Episode 84: Is too much decision-making harming your productivity?

00:51 Welcome to Unfrazzle, a podcast for solo business owners with a big vision who are ready for a kinder more sustainable approach to productivity. I'm Louise Miller and each week i share bite-sized insights to help you step away from the hustle stop faffing and stay focused so you can make your brilliant ideas happen and make a bigger impact in the world Before we dive into today's episode, if you enjoy what I'm sharing here on Unfrazzle and you'd like to support the podcast. You can buy me a cuppa by going to BuyMeACoffee.com slash Louise Miller and making a one-off donation. I'll pop a link to that in the show notes. Okay grab yourself a cuppa and let's get started!

01:33 Last week I shared a story about a meltdown involving the stapler. So in today's instalment of Louise's Meltdown Moments, which is not an actual thing but perhaps it should be, I'm sharing a cautionary tale about the dangers of decision making. If you were running a business back in 2017 like I was, you may remember when GDPR came in And how stressful that was for a lot of us. So I was still a VA back then and i was working really hard to ensure that my own business was GDPR compliant whilst also supporting my clients as they did the same, and a lot of what felt like really high stake decisions were being made in a very short space of time which wasn't easy when there were so many conflicting interpretations and opinions about how best to implement the new law flying around

02:17 And as if that wasn't enough, at the same time my husband and I were planning a kitchen refurb. That is until i completely lost the plot and had a major strop about worktops! Because trying to choose the right worktop was just one decision too many, tipping me over the edge and into a tailspin. I was doing some first-rate catastrophizing and demonstrating extraordinarily accomplished levels of overthinking and perfectionism. You know what if we make the wrong choice in the kitchen looks terrible? My long suffering and astonishingly patient husband was mercifully still able to make decisions at that time so he called it

02:57 So why am I telling you this rather embarrassing tale? Well, because decision-making is exhausting. And when we make decisions, whether they're big ones like GDPR compliance and kitchen worktops or small ones like what shoes to wear or what to have for breakfast our brains go into overdrive. Weighing up the pros and cons requires mental energy and like it or not that's not something that we have in infinite supply! We don't have a bottomless well of mental energy willpower and self-control so we need to choose how we use those things carefully

03:38 And if we make too many decisions in a short space of time, we impair our decision-making abilities. As evidenced by Kitchen Work Topgate and how long it took me to choose from the Turkish Meze takeaway menu that same evening So when decision fatigue kicks in, not only do our stress levels increase but often we avoid making decisions altogether. Which didn't matter for our kitchen project because that wasn't urgent but it's not a good look when you have a business to run and clients to serve and there are things that need to get done so what's the solution? Well if we want to save our brain power for the good stuff we need to use less of it For the easy day-to-day stuff, we need to make fewer decisions. And how do we do that? Well by creating habits because when we create a habit We're deciding not to decide. We're setting things up so we can do what we want to do automatically without needing to dip into those limited reserves

04:32 It's been well documented that people like Steve Jobs and Barack Obama avoided making decisions about what to wear by adopting a work uniform, which I think is easier for guys isn't it? But they knew that removing that decision created more space for more important things. So some people cut down on decisions by eating the same meals in rotation. Now that isn't for me, I enjoy food too much but for me i no longer decide whether or not to practice yoga every morning. I've turned that into a habit and that just happens now as soon as I get up every morning, I don't need to decide! So what does all this have to do with productivity and running a business? The less mental energy you use for things like deciding whether or not to exercise or what to wear then

05:14 And the more of that mental energy will be available for the important things that you're working on in your business. And we can also look to create habits are directly related to our productivity so that we no longer have to decide to do the things that we know will help us So examples might include things like going for a walk after you've eaten lunch, which is so good for your productivity getting out for a walk is so good for our brains or it might be something more practical like filing or deleting an email as soon as you reply to it just to keep on top of your inbox So those small things could have a big impact on your productivity, but if you had to decide whether or not to do them every single time it could become a real struggle. Instead by embedding them so that they just happen automatically you no longer need self-control or willpower – you just do those things because that's just what you do in the same way as brushing your teeth before bed is just what you do! Are there any good habits that you could create that would cut down on your decision making and enhance your productivity?

06:13 Keep these three tips in mind as you think about that. So first of all, keep it simple right? Introduce one new habit at a time rather than trying to change everything at once and then secondly make sure you're really clear on why you're pursuing each habit because without that your habit won't stick because you won't see the point in doing it and then the third tip if you're having a bit of a rough day Instead of skipping your habit, try to reduce the scope but stick to the schedule. So for instance if you don't have time to get out for your walk put your shoes on stand outside and take five deep breaths not breaking the chain will help the habit to stick so what can you do today to reduce the amount of decisions that you have to make on a daily basis? So that you can save more of that wonderful brain of yours and that beautiful decision-making and willpower for the things that really count

07:05 And as always I hope that this helps and i look forward to seeing you again soon. Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend who needs a dose of calm productivity in their life and I'd love it if you could leave me a rating and a review as that will help more people discover this podcast. If you'd like to hear more from me to help you stop faffing and take back control of your time, you'll find a link to join my mailing list in the show notes and I would really love for you to join us so thanks so much for your support and I look forward to seeing you next time!