Does Organizing Wear You Out?

We’ve nerded out on how our cognitive biases affect how we organize our homes (catch up on Parts 1,2,3, 4, 5., and now it’s time for a bonus round. There’s a phenomenon that makes it even more likely for you to default to these cognitive biases that may not be serving you.

I’m speaking, of course, about decision fatigue. Decision fatigue is something you probably recognize: the more decisions you have to make, the worse you become at making them. You quite literally run out of decision making energy.

That probably seems straightforward. But there’s a detail that many people, even those focused on their productivity and achivement, fail to take into consideration:

Every. Decision. Counts.

Big or small, consequential or irrelevant, every decision you make counts towards your daily allotment of decision making energy. Whether or not to sign a new vendor at work? It counts. Where to go on vacation? It counts. Where to put down your armloads of stuff when you get home? It counts. Whether to keep or toss each item your professional organizer is presenting to you? Hoooo boy, that counts!

And the only way to renew your decision making energy is to get a full night’s sleep.

There are two places I run into decision fatigue when it comes to organizing.

1) Decision fatigue limits the amount of organizing you can do in a given period of time.

Over the years, I’ve learned that 4 hours is the optimal length of time for an in person organizing session. We work very closely with our clients, and ask them to make a keep/let go decision on every single item in the spaces we work in. That means they are making A LOT of decisions! I can literally see decision fatigue start to happen and the quality of decisions start to degrade. At that point, I usually offer to start session wrap up - I’d rather bill less for a shorter session than have the client regret any decisions they made under decision fatigue!

What does this mean for you, if you’re not working with a professional organizer? It means you need to be realistic about how much organizing you can do at once, and thoughtfully plan it for times when you’ll have the right amount of energy to handle it. This is why I often recommend that people start decluttering and organizing in small, manageable chunks. But it’s absolutely still worth doing because…

2) Organizing systems reduce decision fatigue.

Remember, it’s not just that you get worse at each decision you make in a day. You’ll be worse at all the ones that come after them before you renew with rest. So, if you have to make a lot of little piddly decisions first thing in the morning getting everyone ready for work and school, you’re going to sit down at your desk already behind in terms of making any critical professional decisions.

That’s why organizing systems are so powerful. They allow you to make one decision one time so you never have to make that decision again.

If you have a system for where your breakfast prep tools and foods go in your kitchen, that’s a decision you don’t have to make. If you have a system for how your skincare is organized, that’s a decision you don’t have to make. If you have a system for where things go when you come home with bags and groceries at the end of the day, that’s a lot of decisions you don’t have to make!

When you understand decision fatigue, you can set yourself up for success in all areas of your life - even if the organizing systems are only in your home!

What systems have you set up to reduce your decision fatigue?

LMW