1 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to How I Work, a show about the tactics 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: used by leading innovators to get so much out of 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,559 Speaker 1: their day. I'm your host, doctor Amantha Imba. I'm an 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: organizational psychologist, the CEO of Inventium, and I'm obsessed with 5 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: finding ways to optimize my work date. Today's show was 6 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: another mini episode where I share some interesting research about 7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,639 Speaker 1: how you might be able to improve the way you work. So, 8 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 1: when I was growing up, I remember my dad used 9 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 1: to eat the same thing for breakfast every day. He 10 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: would fill up a bowl with wheaties and pour ful 11 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: cream milk over the top. I once asked him whether 12 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,560 Speaker 1: he ever got bored eating the same thing for breakfast 13 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: every day, and he replied no, it made him happy. 14 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: When I visited my parents on the weekend just gone, 15 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: I learned that my dad is now eating an egg 16 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: on toast for breakfast. I'm not sure when this change happened, 17 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: but again, being a creature of habit, this is his 18 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: new daily breakfast ritual. But it turns out that happiness 19 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: was not the only benefit from my dad. According to research, 20 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:10,119 Speaker 1: eating the same food for breakfast every day actually contributes 21 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: to better decision making because research into willpower and self 22 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: control has identified a concept called decision fatigue, where by 23 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: the more decisions we make over the course of the day, 24 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: the worse our decision making becomes, so essentially our daily 25 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: decision making power is limited. In one of the most 26 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: famous studies into decision fatigue, Jonathan Levav of Stanford and 27 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:39,559 Speaker 1: Shy Danziger of Ben Gurion University examined over eleven hundred 28 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,319 Speaker 1: decisions the judges made in a court of law as 29 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: to whether or not to grant a prisoner parole. Prisoners 30 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: who appeared in front of the judge at around nine 31 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: am had a seventy percent chance of being given parole, 32 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: whereas that dropped to a mere ten percent by mid afternoon. 33 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: The difference was due to decision fatigue setting in which 34 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: leads to us to taking the easy way out and 35 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: therefore making suboptimal decisions. An effective strategy to save our 36 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: decision making powers for big decisions that really matter can 37 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: be to eliminate the smaller decisions that consume us every 38 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: day and thus eat away at our decision making resources. 39 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: Deciding what to have for breakfast is one of those decisions. 40 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: In an interview with Vanity fair Back during his presidency, 41 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 1: Barack Obama famously told Michael Lewis that he's trying to 42 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,519 Speaker 1: pare down decisions and he doesn't want to make decisions 43 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,239 Speaker 1: about what he's eating or wearing because he has too 44 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: many other decisions to make. And as such, Obama has 45 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: the same thing for breakfast every day and only wears 46 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: gray or blue suits. Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs also 47 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:51,919 Speaker 1: opted for reducing decision fatigue through wardrobe choices, with Zuckerberg 48 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: always wearing a gray t shirt and Jobs always used 49 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: to wear a black turtleneck and jeans every day. So 50 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: if eating the same thing for breakfast every day and 51 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: wearing the same outfit sounds a little bit boring, you 52 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 1: might want to try making those decisions. Perhaps the night before, 53 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: try laying out tomorrow's outfit before you go to bed, 54 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 1: and decide what you're going to eat for breakfast and 55 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: have the ingredients all ready to go in the fridge. 56 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: And then at the end of your work date, make 57 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: a decision as to which task you'll start working on 58 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 1: the next day. Because all of these actions will help 59 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: preserve your decision making energy for the following day. And 60 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: in addition to trying to create a morning routine to 61 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: minimize decisions, or planning that routine the night before. Try 62 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: to schedule all important work meetings where big decisions need 63 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: to be made prior to lunch, because, as the study 64 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: into parole decisions shows, decision fatigue well and truly sets 65 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: in after lunch. And if all else fails and you're 66 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: forced to make a big decision in the late afternoon, 67 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: take a break before you make the decision, because research 68 00:03:57,640 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: has shown that taking a break and eating some food 69 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: will temporarily help replenish your decision making powers. Hello. There, 70 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: that's it for today's episode. If you liked it, there 71 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: are plenty of others that you might enjoy, such as 72 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 1: my chat with Nancy Duarte, the global expert on presentations, 73 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: where we talk about how she prepares for her own presentations. 74 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:20,280 Speaker 1: Or you might enjoy one of my mini episodes where 75 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: I share some simple, science backed productivity tips that I've 76 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: discovered in the research. Finally, it's great getting feedback from 77 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: listeners such as yourself, so I'd love it if you 78 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: give this podcast a review in iTunes or wherever you 79 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: get your podcasts. And if you like this episode, make 80 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: sure you hit the subscribe button. So that you can 81 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:42,160 Speaker 1: be alerted whenever new episodes are released. See you next time.