Avoiding decision fatigue (and protecting judgement)
Avoiding decision fatigue (and protecting judgement)
5 minutes
Many leaders don’t realise how many decisions they make in a day until their judgement starts to slip.
Small choices stack up. Interruptions multiply. Competing priorities pull attention in every direction. Over time, leaders feel mentally tired, less patient, and more reactive without being able to pinpoint why.
For example, deciding how to respond to emails, approving minor changes, resolving small team disagreements, adjusting priorities on the fly, and answering questions that others could resolve themselves. None of these decisions feel significant on their own. Together, they quietly drain judgement.
This is decision fatigue.
Decision fatigue doesn’t mean you’re weak or indecisive. It means your brain is doing exactly what it’s designed to do: conserve energy when demand is too high.
When decision load increases, judgement quality decreases. Leaders default to what’s easiest, safest, or fastest, not what’s most effective. This can look like avoiding a difficult conversation, saying yes when you should say no, or delaying a decision simply because it feels heavy.
Avoiding decision fatigue isn’t about making better decisions.
It’s about making fewer unnecessary ones, so you have the energy to make the decisions that truly matter.
Firstly, decision fatigue erodes judgement.
As mental energy drops, leaders rely more heavily on habits, shortcuts, or avoidance. For example, a leader might approve work they would normally challenge, stick with a familiar approach instead of exploring better options, or defer a decision that needs clarity now.
Secondly, it increases stress and reactivity.
When leaders are decision-fatigued, everything feels harder. A minor issue can feel urgent. A reasonable question can feel like an interruption. Patience shortens, and reactions become sharper. Teams often experience this as inconsistency or unpredictability, even when leaders are doing their best.
Thirdly, it limits leadership impact.
Leaders who spend their decision energy on low-value choices have less capacity for strategic thinking, coaching, and relationship-building. For example, a leader who is constantly pulled into operational decisions may struggle to step back and focus on longer-term priorities or team development.
Research and applied leadership writing consistently highlight the impact of decision load on performance:
- Daniel Kahneman’s work on cognitive load and decision heuristics shows that as mental resources are depleted, people rely more on shortcuts, leading to lower-quality decisions.
- The Psychology Today article on overcoming decision fatigue highlights how high performers intentionally reduce unnecessary decisions, create simple decision rules, and protect judgement for high-impact choices -preserving mental energy for what matters most.
- Roy Baumeister’s research on decision fatigue demonstrates that repeated decision-making reduces self-control and judgement quality over time, leading to poorer choices later in the day.
In other words:
Fewer decisions + clearer rules protect better judgement.
Avoiding decision fatigue isn’t about doing less.
It’s about deciding what deserves your energy and what doesn’t.
- For example, when leaders clarify decision rights, set clear standards, and delegate recurring choices, they free up mental space for the decisions that require experience, judgement, and care.
Use the Decision Energy Framework to reduce unnecessary decision load, protect your judgement, and lead with clarity even when demands are high.
The ideas in this article are informed by widely recognised leadership and decision-making research, including:
- Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
https://hbr.org/2011/01/a-conversation-with-daniel-kahneman
- Baumeister, R. F., & Tierney, J. (2011). Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Penguin.
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/01/self-control
- Maximizing decisions: How high performers overcome decision fatigue. Psychology Today.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/urban-survival/202503/maximizing-decisions-how-high-performers-overcome-decision-fatigue
These sources reflect well-established research on cognitive load, judgement, and leadership decision-making. The content has been adapted for practical leadership development in real-world contexts.
