I was looking at the restaurant menu. Keep in mind I’ve been to this restaurant hundreds of times and due to the pandemic the options are extremely limited. I looked and looked and looked. I could not make a decision. I’d tried every one of the options at some point and yet, I could not make a decision. I looked at my husband. He looked at me. Just pick, he said. I answered, will you pick for me? My brain is frozen.

Welcome to something that seems to be emerging now more than ever: decision fatigue.

Of course, we’ve known that stress affects our ability to make decisions but the pandemic has brought an entirely new level of decision fatigue. Part of this is because there are so many things out of our control. Another reason is that we’ve lost a sense of normalcy and the moment we think we have some, there is another shift. Business owners can’t find workers. Shelves are bare. Containers are sitting at docks. Hospitals are full. Just typing this increases my heart rate. We know that when we are stressed, the brain can literally freeze. We may experience brain fog, dizziness, heart racing and so much more. Have you experienced these things recently?  Decision-fatigue also involves the fact that we have to make more decisions now than ever and often without enough information.