“Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto” (Thank you very much Mr. Robot)
Styx, Mr. Roboto
Decreasing decision fatigue in a parent’s life is no small feat – we’ll get into this. But firstly, let’s start off with a tip-of-the-hat to Ben for possessing the self confidence to associate himself with the word mashup autHOMEation. Silly? Yes. Memorable? Admittedly. And secondly, for Ben’s perseverance in convincing me that we should give some of these practices a try in our home. So here we are, embracing autHOMEation, and sharing it with you!
What exactly do we mean by autHOMEation? Making decisions ahead of time and automating them with technology or intentional timing. How does autHOMEation help in a parent’s life? By offering a way to make decisions related to non-negotiable tasks in life under less pressure. Once you’ve decided which things you want to do the same way everyday, you can create rhythms around them. This results in less daily decisions!
Endless questions and decisions lead to decision fatigue
Decisions are draining and often lead to decision fatigue in a parent’s life. This is especially true when accumulated and compounded throughout a day! And every one takes a little time and a little energy. Sometimes the kid-questions are simple, but relentless, like “can I have a granola bar? … how about fishy crackers?’’ Other times, they are significant and take more time and thought to respond to. Ones like, “can I go to my first sleepover on Friday?” or the dreaded, “can I get a smart phone?” 😳 The questions we have to answer and the decisions we have to make each day feel never-ending. But, our energy to make them is limited. There is no way to stop the oncoming flow of questions and decisions. There are , however, ways to redirect some of them toward healthy rhythms. Here are some autHOMEation examples we’ve found helpful in our life.
Automatic TV power shut-off – eliminates the decision of when to go to bed
This was Ben’s idea, one I pushed against for quite some time. That is, until I saw the genius behind it. 🤓 We often like to end off the day watching a show together. Deciding when to stop, however, was a point of contention. We were constantly asking the questions “when should we go to bed tonight?”, “are you tired or should we watch another one?”, or “it’s just 15 more minutes, should we finish this episode? I’m so into it!” We found our bedtime was sneakily and subtly creeping later and later.
So, Ben bought a Geeni Smart Plug and plugged our TV into it. He set the daily shutoff for 9:30pm and didn’t tell me anything about it. The next night we were snuggling and watching our show. A cliff hanger moment arrived when suddenly … a “click!” followed by total darkness. I was confused and Ben just sat there beaming and holding back some laughter! This trial run eventually became our answer. I didn’t like it for a while, and now … I love it! 🤭 No more questions and no more discussion. The autHOMEation of it is freeing, leading us to a more consistent bedtime and a better start to the next day. And, one less decision!
And for all our reading-before-bed friends, you could benefit from this autHOMEation by plugging in your reading lamp to a smart plug too 😉
Preemptively make decisions for recurring tasks and decrease decision fatigue
Some autHOMEations don’t take technology, just intentional timing. Get it done at the easiest, lowest impact, simplest time possible! For example, in order to eliminate the question “do I have time to make coffee this morning?” prepare it the night before. Automate the process so all you need to do is push a button or add water. Better yet, add “prep the morning coffee” to an existing evening rhythm like “unload the dishwasher,” an idea you can read more about here . If top-notch coffee prep is life-giving for you and needs to happen morning-of, all good! – Ask yourself which other tasks or to-do’s are repetitive and happen every day. Then, consider the best time to preemptively prepare and take the “decision” out of the equation.
Anticipate decisions our kids will need to make and remove the pressure
There are some decisions that are, really, pretty simple, but can feel overwhelming in the pressure of the moment. For example, is the morning the best time to risk a potential clothing choice meltdown? To redirect these events, every night before bed our girls choose and hangup their clothes for the next day. This eliminates the question “what should I wear today?” For some reason, this question always feels like a more high-stakes decision when under time pressure, so guiding our girls to decide this ahead of time has streamlined the getting-dressed process in the morning. Again, this may or may not be a specific issue in your home based on the different personalities of each family member! The key question here is this: What decisions are made under pressure that don’t have to be?
Encouragement
Opportunities abound for adding technology or timing to decrease decision fatigue and help our homes flow more automatically – We just don’t find them until we seek them! How can emotion be removed from a decision by adding technology? How can pressure be removed from a decision by adjusting timing?
Much love,
Brianna and Ben
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