Decision fatigue is real. Some choices feel like they’re hunting you, sitting in the back of your mind and quietly draining energy while you tell yourself you just need a little more time to think. I’m not my best self in that mode.
The Fighter Pilot Method
In The Art of Clear Thinking: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Making Tough Decisions by Hasard Lee, there’s a detail about how they plan fighter missions that really stuck with me. During planning, they set a point where decisions get made and then they’re locked. After that point, those decisions don’t get revisited unless something truly major changes.
That makes sense in a military context. You can’t keep tweaking a plan right up until the moment you need to act. But it also feels weirdly relevant to normal life.
I struggle with decisions, especially ones that feel important. The longer I let them linger, the more stressed I get. And the more time I spend thinking about all the options, the more attached I get to every possible path, which means I’m more likely to regret whichever one I choose.
Why Endless Deciding Leads to Decision Fatigue
On paper, spending more time on a decision sounds responsible. In reality, after a certain point, extra time doesn’t add much clarity. It mostly adds anxiety.
A few things tend to happen:
- You replay the same pros and cons instead of finding new information.
- You start imagining perfect outcomes that no real choice can deliver.
- You feel more responsible for every possible downside because you “had so much time to think about it.”
By the time you finally decide, it’s loaded with pressure. No wonder it feels easier to stall.
Give Every Decision A Time Box
A simple fix is to give your decisions deadlines. Not in a “decide right now or else” way, but in a “how much time does this actually deserve?” way.
You might:
- Set a specific date and time to decide about a job change, a move, or a big purchase.
- Give yourself 24–48 hours for medium stuff, like plans for the weekend or which project to start next.
- Decide on small things immediately or within a few minutes instead of dragging them out.
The key is to make sure you have enough time to gather the information you reasonably need, and then commit to making the call when that time is up. No endless extensions, unless something truly new and important shows up.
Decide, Then Move On
Putting a deadline on decisions does two things.
First, it gives your brain a container. You know there’s a finish line. That alone can make the process feel less foggy and endless.
Second, once you pass the deadline and make the choice, you have permission to stop re-deciding it every day. You can focus on living with the decision and making the most of it instead of constantly wondering what might have happened if you’d picked something else.
You won’t eliminate regret completely. That’s just part of being human. But you can reduce the amount of time you spend stuck in decision limbo, which is one of the least fun places to live.
I’m trying to treat decisions more like missions now: gather what I need, pick a decision point, make the call, and then get back to the rest of my life.