Don’t waste your brain power

Mental capacity is something we use every day to plan things, remember things, make decisions, stay calm, have willpower, and do other cognitively demanding tasks. 

Theories suggest we have a limited mental capacity which gets repleted daily primarily through sleep, and somewhat through eating, exercise, etc. This is partly why when you have a lot on your plate, your fuse may feel a bit shorter.

We want to preserve that capacity for the most important things, which means we have to work towards decreasing the demand → using systems to decrease the decisions to be made, the things to remember, the pieces to plan, etc. 

We’re all making many decisions everyday:

What time should I wake up? What should I wear? What should I pack for lunches? What should I have for breakfast? Who is picking up the toddler from daycare? What should we do for fun this summer? What do we need from the grocery store? What should we make for dinner? Where can I get a dress to wear to that event? What gym class can I go to this week? Which extracurricular are we going to do this spring and when are we going to sign up? Where are we at with laundry? Who’s going to clean the bathroom this week? UGH...

 I’m sure you can relate. It’s a lot! And we know this can impact our ability to make good decisions!  Some of those daily decisions aren’t going away, but there are a few strategies we can do to help.  The more we can go on auto-pilot, the easier it is.

Here are a few ideas and examples that I often recommend:

Keep your breakfast consistent - If you have a go-to that you love, is simple, and keeps you full, why not have it every day?! 

Meal plan  - This means you only have to make the decisions one day in the week.  Try to make it simple on yourself by creating system to make it easy.  Check out some suggestions here

Put your supplements and medication in a place you’ll see them every day - i.e. Beside your toothbrush - so you don’t have to think about taking them. 

Put everything on your calendar With alarms and alerts so you don’t have to keep everything in your brain.

Have days for things -  I go to the gym on Thursday/Saturdays, and meal plan on Fridays. Grocery pick-up happens on Saturdays, and laundry on Sundays. With that schedule mapped out the tasks feel less overwhelming.

Be clear on your role in the household - I am the meal planner/grocery order, my partner manages laundry. This doesn't mean he doesn't contribute meal suggestions or I don’t do any laundry.  We do when asked, but we don’t carry any mental load of the other’s tasks. 

They say that a lot of really successful people wear the same outfit every day.  That’s not everybody’s jam but I can see how it would be helpful!

Put your bills on auto-pay if you can.

Set a bedtime alarm and an app blocker to turn things off when you want to go to bed so it feels like less of a decision. 

Try a few of these things out and observe what happens.  I think you’ll see a difference! We want to preserve our brain power for the things that matter most!