Decision Fatigue: How Moms Can Give It a Rest

Rachel Watkins shares simple ways tired moms can streamline their choices by creating routines.

A recent article about raising kids came across my screen that introduced me to the phrase, “decision fatigue.” This came about as a mom wrote of her decision to dress her newborn triplets in the same outfits. Of course, she encountered criticism as strangers both online and off insisted she was stifling her newborns’ individuality. She responded that in raising a family of 4 children, she was so tired from making decisions all day long about so many things. She was reducing her stress by making only one choice as the day started. Her identical boys would all be wearing the same outfit. She assured the online trolls that when and if her sons ever voiced an opinion about fashion she would listen, but not now.

Unfamiliar with the concept of decision fatigue, I looked it up. The American Medical Association (AMA) tells us decision fatigue is the reality that the more decisions we have to make throughout the day causes actual mental fatigue, and our ability to make good decisions at any time will suffer as a result.

AHA! This explained my mom’s approach to dinner. A nurse and mother of 10, Mom was generous with her time and talents. I used to think she lacked dinner creativity as we were guaranteed a simple rotation of dinners every week. Venison on Sunday, chicken on Monday, ground meat on Tuesday, pasta on Wednesday, crockpot dinner on Thursday. Meatless Friday was either grilled cheese or mac and cheese, while Saturday was leftovers or "Scrap-Up" in my family’s lingo. I used to think she had no imagination in the kitchen; then I realized she was brilliant.

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Despite what cooking channels want to tell us, most families have a limited menu of dinners in rotation: a surprisingly healthy approach to both eating and family management. My busy working mom easily reached decision fatigue by dinner time, so she made it a non-decision. If it was Thursday, it was the crockpot, which today might be an Instant Pot.

The key to reducing decision fatigue is to streamline your choices as doctors, time management experts and good parents recommend. What is the area of life that causes you the most stress? How can you prevent decision fatigue and the screaming and frustration that accompanies it? Reduce the number of choices you give yourself.

This can result in something such as creating a uniform of sorts for yourself as a mom or your kids, following a reliable and simple schedule through the week, and choosing the same Mass time every Sunday.

Thanks to God’s grace and my mom, I had intuited the reality of decision fatigue for myself years ago without realizing it. You will find me wearing a skort and simple top almost every weekday, attending daily Mass and eating eggs for breakfast afterwards. My kids eat cereal in the morning, and we have frozen pizza every Friday for dinner. Every homeschool year includes Wordly Wise, and game/movie night is Saturday. Guaranteed. (Almost.)

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We are not chained to any of our decisions like slaves, and flexibility is also a necessary part of life. But if you recognize decision fatigue in your life, where are you being called to streamline your choices? Is laundry piling up? Assign one day for each bedroom. Maybe deciding to do one load a day is better than six on Saturday. Is ordering out every week for dinner because you can’t decide what to cook breaking your budget? Take a page from my mom’s cookbook; if it’s Wednesday, it’s pasta!

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If you recognize decision fatigue in your life, where are you being called to streamline your choices? #CatholicMom

Life is full of decisions being made for you: needing to do housework, having a job, and paying bills. We cannot control everything that happens to us, such as illness or car accidents. These will all cause you stress. But we can reduce our level of tension with things under our control, such as making time every day to pray, all sports equipment is kept in garage and Sunday outfits are laid out Saturday evening.

"Taco Tuesday" can be more than just a fun phrase: it can bring you unexpected calm.

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