Do you ever feel like you are completely overwhelmed and or your mind is in constant overdrive of thoughts because of how much you have got going on?
If so, this video and blog will hopefully ease that burden and give you some useful tips on how to combat these sensations.
It’s estimated we make 35,000 conscious decisions a day,
roughly 2,000 an hour or one decision every 2 seconds.
No wonder so many people struggle on a daily basis and are completely overwhelmed.
From the second you wake up and in most circumstances there’s hundreds of choices & thoughts running through your mind.
Decision fatigue describes how our decision-making gets worse as we make additional choices and our cognitive abilities get worn out. Decision fatigue is the reason we feel overwhelmed when we have too many choices to make.
What should I wear
What should I eat for breakfast
Lets get the children up
Have they brushed their teeth
Can I get this project completed today for work
Making these thousands of decisions is mentally exhausting.
What I share with my clients with all aspects of their lives, especially with their health and wellbeing is how can we take the decision fatigue out of their day to day thoughts.
How can we reduce those thoughts, especially 1st thing in the morning.
How you start your day can often have an impact on how the rest of your day pans out. A couple of simple things.
Can you get your clothes out the night before
Plan what meals you’re having before you wake.
So you know what’s for breakfast, what your having for lunch etc
Picture this, as this is most common. You’ve had a challenging long day, you may not have created time to eat lunch, you’re irritable, tired and patience is waning thin.
If you’ve planned what you having it’s far easier to cook and eat that. As opposed to looking in the fridge, no inspiration, end up eating processed freezer food or ordering a takeaway. For many this is a regularly occurrence several times a week.
Decision fatigue impairs self control as the day progresses. More likely to make rash decisions and if hungry, more likely to reach for the more calorie dense options.
By being more conscious, you will be healthier, feel better and save money too. If not the impact is likely to be more costly, more guilt and frustration and less healthy.
So how can we avoid decision fatigue.
- Plan your meals as I eluded to, this doesn’t mean weeks in advance. Having a staple of food choices, through planning your meals when going shopping will help you limit your choices when you’re hungry.
- Having regular routines helps: For example: What days you are going to train, what time, of course if your parent, there will always be curveballs, but making these non negotiables will most definitely help adherence.
- Exercising has been proven that you are more likely to make better nutritional choices so this is a key aspect
I hoped this has helped and possibly made you feel that you aren’t going mad, just maybe overwhelmed and what you can to do to reduce that with regards to your overall decision making including your health, nutrition and fitness.
As always take 10 minutes now whilst its fresh in your mind to think what challenges you find the hardest and what you could do to make it easier for you.