Everything is a decision.
Even if you haven’t stood in wonder in a cereal or toothpaste aisle, you are making decisions all day long. Some are small-which shirt, what size coffee, which train…and some are big-which partner, which city, which school…decisions, decisions!
Have you heard of decision fatigue? That’s when the prefrontal cerebral cortex, the CEO of our brains, responsible for high and low level decision-making, gets tired. This tiredness interferes with our ability to make subsequent decisions, which is why current productivity literature suggests we do the biggest and most challenging stuff early in the morning, when our minds are rested.
Another subtle but powerful way to limit or avoid decision fatigue is to Joumorize our environments-organize them according to how our minds work. The less momentum we lose searching for misplaced items or our train of thought, the easier it is to be productive, and the better we feel about ourselves.
Earlier this month we talked about Prime Real Estate. As you continue that process, here is this week’s Joumor principle: Separate active from storage. It seems obvious to not store old tax returns (storage) on our beds (active), but what about all the pens stuffed into the pen holder? Remove the items you’re not actively using from your immediate vicinity and put them into non-prime real estate storage. Fewer things to keep track of=fewer decisions needed=increased and calm productivity.
Humans want to feel active, productive and abundant. Separating active from storage will make you feel active, AND give you a sense of having lots of resources already available! What better way to experience Joy and Humor…it’s a bargain.