Which Do You Prefer?
“Charlie, which do you prefer: rainbow sprinkles or chocolate sprinkles?”
“Definitely rainbow sprinkles!” My son, who was six at the time, answered my question with excitement. Then he launched right into asking his own version of the question. “Mom, which do you prefer: ice cream or pizza?”
“Definitely pizza. You know there isn’t much else I’d choose over pizza!”
When our kids were little, we often played the game Which Do You Prefer? It was an easy way to engage in conversation as a family, distract the kids at the dinner table, and give them a chance to equally participate in the back-and-forth discussion. We played this game all the time.
In the beginning, the questions were simple, like which do you prefer: strawberries or bananas? Then the kids started getting creative: “Which do you prefer, a ski vacation in a snowy place in the mountains with your best friends, or a tropical vacation in the sunshine on a cruise ship just the two of you?” The more detail they’d add to their description of the choices, the tougher it became to answer the questions. But the game always included two options— that was the rule— and you had to pick which of the two options you preferred.
Generally speaking, it’s not overly-challenging to choose between two things.
But that’s not usually how life presents itself.
Often we have far more than two options in front of us. This is a common occurrence when scrolling through thousands of programs on Netflix. Do you find yourself so overwhelmed with suggestions that you waste 15 minutes browsing? And sometimes the end result is that you’re so bombarded with choices you end up shutting off the TV altogether?
This is called decision fatigue: that overwhelming feeling you get when faced with too many choices. You end up paralyzed and unable to pick just one.
Or even worse, you pick too many. Just envision any aisle in the grocery store, and the dozens of options you have for ice cream, peanut butter, or cat litter. Have you ever tossed three pints of ice cream into your cart, telling yourself you’ll make the choice when you get home which one you’d prefer? Decision fatigue can be a real problem.
Be aware that decision fatigue gets worse as the day goes on.
Early in the morning, your brain is fresh and clear and has an easier time making decisions. Do you find it easier to decide what to eat for breakfast versus dinner? That’s because your brain is clearer about what it wants— and has fewer choices to consider— earlier in the day.
Think about it… By the time you get to work, you’re slammed with tasks and emails and responsibilities. It can be difficult to sort out your options and decide which of these tasks to tackle first. This gets exponentially harder as the day goes on.
For some people, decision fatigue keeps them from making progress in life. They get stuck in “analysis-paralysis” and can’t move forward. I’ve seen this show up most frequently in millennials and in retirees.
You can’t avoid decision fatigue, but it’s possible to manage it. Here are a few ideas:
Make decisions for next weekend early in the week when you’re thinking more clearly.
Make decisions about today earlier in the morning rather than later when you are likely to be tired.
Pre-plan food for the week as much as possible. Grocery shop for specific meals instead of buying random items. Then pack your lunch and snacks in simple to-go containers in advance to take to work. This prep can be so much easier on a Sunday (earlier in the week).
Map out your day and write it all down on a calendar. Put tasks on your calendar at a specific time. If your plan is to work out on Thursday, decide first-thing in the morning what time that’s going to happen. The more you put your intentions into a specific slot on your calendar, the more likely you are to follow through on them. This is particularly helpful if you are a millennial without a lot of time management practice, or if you are retired and have too much unstructured time. Having a calendar, mapping out your days and weeks, and writing down specific goals and tasks each day will keep you organized and motivated. You will start to create a sense of clarity and purpose for each day when you do this.
Can’t make a decision because you have too many options? Try the Which Do You Prefer game with yourself! Pick two of the options, and ask, which of these two do I prefer? (Getting my emails cleaned up, or making that difficult phone call?) Then take the winner of those two options and do it. Once it’s done, take the other option and match it up against another contender (make the difficult phone call, or write the proposal for Friday’s presentation?) Narrow your decisions down to two at a time and choose the one you’d prefer. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
We all have dozens, if not hundreds, of decisions we are faced with on a daily basis. It can be overwhelming. For some people this can be debilitating. Our choices are never as simple as rainbow sprinkles versus chocolate sprinkles. But we can better equip ourselves by narrowing down our options, prepping in advance for the week ahead, and tackling the tough stuff earlier in the day.
Which do you prefer: being bogged down with decision fatigue, or being organized and prepared for the day ahead? It takes practice to continue choosing the latter.
This Week’s Resources
Troop 6000: Access for All Girls
Troop 6000 is a Girl Scout program specially designed to serve girls in the New York City Shelter System. Each week, Troop 6000 meets in homeless shelters across the city. Troop meetings are facilitated by trained troop leaders – women also living in the shelter system paired with community-based volunteers – to give girls in shelters the opportunity to make new friends, earn badges, and see themselves as leaders in their communities. To learn more about this special program or to financially support them, click here: troop 6000
Decision Fatigue: Do You Suffer From This?
As you just read, this is a normal occurrence, and now even more widespread after the pandemic. To learn more about this dilemma— and what to do about it— read some wisdom here from the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/too-many-choices-decision-fatigue/2021/09/21/2dffce74-1b22-11ec-bcb8-0cb135811007_story.html
No Meat, No Problem
I have heard back from so many of you about your Vegetarian, Vegan and Plant-Based transitions over the past year. And you’ve said that the change was made easier because of the great online food options available. Notably, Plantable and Veestro ( https://plantable.com and https://www.veestro.com/) came highly recommended by many readers. I promised to share both!
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