A day in the life : Day 432

This week, I ran into a small but annoying problem with decision fatigue. Nothing big went wrong, but I kept delaying simple choices — what to work on first, when to take a break, even what to eat. By the end of the day, I felt oddly tired without having done anything particularly hard. Around the same time, I kept seeing posts about the “decision-light day” trend, where people reduce choices on purpose to save mental energy.

I decided to try it the next day. I picked my top three tasks in the morning and promised myself I wouldn’t reshuffle them all day. No constant reprioritizing, no second-guessing. The hardest part was resisting the urge to change plans halfway through. I caught myself thinking, “Maybe I should switch to something else,” more times than I expected.

One issue did pop up. I delayed replying to a message because it wasn’t part of my planned tasks, and that caused a brief confusion later. It wasn’t serious, but it reminded me that being too rigid can backfire. I adjusted by allowing small interruptions without letting them take over the whole day. That balance helped.

The weather’s been warmer during the afternoons, which usually lowers my focus. I’ve started eating lighter lunches again and avoiding heavy snacks. That simple change made sticking to the plan easier. When the body feels less weighed down, the mind follows.

By evening, I felt less drained than usual. Not more productive in a flashy way, just steadier. Fewer mental loops, fewer “what should I do next” moments.

This trend didn’t solve everything, but it showed me how much energy gets wasted on tiny decisions. You don’t need to remove all choice from your day — just reduce the noise. Some days work better when you decide less and execute more.