Decision Fatigue is Draining. Routines Can Simplify Your Life

Find out how daily routines reduce decision making and support your mental and physical health.

When my kids were in school, September was like a month of Mother’s Day. It’s when I’d revive my usual routines after the hustle and bustle of juggling the kids’ activities and my work schedule, irregular mealtimes, and half-assed workouts. I never completely abandoned my healthy habits during the summer months, but they were always on their last leg by the end of August.

Summer still throws me for a loop, but it’s easy to get off-track for a lot of other reasons during the year. Dealing with perimenopause symptoms can make it even harder to stick with your usual habits, but it’s always worth trying. Here’s why.

You Make Thousands of Decisions Every Day

Everything you do is a choice. From the second you wake up, you’re inundated with options: what to eat for breakfast, what time to leave for work, and what to wear, to name just a few. As the day goes on and you make more and more decisions, it’s possible to exhaust your emotional reserve to the point where you just don’t care about what you’re eating or whether you exercise.

So-called “decision fatigue” happens when your ability to decide weakens, especially when faced with difficult choices that affect other people, such as an elderly parent, children, or relationships with siblings or a partner. All that decision-making day in and day out can be a drain on your physical and mental health.

How Routines Decrease Decision Fatigue and Reduce Stress

There’s no way to avoid decisions, but routines can conserve your energy and, in doing so, decrease your stress about making choices.

A routine is a series of behaviors repeated frequently and in a set order without conscious effort or thought. Routines save time and decision-making because you know what’s coming next, and the structure that routines provide can be comforting. In other words, your brain loves a routine.

Reducing the number of decisions with routines may help with weight control and exercise. In my case, I don’t think twice about what to do in the morning. I wake up at the same time, take the dog out to pee, feed the dog, have a cup of tea, eat the same cereal and fruit mixture and a cup of coffee, and then I exercise. Every afternoon, I walk the dog, because that’s her routine and she gives me a hard time if I don’t take her out!

When your motivation takes a nosedive on vacation, during the holidays, or when you’re tired, sad, or aggravated, routines can help maintain your progress. You may not feel like exercising, but since it’s part of your routine, you may decide to do half as much walking or running, and that’s OK. It’s always better to do something rather than nothing at all.

While routines help streamline your day by eliminating the need for constant decision making, they can be flexible and effective simultaneously. You don’t have to follow a routine to the letter every day, but you should adhere to its intention. For example, though eating the same thing for breakfast every day saves time and mental energy, I don’t always hold myself to it. If I want to have something different that’s equally nutritious, I do. If I don’t want to run outside because it’s raining, I go to a class at the gym or take a free class online.

Photo by Jeremiah Lazo on Unsplash

If You Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

When faced with choices, humans are wired to take the path of least resistance. That’s why we tend to go for the simple, quick, or fun option, which may run counter to the guidelines that support health in midlife and beyond. Dealing with hot flashes, mood swings, and other perimenopausal woes doesn’t help the decision-making process, either.

Once evening rolls around, decisions can become more impulsive, and your brain will look for the easiest way out. Planning helps by cutting down on last-minute choices that may derail your progress. If you pre-decide as part of a routine, you’re more likely to make eating and exercise choices that support your goals and help you to stay energized and on track.

Extreme hunger can cloud your decision making, so never let yourself get too hungry. Prepare for the hunger pangs that strike every day at 4 PM by having a nutritious afternoon snack handy, and an idea of a balanced meal for dinner. Both strategies will help you avoid overeating at night.

Though my idea of meal prep is making a double batch of something for dinner, many people find meal-prepping for the week ahead effective because you don’t have to think about what to eat in the coming days. My meal planning method is slightly different, but it works for me. I pre-decide by stocking my kitchen with ingredients to make quick and easy balanced meals and snacks.

Streamline Your Choices to Reduce Decision Fatigue

Cutting down on decisions in all areas of your life frees up more mental energy to concentrate on healthy food, regular exercise, and other beneficial lifestyle habits. It’s not always easy to do, given all the tasks and responsibilities that midlife women juggle. I get it. But deciding what you truly care about may decrease the number of decisions you make.

Your routines are likely to change with age or life stage. When I was in my 20s and working full-time out of the house, I woke at 5 AM, had a cup of tea, exercised, came home from the gym, showered, got the kids ready, then went to work and ate a packed breakfast. I always picked out my exercise and work clothes the night before to reduce decision making in the morning and to save time. As a midlife woman, I get up at 6:30 AM because I don’t need to rush, but I still maintain a similar routine.

The Bottom Line on Routines

Better decisions can help you feel more energized in the long run, which in turn, makes you more capable of making better decisions. Do you adhere to certain routines? Let me know in the comments!