Decision Fatigue Test
Estimate your remaining "Willpower Budget" based on your activity and biology.
Enter values involved to check your status.
Why You Make Bad Choices at Night
Decision Fatigue is the psychological phenomenon where the quality of your decisions deteriorates after a long session of decision-making. It is why judges are less likely to grant parole late in the day, and why you skip the gym after a hard day at work.
Your brain acts like a muscle. It has a finite store of energy (willpower) each day. Once depleted, it defaults to two modes:
- Reckless Decisions: Impulse buying, eating junk food (seeking quick dopamine).
- Decision Avoidance: Procrastination, "I'll deal with this tomorrow" (decision paralysis).
How to Recover Your Willpower
1. The "Glucose" Fix
Your brain consumes 20% of your body's energy. Studies (Baumeister et al.) have shown that a drop in blood glucose correlates with poor decision-making. Eating a healthy snack (complex carbs) can give you a temporary boost.
2. Reduce "Micro-Decisions"
Steve Jobs wore the same turtleneck every day for a reason. By automating trivial choices (what to wear, what to eat for breakfast), you save your decision budget for high-leverage work.
3. Sleep is Non-Negotiable
Sleep is when your brain flushes out metabolic waste products. If you get less than 7 hours, you start the day with a 20-30% penalty to your decision capacity.