by Ruth Harris
Decision Making Can Be a Big Deal
- Chicken or fish?
- Coke or Pepsi?
- Dry cleaner or shoe repair?
- Helvetica or Times New Roman?
No big deal, you say?
Perhaps you might want to think again.
An article about the debilitating mental consequences of decision-making by John Tierney makes a powerful argument. I’ve condensed and excerpted the article below, but here’s a link if you want to read the entire article It’s fascinating and, I think, relevant to some of the universal problems writers struggle with. John Tierney begins his article with a story about prisoners seeking parole.
Three Israeli prisoners.
Three Israeli prisoners recently appeared before a parole board. The three prisoners had each completed at least two-thirds of their sentences, but the parole board granted freedom to only one of them.
#1 (heard at 8:50 a.m.): An Arab Israeli serving a 30-month sentence for fraud.
#2 (heard at 3:10 p.m.): A Jewish Israeli serving a 16-month sentence for assault.
#3 (heard at 4:25 p.m.): An Arab Israeli serving a 30-month sentence for fraud.
There was a pattern to the parole board’s decisions, but it wasn’t related to the men’s ethnic backgrounds, crimes or sentences. It was about timing.
Prisoners who appeared early in the morning received parole about 70 percent of the time. Those who appeared late in the day were paroled less than 10 percent of the time, and indeed the individual in Case 1 was granted parole.
There was nothing malicious or even unusual about the judges’ behavior. Their erratic judgment was due to the occupational hazard of being, as George W. Bush once put it, “the decider.”
The mental work of ruling on case after case, whatever the individual merits, wore the judges down.
Doctors, brides, car buyers.
Further studies revealed that decision fatigue affects everyone from doctors who prescribed more unneeded antibiotics later in the day than earlier to car buyers who, after deciding on model, color, upholstery, and accessories, can’t resist the dealer’s offer to rust proof their new car.
Brides can suffer from it. A postdoctoral fellow who started working at a research laboratory studying decision fatigue and ego depletion right after planning her wedding remembered how exhausted she felt the evening she and her fiancé went through the ritual of registering for gifts.
Did they want plain white china or something with a pattern? Which brand of knives? How many towels? What kind of sheets? Precisely how many threads per square inch?
“By the end, you could have talked me into anything,” she told her new colleagues.
Even children aren’t immune.
A friend told me of the time his parents took him to a big toy store just before his birthday and told him he could have his choice of any one gift. He first chose a toy train, then changed his mind and asked for legos. After that he decided he wanted the tank and, after that, the rocket launcher. Or maybe a toy car. Or a baseball glove? But what about some roller skates? A video game?
Overwhelmed, he was unable to make any choice. Exhausted, he burst into sobs, his parents took him home and, eventually, made the decision for him.
What is Decision Fatigue?
Decision fatigue routinely warps the judgment of everyone—doctors, judges, car buyers, brides—and, I wonder, writers? Few people are even aware of decision fatigue, and researchers are only beginning to understand why it happens and how to counteract it.
Decision fatigue is different from ordinary physical fatigue. You’re not consciously aware of being tired, but you’re low on mental energy because the more choices you make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes. Your brain, deprived of glucose, eventually looks for shortcuts, usually in either one of two very different ways.
One shortcut is to become reckless: to act impulsively instead of expending the energy to first think through the consequences. (Sure, tweet that photo! What could go wrong?)
The other shortcut—the one that made me think about writer’s block and procrastination—is the ultimate energy saver: do nothing. Instead of agonizing over decisions, avoid making any choice at all.
What does decision fatigue have to do with writers?
Writers make choices from an almost infinite palette of possibilities. Basically, we spend our working lives making decisions.
For example:
The genre
What, exactly, do we want to write? Mystery, thriller, superhero, romance, women’s fiction, historical fiction, cozy, sci fi, fantasy?
Gotta pick one.
Or maybe two if you have a mash-up in mind.
The title
Anne’s post offering 10 tips for choosing a title contains excellent advice.
The plot, characters and POV
Unreliable narrator, first person, or omniscient third person?
Who’s the good guy/gal? How about the hero? Who’s the villain? And what about the side-kick? Or the incidental character who turns out to play an important role?
Not to mention the thousand (at least) details about what they look like, what they’re wearing, and what they do for a living.
For example:
Blonde, brunette or redhead?
Touches of flattering silver or drab shades of grey? Dyed or natural? Highlighted? Straight or curly? Long, short or bobbed? Permed? Or ironed? Bald? Comb-over? Fro? Mohawk? Pony tail? Pig tails? Dreads?
And that’s just hair!
Blue eyes or brown?
But don’t forget green or hazel. Beady eyes? Almond shaped, wide-set or small? Near sighed, far sighted, color blind? And what about that squint? Suspicious? Untrustworthy? Or does s/he just have the bright sun in his/her eyes? 20/20? Contacts or glasses?
Fat or thin?
Tall or short? Bulging biceps or beer belly? Runner slim or linebacker bulky? Svelte and sexy or pleasingly plump? Stringbean skinny or XXL?
Big city, small town?
Mountains, beach or desert? House, mansion, apartment, penthouse, refuge camp, log cabin? Hotel, motel, tent, palace, homeless shelter, distant planet, undiscovered galaxy?
Jobs and careers?
Funeral director or Hollywood stylist? Cyborg or medieval knight?
Or? Or?
- Need I continue?
You’ve got the point, but wait, there’s more!
Marketing—another bottomless pit of decisions.
- Author newsletter?
- Website refresh?
- A new blog post?
- That Tweet?
- An Instagram account?
- Amazon ad?
- FaceBook ad?
- BookBub ad?
- Paid promo?
- First free in series?
- A guest blog post? (See Anne’s advice about how to approach bloggers.)
- Keywords. Which ones work best?
- SEO optimized headline or blurb?
It seems as if the list of choices writers must make is almost infinite.
No wonder we feel exhausted. And/or burned out.
No wonder we’re blocked.
No wonder we procrastinate.
Are we lazy? Untalented? Self-defeating?
Or, are we suffering from decision fatigue?
How to Avoid Decision Fatigue.
James Clear, who writes about behavioral psychology and performance improvement, points out that making a few changes to your daily routine can help. “If something isn’t important to you, eliminate it. Making decisions about unimportant things, even if you have the time to do so, isn’t a benign task. It’s pulling precious energy from the things that matter.”
How can writers apply his advice?
Limit your choices.
Resist the lure of research and beware of over-researching. Too much information (or TMI as it is popularly known) will result in too many choices and, too many choices will exhaust/overwhelm us and lead to decision fatigue.
Make the most important decisions first.
Make your important decisions about plot and character at the beginning of a writing session before decision fatigue can lead you to make a poor choice. Leave decisions about minor details which can easily be changed later to the end of your session.
Consider writing a series.
The advantage of writing a series is that you automatically limit your choices. As you begin each new book in the series, you will already know the genre, the MC, the setting, the voice. Elizabeth S. Craig discusses the advantages of writing a series.
Have a snack.
Researchers found that when judges took a mid-morning break for a sandwich and some fruit (not cake or candy), their decision-making ability was restored. Writers can certainly follow their lead.
Suggested snacks include:
- Fruits and non-starchy vegetables
- Rolled or steel-cut oatmeal
- Lentils, beans and other legumes
- Sweet potato
- Brown rice
Keep a style sheet.
A style sheet provides a reliable road map to your book and will keep you from having to make extra, unnecessary decisions. If you keep a style sheet, you will not have to decide—again!—whether your character lives on Park Avenue, Park Street or Park Road. Check my guide about how to create a style sheet.
De-prioritize email and social media.
Don’t let email/FaceBook/Twitter/Instagram etc rob you of energy. Save those email replies, posts, and tweets for the end of your writing session. Make your email replies as brief as possible—use the suggested replies that pop up to save time and energy.
Develop a routine.
Work at the same time every day. AM or PM depending on whether you’re a lark or an owl. That way you don’t have to decide what you’re going to do when the clock strikes thirteen. You already know what you’re going to do: you’re going to write.
Plan ahead.
Why not organize your research or write a brief synopsis of the next scene you need to write just before you go to sleep? That way, when you go to your desk the next day, you will have already made important decisions.
President Obama, Steve Jobs, and Zuck.
A Vanity Fair article states that President Obama “always wears a gray or blue suit with a blue-ish tie.” He explains: “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”
Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg are famous for, among other things, their daily uniforms: Steve’s black turtleneck, jeans and New Balance shoes, and Zuck’s hoodie. They never spend one second in the morning deciding what to wear. They already know.
You think maybe they’re on to something?
by Ruth Harris (@RuthHarrisBooks) February 24, 2019
What about you, scriveners? Do you every suffer from decision fatigue? Do you think you’ve ever got Writer’s Block because of decision fatigue? How do you keep your decision-making under control?
UPDATE: Here’s another example of decision fatigue in the news. Seeing a doctor later in the day may result in fewer screenings.
***
On her book blog this week, Anne discusses the new tabloid accusations that Burt Reynolds murdered David Whiting. There’s also a new book coming out about David Whiting. David, one of my college boyfriends, is also the subject of my novel The Gatsby Game. Is there new evidence that solves this 40 year old Hollywood mystery?
BOOK OF THE WEEK
The idea for A Kiss At Kihali came to Ruth from articles she read about the poaching that was/is threatening to make rhinos and elephants extinct. And the issue is still in the news. Ivory & rhino horn are big business, unfortunately.
A Kiss at Kihali : sweet romance set against the backdrop of African animal rescue
A must-read for animal lovers.
Available at all these retailers:
I hear you, Anne. Decision-making can be overwhelming. I just attended a Lisa Cron workshop. She cited research that claims the average suburban American adult makes 35,000 “cognitively unconscious” decisions a day – decisions that don’t even feel like decisions. Then there are the 70 or so decisions a day we actually identify as decisions. Yikes. Thanks for another great post.
CS—Ruth here. 😉 Wow! Thanks for the Lisa Cron stat. 35,000 “cognitively unconscious” decisions a day? No wonder we’re pooped!
We had similar stats in advertising, CS (post above me). When I first started teaching it in 1994, people in the Greater Toronto Area (6 million) were exposed to an ave of 600 ads a day. Ten years later, the stat was 2000. Every single day!
I had a mentor once who told me that if I wanted to write novels, I should get out of my high stress management job, and do something more rote. In fact, he advised a job that you could walk away from at the end of the day – something that wouldn’t leave you mentally exhausted. In retrospect, he was right. I didn’t finish a novel until I left my hospital director job.
I will definitely do more writing in the morning now, due to this excellent post!
Melodie—Thanks! You were fortunate to have that mentor. What good advice!
The novel you finished is proof. IME early AM is the “best” time for writing. Before decision fatigue sets in.
That makes perfect sense! Even at work, I perform best in the morning. Now I know why. I’m still fresh and haven’t made too many decisions yet. Thanks, now that I know, I’ll see what I can do to avoid that with writing. And other important things!
Alex—Might be why the old advice to “sleep on it” is so effective. We need to do the important stuff before we get ground down by trivial daily decisions that nevertheless take a high toll.
Truly hadn’t thought of this possibility. I know I’ve stopped writing several times, including right now, and sometimes for weeks in a row. Is it because of decisions? Could well be- and I think it’s important to consider that sometimes it’s the need to make decisions in real life that saps your ability to spend that energy on the writing.
Will—The more I thought about decision fatigue and its consequences, the more it made sense to me. Perhaps we all need writing breaks to regroup mentally. Whether trivial—latte or cappuccino—or more important—a title or marketing plan—decisions take energy. Even though we’re not consciously aware of our energy being depleted little by little, the results add up to big consequences.
I don’t really suffer much from decision fatigue, only procrastination fatigue. I usually have a basic idea on where I’m going with my writing and while I do have a routine (of sorts), I can often get bogged down executing one very small portion of the routine.
That being said, the only concrete decision I have a problem with is coming up with a tile for whatever story I happen to be writing. Can often take me weeks/months to come up with a decent title for a story.
G.B.—Aaaargh, titles! Anne’s post linked above is very helpful.
Such good points! I think we all have just so much emotional energy and if we use it up making non-priority decisions, there is not much left over for creativity. In The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp talks about building routines/habits so that we prepare to be creative without having to consciously decide to do it. She also talks about the “scratching” process of accumulating inspiration and ideas for a creative work, which is one of the best parts about being a fiction author IMHO. I probably should re-read that book once a year and highly recommend it to all.
Carmen—Thanks for referring to Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit. It’s the best book I’ve ever come across about creativity and the creative process. She’s sensible and down-to-earth and your idea of rereading it once a year is excellent!
Thank you Ruth, this was exactly what I needed to read right now! I think this is probably aligned with the excellent advice to stop writing in the middle of a chapter, not the end of it. If we stop in the middle of a scene, we already know what we have to write when next we sit down, because we need to finish that scene. I can spend hours re-reading what went before, in an effort to decide what comes next, otherwise. Even outlines don’t seem to do much to help that sometimes.
Tara—I hear you about having to re-read to trying to figure out what I had in mind. I agree, too, that—at least for me—an outline is fairly useless.
An alternative that (usually) works for me is to jot down a very brief synopsis—one or two sentences, even a few words—about what I need to write next. You can do this before you stop your writing session while everything is fresh in your mind.
I’m embarrassed to admit that when I took the advice about stopping in the middle of a chapter, I completely forgot where I was going and what I was going to write next. Color me hopeless. 🙁
Well, at least it results in more sage advice for me, Ruth! I’m about to jot down those 2 sentences right now this very minute, so you’re due my thanks…again!!
oh Ruth — great great article! And exactly what has been bugging me lately…
Last year I set up 4 seasons of clothes, with ‘uniform’ in mind — not that I don’t love having clothing choices, but I pared down my choices dependent upon the weather. It’s worked out great! My clothes are divided in this odd way and I can grab what I want in seconds.
I also stopped worrying about what time of day I committed to writing or editing. They take two different kinds of thinking, so I split things up. Writing in the morning and late afternoon. Editing mid-day and 8-midnight. Then, if I have a good snack after midnight, my writing brain kicks in again.
You’ve given me new ideas to cut more decisions — now, if only my dog will cooperate…
Maria D’Marco
Maria—Sounds like you’re on the right track and using your time and energy to the greatest advantage! I’m also impressed at how you’ve divided your writing activities between writing and editing. As you say, writing and editing require two different kinds of thinking.
Tell your pooch to get with it and read the damn post! 😉
Tara—don’t limit yourself to sentences. Sometimes I just jot down a list. As long as I do it fast so it doesn’t feel like “writing.” Can just be a few words scribbled by hand as opposed to the computer. Play with it. See what works.
Nice to have a name for something I’ve struggled with so much. Indecision has led to months, years, of unfinished manuscripts. The new idea always seems better than the one before it.
Thanks for a helpful article.
Nice to know I’m not alone.
Tammy—Thanks. So happy to hear the post was helpful. Being able to give a name to something can make an important—and positive—difference in groping with it. You are definitely not alone!
After many years of agonizing over making decisions about what, how, where, when, and who to write—decisions that led my stories into inescapable corners—I opted, in old age, to make one grand, permanent decision. I quit writing and returned to reading. I realized that, regarding writing, I lacked a crucial, mental component: imagination. So with what time I have left on Earth, I read whatever stories center around a writer’s gift of the imagination. How the writers decide to move their characters out of corners, I just can’t imagine, but the reading fascinates.
Anthony—You’ve made a wise choice. Finding out how other writers have portrayed their characters will certainly end up invigorating your approach to your own characters. To quote Stephen King: “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
Good luck with your reading and your future writing!
I often have this when I’m trying to balance my to-do list. I realised I was spending time on what I thought were smaller tasks because they were more finite than “work on PhD chapter” or “write novel”. I figured getting them done first would clear the decks for the “bigger” things. But then I was also wasting my brain power on these other things, meaning I was often too tired to work on the bigger, more important things. So I started breaking down the more important things into finite chunks and doing those first. It meant the things that mattered stopped falling off the to-do list, and I was doing better work because I worked on them while I still had some mental energy left!
Icy—Brilliant, just brilliant! Breaking a big project down to small steps is so, so smart and your progress with your to-do list is proof.
Scientists’ analysis of the consequences of decision fatigue reveals that even “smaller,” less significant decisions consume mental energy and leave us less able to accomplish our larger, more important goals. We all need to pay attention to our priorities and you’ve made a great head start!
Thank you for this post. I haven’t written in months for various personal reasons and when I finally said, “okay, enough, I’ve gotta start another book”, then I was blocked. So I enrolled in one of my favorite teacher’s classes which helps you create a plot, and a bit more, from a single sentence that you bring to the class at the beginning. It’s how I wrote one of my novels when I was “stuck”. To just say to myself, “write a book” isn’t working this time. It’s too “huge” of a decision. So I’m going to start smaller, as suggested in your post, and build from there.
Patricia—Thanks for the kind words. Sorry you’re experiencing this frustration
and hope that breaking your project down into smaller pieces will help get you through the block. After all, no one can “write a book.” We can, however, start with a word, a sentence. Hang in!
This is very interesting. I have to think about this the next time I feel guilty because I’m procrastinating. I do have the morning routine down. I put on a flannel shirt and leggings in the winter. Warm, casual, and ready to write or play with my granddaughter.
Susan—Sounds like you have your AM routine aced!
Interesting research, though. Maybe low glucose in our brain is the real culprit. Certainly makes sense, doesn’t it?
Excellent post. I like the part about being consistent when you write, especially as to the time of day. Many thanks….I also plan on working with a basket of fruit when I write. ????
Ken—Glad the post resonated! Good idea about the fruit basket…Orange slices for me!
This is fantastic. And here’s me, having read and read self help books and psych books and never made the connection… but it’s pretty obvious when you think about it. And even when you’re deep into the novel, having already decided the basics, trying to decide how to get to the end or what the end will be gets you just as stuck. With writing, I think the best advice is to just take a step in any direction. You can change your mind, go on a different track, find a different clue – but take a step somewhere, write that line, and see what happens. Action begets more action.
Audra—Thanks for the flattering words. You make a good point that there are so many more decisions the further you get into a novel. And don’t forget about the editing process!
Decisions. Decisions. It’s what we do. 🙂
I’m glad you mentioned James Clear. I recently read his book, Atomic Habits, and I found it very useful. Good habits pay off exponentially. It takes effort to establish a routine now, but once it’s in place, you can keep repeating that routine for months or years almost effortlessly. That’s a wise investment, I’d say!
Alex—Thanks for taking the time to comment. Anne and I treasure our smart, savvy readers!
Thanks, too, for recommending Atomic Habits and for pointing out the value of routine. A wise investment, indeed. Especially for writers!