Paper or plastic? Credit or debit? Cardio or strength training? Coffee or tea?
Every day most of us make dozens of decisions — some are easy, while others are not. And sometimes we simply face too many choices in too short a period, which can send us into a head-scratching state of decision paralysis — a phenomenon psychologists call “decision fatigue” or “choice overload.” Research has found that having to make too many decisions can deplete willpower or self-control, causing you to avoid certain choices or to make ones that don’t sync with your long-term goals and values. For example, a 2016 study in The Review of Economic Studies found when voters are presented with more contests on a ballot, they become increasingly likely to abstain or vote for the status quo or the first candidate listed in a race as they get farther down the ballot.
“Having to make choices wears us out,” says psychologist Barry Schwartz, a visiting professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California–Berkeley, and author of “The Paradox of Choice.” “The more options we have, the less likely we are to make a choice because we’re paralyzed [with indecision]; or, if we overcome paralysis and make a choice, we tend to be less satisfied with our choice later. The bar [for obtaining satisfaction] rises with the more options people have to choose from.”
[See: 11 Simple, Proven Ways to Optimize Your Mental Health.]
Given the sheer number of decisions we make in a given day — and the plentiful options at our disposal, thanks to the internet — the potential for making regrettable choices is ripe. When it comes to food-related decisions alone, people typically make more than 220 choices (about what, when, where, how much and with whom to eat) in a day, according to a 2007 study in the journal Environment and Behavior. Then, we must make daily choices about what to wear, how to get to work, which errands to run, which tasks to prioritize at work, which brands to buy, along with more significant decisions about how to educate and raise your children, how to save or invest your money, where to go on vacation and so on.
It’s enough to overwhelm the most rational mind. And the more decisions you face, the greater your risk of experiencing choice overload. “Having to make so many decisions throughout the day — and choosing between multiple options — is mentally fatiguing, as it uses up glucose in the brain,” explains Graeme Haynes, an instructor of psychology at Western University in Ontario, Canada. As a result, “our ability to exercise self-control is weakened, which explains why we often make poorer decisions later in the day — [such as] breaking our diet to pig out on ice cream or sending an angry email that we later regret.”
The depletion of self-control or willpower is “like a muscle getting tired: The longer and harder you work it, the more tired it will get,” explains Roy Baumeister, a professor of psychology at Florida State University and author of “Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength.”
[See: Am I Just Sad — or Actually Depressed?]
A series of laboratory studies, published in the August 2014 issue of the journal Motivation Science, illustrates this idea. Researchers found when people were asked to choose from an array of consumer goods or college course options, they later experienced reduced persistence and physical stamina, greater procrastination and lower performance on tasks involving math calculations; by contrast, those who were asked to think about the same options without having to actually make choices didn’t experience depletion in these measures of self-control. “People have a limited stock of self-control energy,” explains study lead author Kathleen Vohs, a consumer psychologist at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. “The more they use it, the more it takes away from their ability to use it for future choices. If decisions have a lot of trade-offs to them, people get depleted faster.”
Besides leading to mental stress and fatigue, choice overload may promote anxiety and uncertainty, Schwartz says, and it can increase your risk of depression if you put excessive pressure on yourself or have exceedingly high expectations for the outcome (if you want to buy the most advanced TV, for instance). That’s why it’s better to “have a standard of good enough rather than the best,” Schwartz says.
In addition to adjusting your expectations, you can take steps to try to prevent decision fatigue. As Vohs says, “The best offense is a good defense — try to structure your life to avoid unnecessary temptations and decisions.”
[Read: The Roots of Schadenfreude: Why We Take Pleasure in Other People’s Pain.]
Here are some strategies to accomplish this:
Limit your options. While making any decision, don’t cast too wide a net when searching for options; instead narrow them down to a reasonable number, Haynes advises. “Generally speaking, I try to limit the possibilities for major decisions to between three and five. Then, make a list of the pros and cons of each, before whittling it down further.”
Offload some choices entirely. You can make some decisions automatic by maintaining a master grocery list and buying the same brands every week or by designating set hours to check email at work or catch up on phone calls. For choices you don’t feel strongly about, consider going with what a friend recommends or orders and don’t even look at the other options, Schwartz advises.
Put time on your side. “Most people have more energy in the morning, so important decisions should be made then, not at the end of a long, hard day,” Baumeister says. On the other hand, if you’re not a morning person, set yourself up for mundane decisions, such as what to eat for breakfast or pack for lunch, the night before. This lets you “go on autopilot first thing in the morning because you’ve already made the decisions,” Haynes says. It’s worth the effort because limiting the choices you have to make in a day can ease your stress — and help you make better, healthier decisions that are in line with your big-picture goals.
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The Hazards of Decision Overload originally appeared on usnews.com
