Decision Debt

The short 10-second takeaway:

Every decision drains you. The more you make, the worse they get. Elite leaders don’t rely on willpower, they build systems that shield their brainpower for what really matters.

I used to think being decisive was a superpower. That if I could just make enough decisions quickly - across strategy, clients, team dynamics, finances - I’d prove I was an effective founder and leader.

But after one particularly intense Q3 with a weeks packed with meetings, projects and kickoffs, I found myself staring at an email for 11 minutes... just trying to decide how to reply. It wasn’t a big question. But I couldn’t think clearly. My brain was… fogged.

That’s when I realised: I wasn’t overwhelmed. I was depleted.

And it wasn’t because I had too much on my to-do list. It was because I had too many decisions to make, and no system to protect me from the mental toll they take. What happens when decision fatigue creeps in? Decision fatigue is invisible until it isn’t. At first, it shows up as:

• Procrastination on simple tasks

• Defaulting to the “safe” or “fast” option (even when it’s not the right one)

• Feeling drained by noon

• Anxiety over small choices

• Brain fog, irritability, and impulse buys that feel strangely justifiable

But the real cost? As a leader, your cognitive bandwidth is your leverage. Every decision you make - about product, people, positioning - shapes the future of your company. And when decision fatigue erodes your judgment, that future starts slipping through the cracks.

Bad Decisions Causing Big Debt

Research from Roy Baumeister shows our decision-making power depletes like a battery. The more decisions you make even trivial ones like what to wear or which Slack thread to answer first, the faster you drain.

And when your prefrontal cortex is taxed, you’re more likely to:

• Avoid key decisions

• Delay hard conversations

• Misread signals

• Lose strategic focus

• Default to reactive mode

Sound familiar? I am taking a guess it’s a “yeah,…somehow….yep….”

Automated Choices Giving Back Brain Power

Here’s how high performing leaders guard their brainpower Top-tier founders and executives aren’t wired differently. They’ve just installed smarter systems to protect their clarity.

1. They reduce the number of decisions they need to make They wear the same clothes. Have the same morning routine. Block time for key tasks in advance. Every automated choice = one less energy drain. They don’t waste mental energy on breakfast or meeting logistics—they save it for strategy, judgment, and vision.

A simple but powerful start of self-assessment is using the Eisenhower Matrix to triage decisions daily. Imagine a quadrant where one axis is “High to Low Urgency” and the other axis is “High to Low Importance”:

• Do now: High importance, high urgency

• Schedule: High importance, low urgency

• Delegate: Low importance, high urgency

• Eliminate: Low importance, low urgency

2. They delegate decisions down the chain: successful leaders don’t try to make every call. They equip their teams to make smart decisions without them - using clear values, priorities, and frameworks. Delegation isn’t weakness. It’s strategy. Every task you offload creates more white space for high-leverage thinking.

3. They simplify their digital lives notifications = death by a thousand cuts. Every ping demands a decision, even if it’s “ignore or respond later.” Leaders who protect their mental clarity:

• Turn off all notifications

• Batch-check messages twice a day

• Mute low-priority channels

• Use curated news summaries instead of infinite scroll

• Install app limits or digital detox windows

Don’t let your best decisions get buried under Twitter threads and team pings. Recovery isn’t optional, it’s a leadership skill If you want to lead with calm power, not stress and reactivity. You need deliberate recovery systems and you can start right here with these if you are serious:

1. Fixed shutdown times (and actually honor them)

2. Scheduled journaling or reflection blocks

3. Daily deep work windows (3–4 hours of undisturbed focus)

4. Check-in rituals to align actions with long-term strategy

5. Mindfulness, meditation, or light exercise to reset mental state

And if you're scaling a company? Coaching, Notion dashboards, calendar templates, and decision trees aren’t luxuries. They’re leverage.

How To Operative From Clarity

You’re not scattered because you’re weak. You’re scattered because you’ve been forced to operate without the system your role demands. That system exists. I’ve helped senior leaders and founders install it inside the BE.ME. Operating System.

It eliminates 80% of daily friction. Protects your focus. And helps you operate from clarity—even under pressure. If you’re ready to reclaim your decision power and lead like the CEO you were meant to be...reach out via email, LinkedIn or simply book your discovery call with me right here:

👉 http://bit.ly/44pDXea

Let’s build the structure that your next level of leadership requires.