Count up all the decisions you make every day. How many are there? There are the daily decisions like what to wear and what to eat, as well as the unique decisions that vary every day. And each one takes a little bit of your time and attention. But how many of these decisions do you actually need to, or even want to, spend your time and attention on?
Some people, to reduce the number of decisions they have to make, decide ahead of time what they’re going to do so they won’t have to keep making the same decision in the future. I’ve heard of people who have wardrobes full of the same few pieces of clothing. They find something they like and then wear the same thing day in and day out. They literally spend no time thinking about that decision each day—they’ve already decided what to wear ahead of time. Others do the same thing for their meals. They find something that works for them and turn it into an everyday routine. They’re no longer re-deciding what they should eat at each meal.
Others make a one-time decision about what they will or will not do. Someone may choose to go to the gym every day; another may choose to completely abstain from alcohol. In the future, they don’t have to re-decide whether they’ll work out or not, or whether they’ll drink or not. A decision today has eliminated the need to make other decisions in the future.
Now, you may never choose to always eat the same food or wear the same clothes, but are there other decisions you could make today that would simplify your life tomorrow—decisions that would eliminate the need to spend time on them again and again? The goal in this isn’t to make life boring. It’s to find places to free up your time and attention so you can focus on what you want.