Why do we make worse decisions at the end of the day?

Decision Fatigue

, explained.
Bias

What is Decision Fatigue?

Decision fatigue describes how our decision-making gets worse as we make additional choices and our cognitive abilities get worn out. Decision fatigue is the reason we feel overwhelmed when we have too many choices to make.1

The image illustrates the concept of "Decision Fatigue" with a simple graph. The vertical axis is labeled "Decision Quality," and the horizontal axis is labeled "Decision Quantity." The graph shows a downward curve, indicating that as the number of decisions increases, the quality of those decisions decreases. The title "Decision Fatigue" is placed at the top of the image.

Where this bias occurs

Decision fatigue is a cognitive shortcut that causes irrational trade-offs in decision-making.2 One prominent example is Barack Obama’s presidential outfits. He claims to have worn the same colored suits every day so as to limit the number of decisions he has to make.3 Obama understood decision fatigue and how it can compromise the quality of important choices. 

The phenomena of decision fatigue can affect even the most rational and intelligent individuals, as everyone can become mentally exhausted. The more decisions made throughout the day, the harder each decision becomes for us. Eventually, the brain looks for shortcuts to circumvent decision fatigue, leading to poor decision-making.

Related Biases

Sources

  1. Danziger, S., Levav, J., & Avnaim-Pesso, L. (2011). Extraneous factors in judicial decisions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,108(17), 6889-6892.
  2. Lewis, M. (2012, September 11). Obama’s Way. Retrieved August 18th, 2020, from https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2012/10/michael-lewis-profile-barack-obama
  3. Baumeister, Roy F (2003), “The Psychology of Irrationality”, in Brocas, Isabelle; Carrillo, Juan D (eds.), The Psychology of Economic Decisions: Rationality and well-being, pp. 1–15, ISBN 978-0-19-925108-7.
  4. Burrows, M. (2020, June 02). Four-day work week: A silver bullet for New Zealand’s economy post-COVID-19 or an idealist fantasy? Retrieved August 03, 2020, from https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2020/06/four-day-work-week-a-silver-bullet-for-new-zealand-s-economy-post-covid-19-or-an-idealist-fantasy.html
  5. Spears, D., Ghosh, A., & Cumming, O. (2013). Open Defecation and Childhood Stunting in India: An Ecological Analysis of New Data from 112 Districts. PLoS ONE, 8(9). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073784
  6. Lamothe, C. (2019, October 03). Decision Fatigue: What It Is and How to Avoid It. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/decision-fatigue
  7. Fraga, J. (2015, April 24). How to Identify and Prevent Burnout. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/tips-for-identifying-and-preventing-burnout
  8. Spears, Dan (9 December 2010), “Economic decision-making in poverty depletes behavioral control” (PDF), Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies, Princeton University, retrieved 24 October 2018.
  9. Anderson, Christopher (2003). “The Psychology of Doing Nothing: Forms of Decision Avoidance Result from Reason and Emotion”. Psychological Bulletin. 129 (1): 139–167. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.1.139. PMID 12555797. SSRN 895727.
  10. Mawby, William D (2004), Decision process quality management, p. 72, ISBN 978-0-87389-633-7.
  11. Baumeister, Roy F.; Vohs, Kathleen D. (2003). “Willpower, Choice, and Self-Control”. In Loewenstein, George; Read, Daniel; Baumeister, Roy F. (eds.). Time and Decision: Economic and Psychological Perspectives of Intertemporal Choice. Russell Sage. pp. 201–214. ISBN 978-1610443661.
  12. Lewis, M. (2012, October). Michael Lewis: Obama’s Way. Retrieved August 03, 2020, from https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2012/10/michael-lewis-profile-barack-obama
  13. Baer, Drake (28 April 2015). “The scientific reason why Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg wear the same outfit every day”. Business Insider. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  14. W. (2019, May 17). How to Identify When You’re Experiencing Decision Fatigue. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2019/05/13/how-to-identify-when-youre-experiencing-decision-fatigue/
  15. Danziger, S., Levav, J., & Avnaim-Pesso, L. (2011). Extraneous factors in judicial decisions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(17), 6889-6892. doi:10.1073/pnas.1018033108

About the Authors

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Dan Pilat

Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.

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Dr. Sekoul Krastev

Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.

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