How many decisions do you make in a day?

Do you know what Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs have in common and what they have in common?

Common: blue jeans.

Different: for Mark - grey T-shirt, for Jobs - black turtleneck.

Both of these geniuses in their field knew (Zuckerberg knows) that to do great things, you need to automate as much as possible the processes that can be automated, to reduce day-to-day decision-making.

Number of daily decisions in a parent's life

Clothing is one good area of life where you can do it quickly and easily. Find clothes that you are comfortable in and look relatively good in for everyday wear, and buy 5 identical sets so you have something to replace when you get dirty.

Having children in your life has raised the number of decisions you have to make on a daily basis to unprecedented heights.

If the average random adult makes 35,000 decisions per day (about two decisions per second)*, then the moment that adult becomes a mum or dad, decision-making increases exponentially, in my opinion.

Well, imagine. If in your past life your problem was what to eat for dinner. So now it's what to eat for dinner that will keep the goat alive and the wolf fed?

Can this be changed?

I am not writing this email to give you any illusion that there is some magic trick that will make your life as a mum or dad easier by taking half the decisions away. It is and will be challenging, whatever you do.

But we can try, can't we? 😉

What is the one place in your life where you can introduce boring routines? What are your blue jeans, grey T-shirts or black pinstripes?

Some ideas to reduce decision-making overload

  • comfortable and uniform home clothes
  • Pancake Sundays, Fish Thursdays, Vegetable Mondays (as strict and meticulous meal plans can also be hard to follow with young children);
  • 3 nearest playgrounds, each with its own turn. Or in general, if the child is of the right age, to make this decision.
  • Creating morning, noon and evening rituals.
  • organising the daily routine as predictably as possible, which can include a weekly planning lesson with a partner.

Good luck!

Other articles

5-Day Positive Discipline Challenge Guide

Please indicate your name and email address where you would like to receive a PDF file with valuable information about the Positive Self-Discipline Challenge!
* indicates required
5-day challenge
* Then go to your email and make sure you get a PDF confirmation. If you don't see my message, either look for it in spam (and tick there that it is not and will not be spam) or look for it in subscribers or ads. To make sure you continue to receive my messages, keep my email address in your contacts.
GDPR Cookie Consent with Real Cookie Banner