Decision fatigue: why you're exhausted without having moved forward

Some evenings you're drained even though nothing important moved. Often it's not the work that tires you: it's the dozens of small decisions made during the day. Which email first, which tool, which price, which post.

Why it's worse solo

In a team, decisions get shared out. Alone, you decide everything: product, sales, billing, the logo. And every pending decision keeps running in the background.

Rule 1: decide the night before

Tonight, pick the one important action for tomorrow. In the morning, you just execute it, with no inner debate.

Rule 2: default decisions

Many choices come back every week. Settle them once and for all:

• your prospecting slots (for example Tuesday and Thursday mornings);
• the starting price for a new offer;
• your standard reply to a discount request.

Each default decision is one less decision to make.

Rule 3: reversible or not?

Before thinking for a long time, ask whether the decision is easy to undo. Changing a page title: reversible, decide in two minutes. Signing a one-year commitment: irreversible, take your time.

Most of a founder's decisions are reversible. Treating them as final costs days.

The number to track

The number of decisions you push from one day to the next. Write them down. If the list goes above five, block thirty minutes to settle them all at once.