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Episode 225: Decision Fatigue
Sacha's sparkling from her early morning gym session (not traditionally a morning person but aging into it), while Ish admits to being in bed by 8:30pm because everyone else was out. From this perfectly matched energy mismatch comes a conversation about decision fatigue - plus Sacha drops a challenge that might just produce New Zealand's next Christmas number one.
Main Topics
- Recognition Signs of Decision Fatigue -- Delaying decisions while seeking endless information, getting snappy over small issues, defaulting to safe/familiar choices, and the dreaded "yes to everything" syndrome just to clear your mental plate
- The Motion Solution -- "No decision is worse than a bad decision" because staying stuck gives you no data, while making imperfect decisions creates momentum you can adjust (like Lost's constant pivoting that keeps viewers hooked)
- Physical Strength = Mental Resilience -- Sacha's take on Jordan Peterson's terrible "threat of violence" theory, and her much better insight that physical training creates mental robustness (though she's confident she could tackle most men around the legs and escape under fences)
- Triaging Your Brain Power -- Not all decisions need the same cognitive effort - what's 3+3 versus 9x57? Reserve your mental energy for high-stakes choices, speed through the low-stakes ones (kumara or potato? Just pick one!)
- Pre-Decision Strategies -- David Beckham's weekly outfit planning, meal prep culture, and the Steve Jobs uniform approach to eliminating decision drain before it starts
Key Insights
- Bad decisions only become "bad" in hindsight - most are good decisions with unexpected outcomes
- Delegate decision authority with clear parameters, then let people learn from consequences
- Guard your prime decision-making time instead of responding to every urgent request immediately
- Batch small decisions into dedicated time blocks rather than death-by-a-thousand-cuts throughout the day
- The strongest leaders physically often show the most mental resilience (correlation, not causation, but worth noting)
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PS: If this Christmas single actually happens, remember you heard it here first. Also, Sacha's confidence in her ability to tackle men and escape under fences while making business decisions is oddly inspiring.
If you haven’t come across it yet, Working Genius is one of the simplest, most practical models I’ve seen for helping teams understand how they actually get work done. Not personality. Not fluff. Just clarity on where people thrive — and where they get frustrated.
If you’re planning your next team day, offsite, or work event, I’d love to bring this to your crew.
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