Decision Fatigue

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Decision Fatigue is a term I came across. It's an explanation why some people with autism have the same routine, wear the same type outfit every day, eat the same type food everyday. Making decisions uses up mental energy and having to make too many decisions can cause brain clutter. It's another one of those overload issues. Sameness and routine helps reduce overload. That's my take anyways.

^Agree totally. This totally applies to me. If something doesn't matter, I go the route of fewer decisions. This allows me the luxury of being more open when things do matter, or when I feel like a little variety.

uh-huh. That sounds very familiar.

It reminds me of when I go to the shop and I know what I'm going to buy (buying the same meal everyday means i can make my trip swiftly and efficiently). And when the shop has run out of stock of what I know i want to buy, I have to stand there staring at what else is available for far too long! It becomes a mixture of - 'if i stare at the shelf long enough, what I actually want might spontaneously appear' and 'choice a is too bland, choice b costs too much, choice c is disgusting, choice d has too many calories/fat content, choice e just isn't what i want right now' ect ect...

Decisions are like the hardest things in the whole world, doesn't matter if its a decision on a holiday destination or about what pen i want to use today... they're all equally as hard, time consuming and internally confusing!! !

Yep that sounds very familiar. Still sometimes I like to try new stuff. But then again I stay with that for a long time.

^ I also have these thoughts quite often

Yes, I agree, "decision fatigue" is a really good term for it.

It's amazing how often it makes one of the shop security staff spontaneously appear though!

I also agree with you 100% Ezra. And I like the term 'decision fatigue.' It is very accurate and fitting.

^This is so me if something I want is not on the shelf. I attract attention from security from the moment I walk in the door so I'm used to having a security shadow , it's funny how crap they are at not being obvious , it's like they are playing a game , hoping that if they don't make it obvious , you will nick something

Totally me. Online shopping is an hours on end ordeal. "Shall I order this or that". Often I end up ordering nothing at all, but feeling totally exhausted.

I have a name for that one too - I think only Brit's of a certain vintage will get it, though. I call it the "Mr Ben effect" - from the old cartoon series where, every episode, Mr Ben went into a magical shop where the shopkeeper always appeared out of nowhere with the catchphrase; "As if by magic, the shopkeeper appeared."
[Apologies for getting a bit off-topic there.]

I am a Brit of that vintage As if by magic the security guard appeared ( I'll mutter that under my breath next time I go shopping )

I have just remembered a cartoon from far too many years ago.

It showed a little traffic island. There was a bollard with the two arrows showing traffic can pass on eather side of the island. The bollard is leaning because a car has collided with it, and a policeman is talking to the driver.

The words rhe driver is saying to the policeman are
"There's a limit to the number of decisions a top executive can make in one day officer."

Lots of truth here!

I also think it has to do with media overstimulation these days. I think back to a few year ago as a kid... If i wanted to watch a movie, there was maybe 2 kids channels on TV, or a shelf of movies that we owned. If i wanted to play a video game, I had a few CD-Rom computer games and some games for my Gameboy. If I wanted to read a new book, I had to go to the bookstore or the library, go to the kids novel section, and just see what they had.

All of these things DID involve making decisions (and don't get me wrong, I had LOTS of trouble making decisions as a kid!! !!), but it seems so much more agitated now with the UNLIMITED amount of resources we have on hand at any given minute. People think that more is better, but more options just overcomplicates things. (I'm pretty sure FOMO plays a part in this also...)

Currently, if I want to watch a movie, there's (roughly) 1,200 TV channels and 20,000 movies on Netflix. If I want to play a game, there's 40,000 games and apps available for instant download on my phone, the iPad, the xbox, the Apple TV... If I want to read a book, I can endlessly browse the library stacks online, endlessly shop and read reviews for books on Amazon, and there's 1,000s that I can download instantly as a digital copy. I often start off by intending to choose a new thing, but I get overwhelmed very quickly, start getting super fixated on research, eventually realize that I've wasted so much time getting nowhere and am mega stressed out, and then just choose default to whatever I "usually" choose.

I definitely think that I stick to the stuff I know MORE now than I ever did when there were fewer options. I basically pay for a Netflix subscription just to watch the same thing over and over again