How I Transfer My Decisiveness at Work to My Personal Life

How I Transfer My Decisiveness at Work to My Personal Life Ive always been an indecisive person. Most of the time, I hate figuring out what to eat for dinner or what my plans should be for the day. And if I dont make a to-do list for myself, Ill pretty much wander around and get virtually leidhing accomplished. Thats just my personal life, though. At work and all throughout college its been incredibly easy for me to make decisions. Choose an essay topic? Done. Pitch these sites? Ive got three ready to go. Write an article? Its on the editors desk by 5 oclock.The nature of my job involves making tons of decisions, both large and small, on a daily basis, and it doesnt bother me one bit. I love to work hard because No. 1. I genuinely enjoy my job, and No. 2. Im essentially getting paid to make the right choices. My work is decision-heavy, but in that environment it comes naturally to me.Noticing a PatternI started to realize I prioritize the decisions I know will net me the fruchtwein vital returns. In college I earned a high GPA, and at work I do well so others will hopefully notice my hard work and I can solidify a career path.But when it comes to making decisions in my personal life, its almost as if I cant be bothered. Planning dinners for my grocery list usually means I stick with stuff Ive already made so I know exactly what to buy at the store. I can write about personal finance and the gig economy all day, but when it comes to choosing a bank account thats best for me or finding a side job to make myself some extra money, its so hard to make an actual decision. Why are work decisions easy and personal decisions much mora difficult? After years of wondering why Im like this, I finally found out theres an official term decision fatigue.So Many Decisions, So Little TimeDecision fatigue is the decrease in quality of your decisions after a long period of decision making. In his article for The New York Times Magazine, John Tierney writes, youre not consciousl y aware of being tired but youre low on mental energy. He explains that humans have a finite amount of mental energy for exerting self-control. And were faced with decisions all day Should I drink another cup of coffee? Treat myself to a nice lunch? Check Facebook just one more time? At the end of the day, after resisting all these urges and decisions, our brains are just tired. This means when we get home, were nearly running on empty in terms of rational decision making. According to Tierney, there are two ways the human brain will cope at this point. One way is to act impulsively instead of rationally thinking through the consequences. The other is to save all the energy you have left and not make any decisions at all. My brain prefers the latter. Figuring Out How to Respond to Decision Making Finally, I know why its so difficult for me to figure out personal decisions at home my brain literally does not have the energy to make any more decisions With all the decisions I face a t work, Im left mentally drained. Knowing what I know now, and the actual psychology behind it, I still prefer to spend my limited amount of mental energy during office hours. To curb my mental exhaustion at home, I always make a list before grocery shopping and plan out dinners ahead of time. Ive also found it helpful to make a list at the beginning of the week or weekend of things I need to get done, whether its checking on my budget or running a few errands. Most importantly, its OK to feel mentally drained its just part of being human and having a mentally exhausting job. That doesnt necessarily mean its a bad thing, and now I dont see it as one. My brain just needs a little more fuel before it can get back to its full potential. --Jacquelyn Pica is a writer at The Penny Hoarder, a personal finance website that helps you make smart money decisions. Find her on Twitter JacquelynTPH.