by Ruth Harris
Decisions, decisions.
Steak or salmon?
Red or white?
Wash the car or mow the lawn?
Weights or barre class?
Do the laundry or empty the dishwasher?
Mustard or mayo?
Petunias or pansies?
Cheddar or Swiss?
So what?
What’s the big deal?
Why are you wasting my time with stupid questions?
I’ve got more important things to think about, you say, and then tell me to take a hike.
My polite response: Perhaps you might want to reconsider.
Decision fatigue.
Recent articles about the draining mental aftereffects of decision-making are, I think, relevant to some of the universal problems writers confront. Being, as former president, George W. Bush, once put it, “the decider,” takes brain power and has consequences.
You’re kidding me, right?
No. Not at all. Here are a few examples.
Doctors, brides, car buyers.
Judges, menu planners, college professors, and high school students.
According to recent studies, 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 beware!
A clinical psych grad studying decision fatigue and ego depletion remembered how exhausted she felt planning her wedding. She recalled the evening she and her fiancé went through the ritual of registering for gifts.
What style appealed? Modern or traditional? Rustic or sophisticated? Feminine or tailored? Girly or grownup?
What kind of dinnerware? Matched sets or flea market eclectic? Corelle or stoneware? Plastic or china or melamine? Oh, and does it have to be dishwasher safe or are you willing to hand wash?
Plus flatware: What do you prefer? Stainless steel? Matte or mirror finish? Bistro ware? Your great aunt’s silver? Which needs to be polished.
Then: towels. What size? What color? How many sets? Hand and bath definitely, but what about washcloths? Do you use them? Or do you prefer sponges? Foam or natural? Matching tub mats? Or coordinating? And what about shower curtains? Not to mention soap dishes —plastic, wood, cork, silicone or ceramic?
Sheets. Fitted or flat? Cotton or linen or flannel? Plain or printed? Striped or floral? Plaid or perhaps something with a SuperMan or WonderWoman motif? Maybe an art deco vibe? Or an Andy Warhol pop art choice? Don’t forget Jackson Pollock!
“By the end, you could have talked me into anything,” she told her fiancé, “because I just didn’t care any more.”
Even children aren’t immune
Yes, even children, with their endless supply of energy can be hit with decision fatigue. 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.
Overwhelmed by the vast selection, 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 by alternatives, paralyzed by indecision, he burst into sobs. His parents took him home and, eventually, made the choice for him.
Shortcuts don’t cure decision fatigue
Decision fatigue routinely warps the judgment of everyone — doctors, judges, car buyers, brides — and, I wonder, writers? Few 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 more difficult each one becomes.
Your brain, deprived of glucose, eventually looks for shortcuts, usually in either one of two ways, neither of them helpful.
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 caused my friend to break into tears at a large toy store, is paralysis. It’s the ultimate energy saver: do nothing. Instead of agonizing over decisions, avoid making any choice at all.
Which leads to questions about the connection between writer’s block and procrastination.
Writers are the ultimate deciders.
Writers make choices from an almost infinite palette of possibilities. Basically, we spend our working lives making decisions about everything from what genre we want to write to the almost infinite number of choices about plot and characters.
The genre—
What, exactly, do you 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—
Too long? Too short? Or just right?
Anne’s post offering 5 tips for choosing a title points the way.
Plot, characters and POV—
Unreliable narrator, first person, second 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’re wearing, where they work and what they eat.
Plus what they look like.
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? Ironed? Bald? Comb-over? Fro? Mohawk? Pony tail? Pig tails? Dreads? Crew cut? D.A.? Elvis-style pompadour?
And that’s just hair!
What about everything else that brings a character to life and makes him/her memorable?
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 is that just the bright sun in his/her eyes? 20/20? Contacts or glasses? Goggles, a microscope, a telescope, or a jeweler’s loupe?
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?
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?
Keywords. Which ones work best? Ditto categories.
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?
Decision fatigue—how to fight back and win.
A behavioral psychologist, 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.”
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 inevitably 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 set in. 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, the style, the POV.
Have a snack.
Researchers found that after a break for a snack, 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.
My guide to creating a style sheet explains the how-tos.
De-prioritize email and social media.
Don’t let email/FaceBook/Twitter/
Establish 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 go to your desk and 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.
How Steve Jobs, Zuck and President Obama avoided decision fatigue
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 don’t spend valuable time in the morning deciding what to wear. They already know.
You think maybe they’re on to something?
by Ruth Harris (@RuthHarrisBooks) July 31, 2022
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? Here’s what the AMA says about what doctors wish patients knew about decision fatigue.
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Oy! Decisions abound. Next, we should study whether increased chocolate consumption can take the edge off all that decision making.
CS–Ruth’s reply is below. The elves are acting up again. Sorry.
A series is definitely helpful as all the big decisions are made and it’s just the little stuff.
Outside of the main characters, I tend to leave assigning names until the end. Then I don’t have to stress that it’s just the right name.
Just think, forty years ago, we didn’t have all of these decisions… So simple and we didn’t appreciate it.
Wow! Alex how can you write without knowing the character’s name? Couldn’t do it in a million years. The name is where I start. The name helps “show” me the character. If I don’t have the character’s name, I have no idea who s/he is.
Seriously.
Gosh, we all approach our work so differently!
I spend maybe too much time on character names, but I like them to have significance, even if only to me. But sometimes others. For example, in the first novel of my fantasy series, which I just finished, I had a self-styled hard-ass that even his own men didn’t like. he had iron grey hair and a short scruffy beard. He didn’t last long. His name was Tad Krooz. Later, there will be character named Lady Trump.
Sure thing, CS. There’s chocolate cake, pudding, mousse, chocolate brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. And do you mean milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or even white chocolate? Hershey’s, Godiva, Maison du Chocolat, Swiss, French, Belgian? Filled with marzipan, cherries, liqueur or caramel? With or without cocoa nibs, almonds, orange or vanilla flavor? Sheesh, I’m exhausted just thinking about it!
I’m very familiar with decision fatigue from so many years working in higher education education administration. (Sure, I’ll tell you what I think about XYZ; just don’t ask me to make a decision. I don’t have trouble with making decisions about my fiction and poetry because any bad decisions become apparent during revision, and I can fix them.
Liz—Thanks for the v sensible approach and sane perspective! Thank the goddess for revisions where all poor decisions are fixable! Ruth
Oh Ruth! I LOVE this! I suffer from this over-deciding mess with writing, but it is ungodly overwhelming in the developmental edits I claw my way through. Not only trying to decide which issue needs to be discussed with the author, but why — as well as what solutions (more decisions) should be offered — or not offered? The questions and decisions are endless, and my intent must be – always – to be of benefit to the author, not fall prey to my own ego or opinions.
Last year all that finally got to me and I noticed I had established a clothing rotation, meal rotation, chore rotation, etc. and felt much like the bird in a cage. Creativity began to submerge, and I felt my ability to respond to authors flagging… and I shut down, not taking on another editing project for over 6 months. Instead, I wrote, worked outside like a field hand, and lugged 4 loads of ‘crap’ to the dump and charity stores.
Now invigorated, I have plunged back into editing — and voila! here is your wonderful article! :o))
oyes – and I managed to actually block out the neglected novel banging on my frontal lobe for the past 2 years… yay!
Maria—So glad to hear the timing really worked for you. You’re soooo right! Editing is just an endless cascade of decisions each dependent on what came before and what will come next. Plus: address Issue A first or Issue B second? How —exactly — to present your ideas to the author. What fixes — should you propose and which to leave for later. It’s a morass that can seem endless. Bravo to you for taking it on!
De-cluttering (aka getting rid of crap) is totally freeing. No wonder you were able to block out that novel! Best of luck with it!–Ruth
Great post, Ruth! I *decided* one of the unanticipated benefits of the pandemic was that it limited the number of decisions I had to make. What to wear? T-shirt and jeans. Where to go out to eat? We didn’t eat out. What movie to go see? We didn’t go the theater. Groceries? We ordered them by looking at the list of things we usually buy rather than being tempted by some new product.
One decision I made recently was to read “Diamonds are for Now.” Definitely a good decision — I finished it last night.
Kay—Intelligent limitations can be massively liberating can’t they? Too bad it took a pandemic for us to figure that out. I’ve long thought people should basically dress in a uniform: only a few items look good depending on personal style and body type. Stick to a limited range and you’ll be much happier and look better.
No worries about going to movies/theater…with streaming the options are endless and we all know what genres/director/screenwriters we enjoy so those decisions become simpler. Ditto with food/menus…plus compels us to expand our recipe universe and cooking skills.
Delighted that reading *Diamonds* fell into your good decision basket. Whew!!!
Oh boy, felt like I was reading a Billy Mays screed (yes, this is a good thing), and all points spot on. I think I poked fun at myself for this type of dilemma, and got quite a few responses (issue was, write about a particular medical issue with the limited info I had or research a bit more).
Ultimately, I cured quite a few of my decision issues by switching how I actually write. I now do pen and paper exclusively, which basically forces me to actually concentrate on what I want and need to write. I do transcribe afterwards to the computer. But if I need to research an issue, I use my smart phone, and I force myself not to wander around to the apps I use the most. Otherwise, I’m pretty much ‘net free when I do my writing (btw, i came very, very late to smart phones, so I’m not attached to it like others).
And I do the bulk of my writing at night, less interruptions by the family. Less aggravation in the long run.
GB: Interesting you’ve turned to pen and paper for first draft and find it productive. When I get stuck, I’ve found that P&P reliably gets me out of my confusion/block/rut.
And, yes, finding a way to work that cuts way down on interruptions and aggro is massively helpful. Good for you!–Ruth
Man, could I relate, Ruth. In 2019, after reading an article about Steve Jobs’s classic turtleneck, I adopted a similar strategy. I wear one of three outfits every day, whichever fits the weather best, and all super comfy. And it works! Removing the decision of what to wear allows me to stick to a strict writing schedule. I’m a creature of habit anyway. Feed my crows and other yard critters at 8 a.m. sharp, then clean and feed the house fur-babies, and get to my desk by 8:30. Make a smoothie at 12:30, grab crackers or granola, and I’m back at the desk by 1 p.m. These set times help me stay on track. If, say, I want to take a morning walk or hang out a bit with my fur or feathered babies, then I make sure to do it around those set times. As long as they don’t change, I’m good. Sounds kinda anal when it’s typed out like this. LOL
Sue—I’m another routine bug. Put me out of my routine and I get cranky—which no one wants to know about. Trust me on this!
Bottom line, though, is that a “boring” life frees our energy and creativity! So be like Sue: embrace the routine. It will love you back!–Ruth
Ruth, this is terrific. So enlightening, and explains my exhaustion sometimes, with just being overwhelmed with too many jobs (author, college prof, board member, etc etc.) It sounds very much like the research on will-power. You only have so much, and you have to choose how to expend it. Thanks for this~! You’ve made me understand myself better.
Melodie—No wonder you feel exhausted. 🙁 Feeling overwhelmed is totally draining all by itself!
Thanks for making the connex with will-power! We all only have so much mental energy and need to learn how best to deploy it. Not easy, but so so helpful!
All good points and strategies, Ruth. Let me add another: Take a break and move your body.
I live in the country. When I’m stuck, or tired, or can’t decide, I go outside and walk around my house with clippers (there’s always something needing clipping). Then ideas come. Or decisions.
If you live in the city, walk around the block. But leave the clippers at home.
Harald—You are so right. A body in motion is a mind in motion: Works every time! And wielding those clippers adds a soupçon of accomplishment! It’s ALL good. Thanks!–Ruth
Just woke up from the nap I had to take after reading your exhausting post, Ruth ;).
I’m getting better at scanning articles, emails, tweets, etc. and picking out only the most relevant points. The rest I skim or skip.
The relevant words that jumped out in your post were: “Your brain, deprived of glucose.” I immediately ate two chocolate chip cookies and felt much better.
Someone (I think Randy Ingermanson) taught me a useful system for prioritizing decisions. Divide them into categories:
What you NEED do today;
What you WANT to do today;
What you can PUT OFF;
What DOESN’T MATTER.
Congratulations on the release of Diamonds. Such a fun book!
Debbie— Only two? Quel restraint! 🙂
Sounds like an excellent, practical system. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, too, for the very kind words about Diamonds! I appreciate your support!
DEAR ALL, I have no idea why my replies to your comments appear out of order. I can only suppose that the elves are going rogue. Perhaps Decision Fatigue has led to out-of-control impulsive behavior on their part.
In any case, I hope you will be able to sort through the confusion and find the reply addressed to your comment. Anne and I apologize for the naughty elves and their erratic behavior.
Ruth–I will speak to the elves. I don’t know why they do this with some comments and not others. Sigh
I felt exhausted after reading the details of all those decisions! But boy does it explain some things. Thank you for writing this!
(Do you think snacks would help the elves?)
Amy—happy to hear that spelling out the details helped clarify the significant consequences of making numerous “trivial” decisions.
As to snacks, do you have a link to an elf supermarket? Or can Amazon do the job? Target, maybe?
You really bring to light just how many decisions we humans make every single day. Thousands! And for an author, we think every single one is important, especially if we want our book to stand out from the crowd. Nice post. Thank you, Ruth.
Patricia—thanks! Yes, until we stop to break it down, we overlook the number of decisions everyone of us makes everyday. Each one subtracts from our daily allotment of mental energy. We need to practice conservation!
Good Sunday evening, Anne & Ruth. I have to admit guilt from reading this piece with a response in mind, and then I came to the end. “Dammn… Obama, Jobs, and Zuckerberg were already mentioned.” Speaking of Sunday evenings, I never worry about one decision as I always drink the same brand of Scotch.
Way to go, Garry. Anything to make our lives easier!
You misspelled “livers”, Ruth.
You’re welcome, Ruth!
Timely article. Recently, I started treatment for an autoimmune disease. Nothing like an illness to bring things into focus. I’ve been completely unable to focus on writing, or anything related to writing, so instead of trying to force myself to make decisions I’m incapable of making at this stop, I simply stopped it all. That one decision has been freeing. My energy is better knowing I don’t have to think too much. Instead, I’m working on all the little no-decision projects that have been sitting around not getting done. For instance, I’m transferring all my old VHS home movies into MP4 format. No decisions to be made for now.
Jeanne—thanks for taking the time to comment. Your decision not to make decisions & the resulting gain in energy is a dramatic example of the consequences of decision fatigue. It doesn’t come without a price! Thanks so much for sharing!
Finally! There’s a name for it – decision fatigue. Lol. Oh yes, I do suffer it. So thanks for the help Ruth. And, btw, loved your new book. Congrats on the new launch, and I will have a review up for you very shortly! 🙂
DG—IME it helps to know there’s a name for it and that there are steps you can take to mitigate the negative consequences. I’d never heard of DF until I stumbled across an article (don’t recall where) describing it & realized right away that it applied to me. 🙁
Je suis thrilled/delighted/enchantée by your kind words about *Diamonds Are For Now.” So glad you enjoyed it! I appreciate your support. 🙂 Thank you!
Avec plaisir mon ami, lol. I’m a Canadian with tres rusty French! 🙂
Hey, I have a clothing rotation! T-shirts and shorts now, t-shirts and jeans in the winter. In dresser drawers. When I finish the laundry (I’ve done our laundry for 46 years. I volunteered. After all the machines do 90% of the work.) put the clean clothes at the bottom of the pile. This may come from working in a grocery warehouse for years, where it’s important to rotate your stock.