Decision Fatigue

Decision fatigue is the deterioration of our ability to make good decisions after a long session of decision making. The more decisions you need to make, the worse you’re going to be at weighing all the options and making an educated, research-backed choice.

Signs

Classic signs of decision fatigue include:

  • Procrastination. “I’ll tackle this later.”
  • Impulsivity. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…”
  • Avoidance. “I can’t deal with this right now.”
  • Indecision. “When in doubt, I just say ‘no.’”

Effects

In one study, researchers looked at more than 1,100 parole hearing decisions made by judges in the US over a 10-month period. All of the rulings were made by a parole board judge, who was determining whether or not to allow the criminal to be released from prison on parole

What they discovered was that the most influential factor in whether or not someone was granted parole wasn’t their crime, background, or sentences. It was what time their case was heard.

Prisoners who appeared early in the morning received parole about 70 percent of the time, while those who appeared late in the day were paroled less than 10 percent of the time.

Causes

Glucose levels have traditionally been thought to play a large role in having the willpower to make decisions, but there have been plenty of studies unable to substantiate this relationship.

One recent study by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, in particular, even found that simply believing you have more willpower can improve your ability to make good choices, even when you’re fatigued.

References