Decision fatigue is a new term to me, but it perfectly describes how I feel. James Clear identified it for me not long ago. My reaction to his article then: “Oh yeah. I sometimes have that. But I know how to deal with it.”
That was before the literal tornado appeared last week to add a new pile of decisions onto the heap that had been steadily growing for months. Ironically the storm did not include rain (initially), but the effect of adding a new list of choices to my bulging file of action items left me feeling saturated. And exhausted every night.
For years I’ve recognized the need to make daily decisions the night before. Selection of what I’ll wear the next day keeps me from mixing plaids and stripes and from taking everything but my cycling shoes when I drive away at oh dark thirty to meet friends for a long bike ride. (I write from experience.)
I learned as a kid to do the important things first. And a little later in life to put the big things in the car before you pack the small things. And always to plan your work and work your plan. (Thanks again, Dad, for teaching me well.)
As an adult I understood (but sometimes ignored) the need to do the hard stuff when I was rested and fed – not when I was “hangry” and tired. If I struggle to “git er done,” I can choose to rest, eat, or stop. You don’t always have those choices. You do have the choice to plan ahead.
“Plans are useless. Planning is everything.” General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the man who arranged those six words, was spot on.
My plan to post an eloquent blog tonight is severely hampered by my decision fatigue. I’m saturated. I choose to stop and rest.
Planning resumes tomorrow.
The Paceline 
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