Conserve Your Willpower by Making Fewer Decisions

By Dee Jones

At some point during the day, you start to feel like a car that has run out of gas.

It’s not a question of energy. You don’t feel tired, really. In fact, you could probably spend the next few hours creating Pinterest boards.

No, it's your motivation tank that's empty. For some reason, you just don’t feel like doing any of the things left on your to-do list. You know, the stuff that actually needs to get done.

That “ran out of gas” feeling usually happesn on days that are busier than usual. But not always. Sometimes it seems to happen for no reason at all.

But, no, there is a reason.

You’ve run out of willpower.

You Can Run Out of Willpower?

Yes, you can. At least that’s what decades of research says.

It turns out that willpower is a finite resource. When you wake up in the morning, you have all the willpower you’re going to get for the rest of the day. The minute you get out of bed, you start using that willpower up. And the later in the day it gets, the less willpower you have.

That's why it's so much harder to get yourself to exercise after dinner than to go for a run early in the morning. 

Some things eat through your daily supply of willpower faster than others. And one thing that really uses up willpower is making decisions.

Any time you have to make a choice, no matter how small, it depletes your willpower.

• Deciding what kind of doughnut to get.
• Choosing a pair of socks.
• Debating over two different parking spots.

All of these little decisions dip into your well of willpower. And the more choices you have to make, the sooner that well will run dry.

So if making decisions depletes your willpower supply, it stands to reason that you can conserve your willpower by making fewer decisions.

And here are three ways you can do just that.

Create a Schedule…and Stick to It

Do you have certain things you need to do every day?

Well, of course you do?

Chances are you don’t have a set time to take care of these daily tasks. You just get to them when you get to them.

Oh, you might think of doing a load of laundry when you get home from work. But then you might decide to put it off until later.

Here’s the thing. Every time you think of doing something only to decide to put off a little longer, you’re wasting some of your willpower.

The solution? Create a schedule and set specific times during which you will tackle each of your daily routines. So you might decide to:

• Take your shower as soon as you get out of bed every morning.
• Go for a run at 6 am five days a week.
• Wash dishes at 6:30 every night.
• Always take out the trash at 8 pm.

When you choose a specific time to perform a task, you don’t have to waste willpower deciding when you’ll do it. You’ll just know that, at 10 am, you’ll spend 15 minutes cleaning out your email inbox.

Once you’re schedule is set, stick to it. If 6:30 rolls around, and you dither over whether you'll wash the dishes at the scheduled time or wait another half hour, your giving yourself a decision to make. And, you guessed it, using up willpower.

Make Pre-Decisions

Your day is filled with little decisions.

• Which shirt do you want to wear?
• What will you have for breakfast?
• Should you take the elevator or use the stairs.

Just one small decision won’t deplete your willpower too much. But what about a dozen small decisions? Or a hundred?

To preservs your willpower, you want to get rid of as many “willpower drains” as possible. And you do that by making pre-decisions.

For example, if you spend time every morning deciding what to wear, that will deplete your willpower reserves. But if you picked and laid out your clothes last night, that’s one less decision you need to make today. And one less drain on your willpower.

Other pre-decisions include:

• Always taking the stairs. (It’s good for you.)
• Always taking your lunch break at the same coffee shop.
• Eating the same thing for breakfast every morning.

Does eating the same thing for breakfast every day sound boring. Then add some variety by choosing different breakfast options for every day of the week. So you can have cereal and fruit every Monday, eggs and sausage every Tuesday, and a muffin  and yogurt every Wednesday.

Shop Late in the Day

Have you noticed you have a harder time getting started on tasks and projects after a shopping trip?

Maybe you figured it was because you were tired. (Shopping can wear you out.) But it’s actually because you’re shopping trip depleted your willpower.

After all, isn’t the average trip to the grocery store a series of decisions?

• Name brand or generic?
• Single or two-ply?
• Regular or low fat?
• Plain or barbecue?

Shopping online can also deplete your willpower. Especially when you have to choose between two dozen different printers, or 50 different t-shirt designs.

To preserve your willpower, try to do your shopping (online or off) as late in the day as possible. So do your weekly grocery shopping on Saturday evening instead of Saturday morning. And don’t go to Amazon looking for a new blender until  after dinner.

If you absolutely have to go to the store for something early in the day, run in, grab the one or two things you need, and run back out again.

Take a close look at all of the decisions you make over the course of the average day. And then try to remove as many of those decisions as you possibly can.

The fewer decisions you have to make, the longer your willpower will last. And the more you’ll be able to get done before your motivation tank runs out of gas.


About what time in the day do you seem to run out of willpower? And are there any strategies you use to preserve your willpower for as long as possible?