Life Hack Alert: Make fewer Decisions
Whether we acknowledge the fact, or not, LIFE is all about making decisions.
AND every decision (small or big) takes time plus energy.
If you are anything like me, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about even the smallest decisions to be made:
What should I eat for breakfast?
What should I wear to work?
What type of pasta sauce should I buy?
In a capitalist world, we have plenty of choices and this often leads us to analysis paralysis. Right from the time you wake up to the time you go back to bed, you are surrounded by options. In the morning, choose between tea or coffee. Decide between taking Uber, Ola or metro to work. Think about what to have for breakfast and where etc, etc, etc…
There are million and one ways to become more productive in life. The internet is full of advice on that but what if you could become productive and simplify your life at the same time? What if you could do this without installing any app on your phone? (Another decision that you don’t need to take) Have you ever thought of eliminating the number of decisions in your life as a path towards increased productivity?
Making decisions about unimportant things, even if you have the time to do so, is drawing precious energy and willpower from the things that matter. Often, bad decisions are made, not because of lack of information and intelligence, but because you don’t have the cognitive energy and willpower needed to make a good decision.
Decision fatigue is real and we all suffer from it on a daily basis more often than we like to admit. Here are some reasons why you should eliminate decisions to simplify your life and become more productive:
Less is more.
Cutting out the unimportant decisions, allows you to have more time for the important ones.Truth be told, when everything is important, nothing really is!
Brings in clarity and Improves focus:
When we concentrate on doing it all instead of making time for what counts, we tend to lose sight of a meaningful life. That 20 minutes you spent browsing the netflix library or deciding what to wear to work tomorrow could have been spent with a loved one instead or it could have been spent learning a new skill.
Reducing the number of decisions will allow you to cut down on the multi tasking.
There simply isnt enough time to do what we want to get done everyday and as a result, we try to tackle multiple things all at once (cooking and watching netflix at the same time). Time is not going to increase, which leaves us with only one option: Reduce the number of decisions in order to increase the amount of time we can allocate to different things.
Eliminating decisions allow you to be present in the moment
Imagine not having to think about lunch or dinner when you are sitting in a meeting. Or risking our lives by driving and talking on the phone or practicing mindful eating because we are not engrossed in a show while eating our meals.
Less decisions mean less frustrations
Just the other day, I was trying to decide what I should watch on netflix and 20 minutes into it, I got frustrated and gave up. This is just one of many time consuming decisions that all of us make on a daily basis. Now, I usually just end up asking friends for recommendations on what to watch and next time I have time, I put one of those on. This serves two purposes: I get to strengthen the relationship muscle and in the process I don’t have to browse netflix for 20 minutes.
More control over your emotions
This study reveals how as the day goes along, we lose will power because of the decisions that we have to make. What that means is that the same brownie that you resisted from eating in the morning, you will cave in and eat if offered again in the evening.
Less decisions leads to less procrastination
We all procrastinate. More so when we have to make decisions about things we would rather not make decisions about so outsourcing or eliminating such decisions reduces how much we procrastinate.
Ultimately, less decisions mean more joy, peace, love and freedom in life. You might think you are giving up control but it is very liberating because you don’t have to stress or worry about making that decision anymore! A more joyful you implies a more productive you!
When was the last time you eliminated a decision you had to make?
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
This post was first published on my blog. follow me there if you like what I write.
