Is A Chop Suey Of Choices Turning Your Brain To Bananas? (And what to do about it!)

[Dien Rice]

I just read this fascinating article... Apparently some recent research shows that the process of making choices drains your "brain energy". As a result, you end up having less self-discipline and self-control...

You can read the whole article here -

Daily Decisions Make Mush of Your Mind - by Dave Mosher
http://www.livescience.com/health/08...y-choices.html

Here are some quotes from the article...

New research shows that such daily decisions eat up limited mental resources, ultimately rendering our self-control into mush. Which means making too many decisions might be why many people can't stick to a diet, finish a big project or even complete simple daily tasks.

[...]

To figure this out, the researchers conducted seven experiments. In one of the trials, subjects were asked to pick from a selection of consumer products, then afterward coerced to show will power by dunking their hands in ice-cold water or downing a bitter yet healthy beverage.

Turns out those who made more decisions before their unpleasant challenge kept their hands in the ice water for less time than or didn't finish as much drink as people who had fewer choices.

Another experiment used college students and had one group pick out courses to satisfy a degree while another group didn't have to make such choices. Researchers gave both groups math problems to study and, similar to the other experiments, the decision-makers performed worse and were more likely to succumb to distractions such as playing video games or reading magazines than those who weren't forced into choosing courses.

To add to their laboratory results, the researchers took their work to the decision-making hub of any community: A shopping mall. Shoppers who said they made more decisions during their day ended up scoring the worst on an impromptu math test than other shoppers.

Fun choices — such as deciding on a free gift from a registry — also turned up to be draining, although less than aversive choices.

So, if making decisions turns your mind to "mush" and your brain into "bananas" - what can you do about it?

It also happens I've been reading recently about the power of "routine". I was reading about it in terms of writing - some writers have a "routine" of writing X number of words every day (e.g. 1,000 words a day, up to 6,000 words a day). This "routine" reduces their decision making (they've already made the decision, and they stick to it) - and it probably helps to increase their self-discipline.

So perhaps the way around this phenomenon is to have a regular "routine". So you don't need to keep making new decisions - just make a decision about a routine, and stick to it. (An example of this is that the physicist Richard Feynman used to keep a wardrobe full of identical coats - so he didn't have to decide which one to wear each day! They all looked the same!)

Another good idea is to create "operations manuals" for yourself, about regular tasks you do... Then, you don't need to make new decisions for regular tasks, you just read what you wrote and do it. I wrote about that once here...

http://www.biztactics.com/blog/2005/...iness-more.php

I hope you enjoyed this post! Your thoughts on this are most welcome...

Cheers

Dien