Episode 044 How to Avoid Decision Fatigue

Decision fatigue is the result of making too many decisions in a short period of time
The concept of minimum effective dose (MED) can be applied to decision making
MED is borrowed from medicine and is the "Goldilocks amount" of a given activity to get the desired result with minimal side effects
To avoid decision fatigue, minimize unnecessary decisions and create simple rules and checklists
An experiment by researchers at Florida State University showed that those who had to make a series of decisions were less likely to keep an item than those who did not have to make decisions
Participants in an experiment were given a task of either making decisions about products or contemplating them without making any choices.
Those who made decisions had less willpower when tested with a classic selfcontrol test of holding their hand in ice water.
Decision fatigue can lead to reckless behavior or avoiding decisions altogether.
To avoid decision fatigue, automate decisions such as what to wear or eat in the morning and create checklists.
Reserve decision making power for areas where it counts and minimize variables.
Tim Ferriss discusses the concept of decision fatigue and how it can lead to poor decision making.
He suggests that by setting constraints, such as a budget or a timeline, it can help to reduce decision fatigue and lead to better decisions.
He encourages listeners to reach out to him on Twitter or Facebook with suggestions for future podcast episodes.

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