1. Calculate Your Decision Load: Tomorrow, use a clicker counter or tally marks to track every decision you make from waking up to lunch. Include micro-decisions like which notification to check first. Most people are shocked by the total.
2. Identify Your Choice Explosion Categories: List the areas of your life where choices have multiplied most in the last decade. Common ones: entertainment options, food delivery, communication channels, shopping platforms.
3. Notice Your Depletion Patterns: For three days, note when you feel most mentally exhausted. What types of decisions preceded the fatigue? Look for patterns in timing and decision categories.
4. Track One Trivial Time Sink: Choose one category of trivial decisions (like choosing what to watch) and track how much time you spend deciding versus actually enjoying the choice. The ratio is usually alarming.
5. Start a Decision Fatigue Journal: Each evening, write down one decision that felt unnecessarily difficult and one that had actual impact on your life. Notice how rarely they overlap.