, the concept is so simple, all of the basics, without a million choices, some name brand, some generic. The stores are much smaller than the average American grocery store, and I'm able to get in and out of there very quickly. There's no flashy kids carts, coupons or gas perks, but I've learned I don't care about that stuff, I just want to get groceries and get home. Here in Richmond, there are a TON of grocery stores and keeping track of coupons, deals, the best prices and perks for XYZ is daunting--downright fatiguing if you will! You need whole wheat bread? Here are 3 choices, not 15. You need eggs? BAM-1 type of egg, take it or leave it!

Budget
Another noticeable win in the battle against decision fatigue has been setting a budget. For months Ted and I simply tracked our spending. After tracking for months and getting a baseline, I wanted to try to bring it down a bit, from about $650 a month on groceries to $500. January we did it! After about 10 days into the month I had already blown through more than half our budget thanks to a trip to Costco. For the next 2-3 weeks I said, "OK Costco is off the table for now!" This really helped me not even consider going there, which was surprisingly incredibly freeing!

A GOOD decision, packing a picnic dinner on a beautiful weekday evening and walking to a nearby park.

Good luck out there in the land of opportunity and infinite choices! XO