To Pare Down Decisions

“You need to remove from your life the day-to-day problems that absorb most people for meaningful parts of their day. “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits,” he said. “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” He mentioned research that shows the simple act of making decisions degrades one’s ability to make further decisions. It’s why shopping is so exhausting. “You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinize yourself. You can’t be going through the day distracted by trivia.”

President Barack Obama in this Vanity Fair Article titled Obama’s Way

(via bobulate)

3 Comments leave a comment below

  1. Well I’m no president, and I can see his point, but doesn’t this also take away some of the spice of life? Choosing clothes or food can be some of the fun decisions one makes through the day. A guy who ran a studio I used to work in ate the same thing for lunch everyday..when I asked him he said “One less decision to make each day…” But chilli everyday….. I don’t know. And who doesn’t want to see Obama in a purple pinstripe now and then?

  2. I love this – Tim Ferriss had a similar message on his blog recently, suggesting further we have only so much decision-making capacity in a day. So why waste it on what is trivial.

    That said, Evan, I’m with you – I enjoy making decisions about food, though clothing is something premeditated for simplicity.

    The real spice of life is in the choosing on what you focus your choosing!

  3. I agree that shopping IS exhausting. It’s one of my least favourite activities.