Combat Decision Fatigue

You love your smartphone, your laptop, your car’s navigational device, your programmable oven, TV, and all the rest of your modern-day devices. You can communicate with anyone anytime, by phone, by text or by Skype. You can compare prices online for virtually any product, at any time of day or night. All that convenience, however, comes at a price, Dr. Noelle C. Nelson states in a written release.

Researchers are discovering a growing phenomenon any dedicated shopper knew about ages ago: decision fatigue. “It’s that moment when you’ve been scouring the mall for a good price on jeans for your kids, checking mall prices against prices on-line on your cell, and suddenly, something inside you seems to collapse, and you’re in ‘Whatever you want’ mode,” explains Dr. Nelson. “You’ve hit a mental and emotional wall. You’ll do anything just to get relief from the overload of information so you end up spending far more than you anticipated on clothes that you’re not entirely sure your kids should be wearing. You’ve fallen prey to decision fatigue.”