I’m in the process of moving to another apartment in Buenos Aires (I leave tonight!), and getting ready to spend a few weeks in Portland, Ore. (I leave Thursday!) I love these moments when I get to step back and look at everything I’ve collected and minimalize the crap. No matter how you try to control either, time just flies and crap just accumulates. Who would have thought last year, when I left Seattle for Buenos Aires with only an oversized backpack, that I’d now be contemplating things like placemats, speakers, masala spices? Or have enough books to constitute a small library?
It’s not the physical aspect of moving that’s annoying me right now. Just looking at my things and deciding: “keep in Buenos Aires, bring to Portland for the trip, store in Portland, or give away?” has left me feeling a bit depleted. Fortunately, I’m not alone. Or crazy. Simply deciding makes you tired.
If making choices depletes executive resources, then “downstream” decisions might be affected adversely when we are forced to choose with a fatigued brain.
To include the simplification of the century: the more you decide, the more tired you get and the worse your decisions become. Best to do it in small increments, so you don’t wind up in some new neighborhood, wondering why you gave your laptop away but have plenty of spices for cooking Indian food. Best to rest your brain.
Filed under: Behavior, psychology | Leave a Comment
Tags: choices, decisions, psychology
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Photo credit: Fran Lebowitz.I like to write about behavior, culture, and technology.
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