DEEP DIVE: Decision Fatigue—And Why It's Especially Bad For Moms

This Deep Dive series is all about why motherhood is so gosh darn hard. Turns out there are sociopolitical forces at play that make motherhood way harder than it needs to be. Listen to the full playlist on Spotify.

The average adult makes 35,000 decisions a day. The average "default parent" makes a lot more than that. No wonder we suffer from decision fatigue. The more decisions we have to make, the more fatigue we develop, and the more difficult it can become to function.

So how can we combat the frustration, apathy, and resentment that result from having to make all the decisions in the family?

In this episode we discuss:

-How decision fatigue manifests—and how it differs from burnout

-The best time of day to make hard decisions

-Why "going with the flow" is not actually a thing

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Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

-Sara Berg for the American Medical Association: "What doctors wish patients knew about decision fatigue"

-Michelle Adelman for HowStuffWorks: "When's the Best Time of Day to Make a Decision?"

-Lauren Barth for The Bump: "Why the Decision-Fatigue Struggle Is (Still) Real for Parents"

-Frank Graff for PBS North Carolina: "How Many Decisions Do We Make In One Day?"

-Ilyse Dobrow DiMarco for The Washington Post: "For parents, everything feels like a high-stakes decision now. Here’s how to lower the anxiety."

-Ashley Stahl for Forbes: "How Burnout Affects Your Decision-Making Process—And How To Fix It"

-Eva M. Krockow for Psychology Today: "How Many Decisions Do We Make Each Day?"

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