The sheer volume of work + unprecedented instability = an overwhelming number of decisions to make each day. Too much!
A 2023 Oracle Survey of 14,000 leaders in 17 countries found that 86% are less confident making decisions, 85% suffer from decision distress and 72% are too paralyzed to make decisions at all.
Generative A.I. compounds the overwhelm. The number of decisions every day has increased tenfold over the last three years (74%), 78% are bombarded with more data than ever, and 86% say the volume of data is making decisions much more complicated.
Avoid decision distress. Brains are cognitive misers. They avoid decisions when they can, because decision-making takes a lot of energy. Willpower and decision-making ability deteriorate with the number and complexity of decisions. After time, caution goes down and decisions become more impulsive. That’s why impulse items are at grocery checkouts.
• The brain can tolerate just so much before it goes into rest cycle.
• The demand for decision-making is increasing daily, but our capacity to make them is not.
• After we have peaked our capacity, more data only overwhelms.
Don’t think you can power through with last year’s strategies. Make these changes:
1. Make important decisions earlier in the day before brain fatigue sets in.
2. Cut down on unimportant decisions. Streamline your life to avoid low-level decision making. Monitor and control the number of decisions you make daily.
3. Give your brain a rest. Get into nature. Go for a run. Take a shower. Meditate. Stare at a blank wall.
4. Think about doing less. If your brain is shouting that you’re doing too much, you’re doing too much.
