Every day, when we wake up, we happen to face a constant flow of decisions. Some choices are small and do not require much thought, while others take more time. All of these difficult decisions make up what is known as "decision fatigue" and is more prevalent because of Covid.
Decision fatigue is not a medical diagnosis. "It's the challenge of dealing with an information and processing overload that each of us can face at different points in our lives," says Lynn Bufka, director of the American Psychological Association. Decision fatigue is a term used to describe the tendency where people lose the ability to make good decisions after many difficult choices; it is a mental and emotional overload.
Studies in this area have referred to the case of judges who, as they make difficult decisions, experience decision fatigue. In other words, the stronger we are in making decisions, the more difficult it will be for us to decide on future decisions.
Some of the common symptoms of decision fatigue are:
- Nervousness
- Emotional changes
- Fatigue
- Lack of concentration
How has the pandemic affected? In some ways, the pandemic has shortened our choices. The pandemic has increased decisions, or made easy choices more difficult. The lack of previous routine has added new decisions. Before the pandemic, we all made decisions like automatic, but later everything changed. Now, people "torture" themselves if they have to go out, if they have to have lunch in a restaurant, if they have to meet family. The weight of these decisions affects the phenomenon known as "decision fatigue".
How can you avoid decision fatigue? In fact, it is difficult to avoid, but there are some tactics that make it easier. Try to automate the decisions you make as much as possible and create a new routine. Lower expectations. Push things away if you can. Try not to deal with stressful situations.
Source: Health
