Something you all probably already knew that I learned today

[azekeil]

It's been a while since I've had inspiration to write here but this deserves a post.

sessifet25 linked me to an article titled Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?. Rather than being the usual trite '10 weird tricks to fix your life' it talks about studies and what was learned around willpower, and it resonated.

Comments

[androktone]

I agree on the willpower fatigue but I quite enjoy making decisions because I feel I'm an agent in the world. Actually I chose my current job because I wanted to make decisions about my work and I'm quite happy to live with the consequences as I trust my judgement. I find being in a team where other people want to get involved in the way you do your work quite wearying, although it might be a different matter if you're all equal-but-different-specialities and there are no power hungry maniacs in the office

[azekeil]

Yes, the equal-but-different-specialities-without-power-hungry-maniacs bit applies. I do also enjoy agency but I also enjoy helping people too.

Yes the removal of agency of the poor by the better off is now a starkly inexcusable failure in our society.

[easternpromise]

On the topic of sugar, glucose/sucrose is a highly addictive substance. It surprises me not one jot that having phased it out of your tea, you have 'justified' having it in other places instead. If you cut out all refined sugar altogether (and in fact cut out ALL sugar for a month first including fruit and sugar added to things like 'healthy choice' ready meals) you will actually mostly cure yourself of the desire for it.

Strange but true :)

[azekeil]

Hmm, possibly. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to go cold turkey just yet :)

[ninneviane]

This doesn't relate to a work place environment - but I often struggle with decision making. I've not always been like this, it's something that I've found progressively more and more difficult, the longer I've been a single parent, in combination with having a chronic health condition. On paper, health should always take precedent over financial, but it's not that simple and now I find trade off decisions more and more difficult - the buck tests with me ultimately being the breadwinner, the only breadwinner. Responsibility, living with the consequences for a poor decision, or not making a decision...*groans*...its hard.

[azekeil]

Yes, some things seem to get tougher as we get older, not easier.

Do you think you speak to your friends less about quandries as you've got older too? That somehow as we get older we're just supposed to cope better? Certainly for me that seems rather a coincidence..

[ninneviane]

Sometimes. Yes in some situations that's very true. Also, because some of my work these days is within personal growth and therapy, I put undue pressure on myself to 'always' know what to do, and that I should 'always' walk the talk. Unrealistic, because I am human :) Yet I do find that pressure adds to indecision.

[chocojon]

An interesting book which is slightly related:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dice_Man

A psychiatrist has many things to deal with and decides to adopt an alternative solution: For every decision make a list of outcomes, roll a dice, follow the result.

I wouldn't recommend it in real life but it is a good read and it would overcome any decision fatigue. :)

[azekeil]

Yes I've heard of that. Not sure I want to try it in real life though, although it might be an interesting way to force a decision by seeing how you feel about the suggested path...

[gerald_duck]

Woo! You should post more often! Everyone should post more often! LJ is feeling a bit like a ghost town, these days. /-8

Relating to decision making being tiring, did you see my posting about satisficing, five years ago? In essence, it's possible to improve quality of life by learning to recognise when something is good enough, and when spending more effort on optimising your decision is entering diminishing returns.

[azekeil]

I think the slowing of posts on LJ is just a facet of people growing older. Whereas when we were younger we felt the need to share more, now we're older somehow we magically don't need to, or something? What's that quote - put away your childish toys? Ah, seems it's actually a bible reference: 1 Corinthians 13:11 (while my quote isn't 100% accurate it appears that anything along the right vein will be right in at least one of the versions *grin*)

I remember reading your post about satisficing. I remember feeling uncomfortable about the concept of consciously stopping decision making once you're happy enough - but I do anyway, just not quite so consciously. I have trained myself to not overthink decisions, after recognising the futility of wasted effort and frustration. Unfortunately sometimes that means I simply choose to do nothing - decision fatigue, not wanting to cut down my options.