Decision fatigue

The brain is inherently striving for instant satisfaction of desires. That’s the way little kids behave. As we age, we learn to limit our desires for the sake of future gain. We kind of make a deal with ourselves: say, do not smoke for several months, so that later we can have healthy lungs and not depend on the next dose of nicotine.

The difficulty is that such a deal turns into a lot of small daily decisions: throw out cigarettes, walk past the tobacco stand at the checkout, refuse the offers of colleagues to go for a smoke break. Each such decision takes a lot of energy from us. The more such moments, the greater the chance that one day we will not resist and deviate from the goal.

According to psychologist Roy Baumeister, willpower is a natural resource that can be depleted by constant use. Then comes decision fatigue. Each new exertion of the will is more and more difficult for us. We feel uncomfortable and tend to return to a habitual (albeit harmful) behavior or do something that brings us joy (for example, eat something sweet).

To achieve real change, it is important not only to set a goal, but also to make it so that you have to make as few decisions as possible in order to move towards it, while at the same time making it as difficult as possible for yourself to make the wrong (but easy) decision. But how can this be achieved? Here are some practical strategies.

Use the “if…then…” principle

The computer does not think about whether to open the file you need. He receives a command and immediately finds the right course of action thanks to the algorithms written in his program. Your task is to reduce your actions to the same algorithms. By determining in advance how you will act in a given potential situation, you save yourself from unnecessary doubts. Write down your actions in the form of “if … then …”.

For example: if today is Monday, I will go to the gym and spend at least an hour there (anyway). It is better to tie the action not to time, but to the situation. For example, run not at eight in the morning, but half an hour before breakfast. It is best if your new habit is connected to your daily routine.

Shape your environment

The environment in which we live supports the routine to which we are accustomed. Our goal is to make it work to achieve the goal. Let’s say if you want to quit smoking, pay attention to those places and objects that remind you of this habit. Delete from your computer (or transfer to a separate medium) films whose characters smoke. The same applies to songs that play on this theme.

Is there a shop on your way home or to work where you usually buy cigarettes? Change your route. Try buying groceries online so you don’t have to walk past the checkout with a tobacco stand.

Consider group influence

Our decisions are influenced not only by the environment, but also by people. If the company where you work considers smoking breaks to be commonplace (all of our colleagues do this one way or another), you will have to fight the temptation many times a day. What to do in such cases? Create your own support group. You can find like-minded people on the Internet.

With the help of social networks, you can support each other, exchange motivating thoughts, plan meetings and events (for example, yoga trips). Another option is to surround yourself with people who will balance your impulses. For example, if you want to start saving, take a thrifty friend with you on a shopping trip who can talk you out of mindless spending in time.

Remember the 20 second rule

Psychologist Sean Achor observed that we find it easier to make a decision if it takes no more than 20 seconds to implement it. Achor cites his own guitar lessons as an example. At first, he had to spend time getting the guitar out of the closet and uncovering it. By placing it next to a table or sofa, he shortened his path, thereby removing the barrier between decision and action. So instead of several intermediate decisions (get up, go to the closet, open it, remove the case from the instrument), Achor took one or two: go up and take the guitar. Moreover, she was in his field of vision.

Conversely, the longer it takes for habitual decisions (such as lighting a cigarette), the easier it is to abandon them. If at first it is difficult to do without cigarettes at all, complicate your access to them: put the pack in a box with a lock, and give the key to a colleague who is sitting in another room.