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1 Amazing Way to Simplify Your Life

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1 Amazing Way to Simplify Your Life | Decision Fatigue | Healthy Routines | Click through for this great tip!Have you heard of decision fatigue?

Decision fatigue “refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual, after a long session of decision making”(source).

Basically, the more decisions we have to made, the higher the chance is that we’ll make a poor decision.

We make SO many decisions throughout the day! What should I wear? What should I eat for breakfast? Should I go for a walk now or later? What should I work on first? You get the idea.

After making tons of decisions throughout the day, I get to the end of the day and have a harder time choosing to exercise, choosing to eat something healthy, and choosing to go to bed at a good time. No wonder it’s so hard to resist eating an entire pan of brownies before bed!

So here’s a big way to simplify your life and eliminate decision fatigue:

Create Healthy Routines and Pre-Make Your Decisions

The more parts of your life on autopilot, the more brain power you will have to make good decisions.

I am a very structured person who always likes to have a plan, so I naturally gravitate towards creating routines.

If I can create healthy routines, then I don’t have to “decide” to make a healthy choice, it’s just part of what I do in a day. It doesn’t require any thought or brain power, it’s just a habit.

So I wanted to share some of the routines that I use to help reduce my decision fatigue and help me make healthy choices without really thinking about it. Maybe you could create a few routines so that you have fewer decisions to make as well.

Breakfast Routine

I seriously prefer to eat the same thing for breakfast every day.

I’m hard-core-addicted to Frosted Mini-Wheats Little Bites Chocolate. Yes, there’s chocolate in the name, but they’ve got lots of fiber, whole grains, vitamins, and minerals, so I consider it a win 🙂

If you need a little more variety in your life for breakfast, you could make a list of three or four healthy breakfast options to always have on hand.

Clothes Picked Out

I don’t know why this makes so much of a difference in my day, but I have such a hard time picking out an outfit in the morning! It’s takes me forever to decide.

I pre-make my outfit decision by picking out my clothes the night before.

Laundry Day

I do all of our laundry in one day.

I used to always do it on Friday, but that’s a little up in the air at the moment. I like to keep it on the same day each week so that I know it’s part of my schedule and I can plan to be home that day each week.

You can check out my laundry day routine here.

Morning Routine

After I quit my job at the beginning of the summer, my well-honed morning routine went out the window. I’m still working on perfecting my morning routine, but here’s what’s going on right now:

  • Wake up at 7am with Austin. I make his breakfast and coffee and help get him out the door by 7:30.
  • Go back to bed with my computer or iPad. I work on a few things and usually fall back asleep for a little bit. I have another alarm set for 9am.
  • Eat breakfast.
  • Take Mozzie for a walk.
  • Get to work.

It’s definitely a work in progress. I really need to stop falling back asleep because sometimes I wake up the second time feeling worse.

I went through the 14-day Make Over Your Mornings Course and it helped me out a ton. (You can see my full review of the course here.) I get a lot done the night before which makes our mornings less frantic. I’m making sure eating a healthy breakfast and getting a little exercise is part of my morning routine.

bloggingBlogging

I have a bit of a routine for my blogging work.

I work on my blog posts a week ahead of time and then schedule them for the next week. I usually plan and outline them on Mondays and then write them out on Tuesday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday. By Friday (hopefully), I proofread, add images, and schedule them.

I also schedule a lot of my social media a week at a time. I try to get that done on Mondays.

I’d like the get into more of a routine with my blogging because it is so helpful to know what to do when without have to think too much about it.

Meal Planning

Having a meal planning routine saves me so much time and money. Plus, I have fewer decisions to make throughout the week because I know exactly what meals I have all of the ingredients to make.

When we first got married, I use to do monthly meal planning and shopping. Now I do weekly meal planning and shopping. I try to do my shopping on the same day each week so that I know I just need to buy a week’s worth of food.

You can read my simple meal planning method here.

Fitness

For me, it is so helpful to have a fitness routine. If I have to think too much about it or really “decide” to work out, it’s not going to happen. When it’s routine that I’m used to, I don’t question it. I just do it as part of my day.

I have a 20-minute workout routine that I try to stick to. Sometimes I mix it up or get out of the habit, but for the most part I try to stick to it. I have much more energy and a better attitude when I get enough exercise. I usually start my 20-minute workout at around 8pm so that I have time to take a shower and get to bed at a decent time.

I also have a walking routine because of our dog Mozzie. We’ve always walked him at least once a day. For the last few months I’ve been walking him twice a day since I’m home and he doesn’t let me get much done unless he’s tired 🙂

Now that we’ve moved into an apartment for the winter, I’m definitely going to keep up with walking him twice a day. We don’t have a yard for him to run around in and it’s hard to get his energy out inside.

I walk him in the morning as part of my morning routine and then again with Austin after he gets home from work in the evening. It’s just a 15-minute walk, but it’s good for all of us to get moving!

⇒ What routines do you have that save you from making extra decisions?


Recommendations

Be sure to click over to my Recommendations Page to see some of the ways I save money, make extra money, learn new skills, and make money with this blog.

If you’re interested in starting a blog, click over to read why I think you should do it! Plus there’s a tutorial to get you started.


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Dia All The Things I Do

Monday 24th of October 2016

Have you read the paradox of choice by chance? It's a fascinating theory that basically says all the choices americans have are making them unhappy, it causes overwhelm and "buyers remorse" Your post really reminded me of this book. I'm currently exploring the idea.

Christine

Monday 24th of October 2016

I've never heard of that book, I'll have to look it up. Sounds really interesting!

Lan Hoang

Friday 21st of October 2016

Love your pic with the pup. The one thing that makes my life much simpler is meditation. I know what I want, what I need, and belongings aren't that necessary anymore..

Christine

Friday 21st of October 2016

Thanks, I'm really interested in meditation, I'm just not sure how to get started.

Erin | A Welder's Wife

Thursday 20th of October 2016

Planning things out help so much! My week goes so much smoother when I meal plan and start with a clean and tidy home!

Christine

Thursday 20th of October 2016

Yes! I'm such a planner. We spend too much and feel stressed out when we don't have a plan.

Emily

Wednesday 19th of October 2016

I love scheduling things so I can avoid having to think about what to do and when!! Great tips!!

Christine

Wednesday 19th of October 2016

Thanks Emily! It's so helpful!

cara

Wednesday 19th of October 2016

I love the idea of creating a laundry day! That would be so helpful in our household since right now it's just a catch all, when we can. Great tips!

Christine

Wednesday 19th of October 2016

Thanks Cara! I love getting all of the laundry done so that I don't have to bother with it for a whole week!

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