Read this article tonight – this one, here. It’s thesis is that you have a limited capacity for decision-making in any given period of time, and once you use them up, that’s it. Creative work involves a LOT of decision making, so if your daily life involves making a lot of hard or intense decisions, it’s unlikely you’re going to have any left over by the time you come to doing your creative work. So, the article says, what can you turn into a routine to avoid making unnecessary decisions?
Boy do I resonate with this article. This is EXACTLY how I feel. Most days, the first chance I get to sit down and think about writing is 8pm after being on the go with decision-making since 830am (after getting up and following a routine at 7). By 8pm, my decision-making brain is shot. Writing is like the proverbial blood from a stone – every decision a wearying thing because my decision-making machine has already run to capacity for the day.
There’s not a lot I can do to reduce my decision-making in a day, given I’m a high school English teacher. But I’m definitely going to have a think about what I can declutter in my life to make room for creative decisions.
Any thoughts, other than the obvious things like food and clothing, about what can be routinised to minimise unnecessary decisions? š