Avoiding Decision Fatigue

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook and Instagram (now known as Meta) is known for wearing the same clothes to work every day – same color T-shirt, same brand and color of jeans, same brand and color of sneakers. He buys many sets of this same outfit and just rotates the clean clothes every day.

The late Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple corporation, also wore the same outfit every day to work. Other successful people who have followed this trend include former President Barack Obama and film director Christopher Noland (Batman, Oppenheimer). Why would these ultra-wealthy people do this when money is obviously no obstacle to their wardrobe? As you can guess, it's not a question of wardrobe or style or laziness. In each case, these successful people stated that they wanted to avoid what experts call "decision fatigue."

Decision fatigue occurs when we waste valuable time trying to make decisions about mundane, commonplace, everyday issues that could have been avoided or resolved with just a little bit of planning – such as what to wear to work each day. Rather than waste time and, more importantly, "mind space" standing in front of our closet wondering what to wear or standing in front of our fridge wondering what to make for breakfast, a consistent routine can save our time and sanity. It clears up essential mind space for things that really matter, decisions that are consequential.

The intentional avoidance of decision fatigue is why many successful people are consistent (perhaps disciplined is a better word) with their minor daily decisions by making them in advance and sticking to a routine – like wearing the same outfit to work every day (or at least laying out a week's worth of clothes in advance), eating the same breakfast every morning, and packing the same lunches every day for work.

Once we've saved ourselves a significant amount of time by avoiding decision fatigue, we can focus our mind space and energy on the important decisions that really matter, such as focusing on building stronger and more efficient teamwork with other associates, strategically planning out how to "work smarter, not harder," and brainstorming creative ideas to serve our residents and their families with care and authenticity.

One practical way to help reduce decision fatigue is to learn to delegate some decision-making to others. Who can you delegate to? Which of your fellow associates do you trust to help you and take some decisions off your own plate? If the answer is "nobody," then perhaps it reveals more about you than about other people. (Think about it!)

There's a saying that "You win the game in your draft." In other words, a company or person succeeds by recruiting and hiring ("drafting") exceptional team members and associates. Surrounding yourself with quality, trustworthy associates, is the basis and groundwork for everything that happens next.