Each individual has their own unique reservoir of willpower energy.
On average, willpower, or your ability to focus, lasts between 90 – 120 minutes. When you hit this willpower wall you experience something called Decision Fatigue.
Decision Fatigue impairs your ability to think clearly and can cause you to make poor decisions, mistakes/errors, lose your temper and generally wreak havoc with your life
What can you do to manage Decision Fatigue?
When you run out of willpower energy, you essentially run out of brain fuel – glucose. A quick fix to this is eating something with sugar in it. This immediately boosts your glucose levels and temporarily restores your willpower reserves. This quick fix should only be used in emergency situations because after about 30 minutes you will find yourself even more depleted than before and your thinking even more impaired than before.
A better fix is to eat a healthy, high protein meal or take a power nap (30-45 minutes) two hours before you need to be at your best, mentally. Eating a healthy meal or taking a nap completely restores your willpower, giving you another 90-120 minutes of focused thinking.
Understanding and managing Decision Fatigue helps you make better decisions, avoid bad habits and prevents you from losing control of your emotions, which could damage your relationships.
Great article! Thanks.
How about eating a healthy meal then taking a nap? ? Sounds like a win to me! Thanks always for the great articles!