June 30, 2025 • 14 mins
In this episode of The Workplace Chameleon, Dr. Celina Peerman tackles the hidden toll of decision fatigue—and what it’s really costing leaders.
From the “chicken pill” codeword that saved dinner debates to the daily drag of micro-decisions, this episode explores how mental overload, misalignment, and too many unclear expectations quietly wear us down. You’ll learn how decision fatigue shows up, why it’s not just about being busy, and what to do when even the simple stuff feels hard.
Dr. Celina shares three strategies to help reduce fatigue, restore clarity, and protect your energy—so you can make better decisions not just for yourself, but for everyone around you.
This episode is part of our ongoing season on focus, prioritization, and alignment—key themes from Celina’s upcoming book 39 Squirrels, the third in her leadership reflection series.
Dr. Celina Peerman is an organizational psychologist, speaker, and author with 30 years of experience helping leaders navigate change, develop stronger teams, and lead with more intention. Known for her humor, heart, and practical tools, she brings real-world insight to the daily work of leadership.
Want the bonus worksheet to help identify where decision fatigue might be hiding in your day-to-day? Email us at hello@workplacechameleon.com and we’ll send it your way.
Because leadership clarity isn’t about doing more—it’s about making aligned choices that matter most.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to the Workplace Chameleon.
I'm Dr Selina, and this iswhere we explore a little more
into how to adapt, align andlead through constant change
without losing yourself in theprocess.
This season, we're digging intowhat it really takes to focus,
(00:29):
prioritize what matters and leadwith intention when everything
feels urgent.
This is the third in a12-episode sprint focused on
three themes focus itself,priorities and alignment.
We're also excited to sharewith you that those are the
(00:49):
three themes in my upcoming book, 39 Swirls.
This is the third book in aseries that will be out soon.
The first two, 49 Chameleonsand 29 Owls, are now available
on our website and by contactingour team.
We're excited to tell you moreabout those, so reach out if
you'd like to talk and otherthan a short definition, about
(01:14):
the amazing work chameleon cellsdo to reflect the light around
them.
There's really nothing aboutanimals in these books.
They're not children's books.
They're about leading andnavigating change together in
this organizational life.
So what could we work on today?
Decision fatigue.
(01:37):
Have you ever opened up thefridge, stared inside and just
couldn't make a decision?
It's not usually about the food.
Sometimes it's just your brainis done.
(01:58):
Decision fatigue at that momenthas entered the conversation In
my own life.
This became apparent early in mymarriage to David, where we
(02:19):
would just hit the end of theday and neither one of us or one
of us at a time had nothingleft in the tank to make a
decision.
It started.
We were young professionals inour field, trying to navigate
the world of work, and when oneof us came home and asked the
other one so what do you wantfor dinner?
We coined the key phrasechicken pill.
(02:43):
Now, that might soundcompletely ridiculous to you and
after 32 years it still soundsridiculous to us, but it's
really become a code word forI'm done, like I have no
decisions left in me, and itsymbolized the I don't care what
I eat right now.
Like just give me a pill so Idon't have to think about it.
(03:03):
I don't care what I eat rightnow Like, just give me a pill so
I don't have to think about it.
Whatever, that is for you whenyou just hit done.
Today we're digging into thisvery real mental overload and
how small misalignments in ourdaily lives actually quietly
wear us down in our daily livesactually quietly wear us down,
(03:33):
because it's not always the big,significant moments that burn
us out.
Sometimes it's the constant,quiet pressure of decisions that
just don't quite align with whowe are, what we want or what we
thought we were prioritizing.
Decision fatigue happens whenthe quality of our decisions
deteriorates after a long day oreven an hour of decision making
(03:58):
.
It's not just a time managementissue, it's cognitive overload.
Cognition is this process ofknowing, thinking, deciding that
our brain overtakes and yourbrain, just like your body, gets
tired.
In the last few months we havehad more requests for content
(04:24):
around mental clutter, and Ithink that's absolutely tied
into this wider conversationaround decision fatigue and
cognitive overload.
Because there's just so muchstuff in there we have to sort
through the muck and that's aheavy lift.
We have to clear through allthis noise just to get to a core
(04:48):
decision.
And in leadership roles we don'tjust make decisions for
ourselves, right, we'reinfluencing others, coordinating
across departments, weighingmultiple outcomes, and often do
it with incomplete information.
Multiple outcomes and often doit with incomplete information.
(05:09):
So what wears us down isn'talways how many decisions we
make.
It's how many unclear,misaligned decisions we have to
navigate.
Let me give you an example.
You've told your team thatprioritizing client satisfaction
is key.
Client, customer, member,whoever that is for you.
(05:30):
You've told your team thatprioritizing client satisfaction
is key, but we also know thatsenior leadership expects cost
savings and now there's adeadline that's just moved up
again.
So now you're trying to decide.
Do we push quality speed?
This is like the proverbialtrying to thread the impossible
(05:51):
neater.
Okay, that word was needle.
I don't know where the R camefrom.
It's tug of war.
It's really misalignment andover time it doesn't just slow
you down, it wears you out.
I believe there is a hidden tollof misalignment.
(06:15):
Misalignment looks likecompeting goals between
departments, job descriptions orrole expectations that don't
match daily responsibilities,personal values that are
clashing with a team ororganizational culture, constant
(06:36):
pressure to be available evenwhen you're off the clock.
These seem small at times, butthey're cumulative.
Consider, maybe a hitch in yourgiddy up there's a phrase we
haven't heard for a while Aslight limp in your walk because
something's just out of whack.
(06:58):
It may not hurt at first.
It just creates a little bit ofdifference in your cadence
right, the way you move, butafter a while maybe a mile,
maybe a day, it throws yourwhole body out of alignment.
That's when you need to govisit the chiropractor, but the
(07:19):
same is true for your mental andemotional bandwidth.
Tiny misalignments lead tofriction, and friction drains
energy.
You start second guessingyourself, you delay simple
decisions, you get irritableOkay, I get irritable over minor
(07:40):
requests and then you wonderwhy am I so tired?
I didn't even do anything thathard today, but you did.
You fought against misalignmentall day long.
Misalignment all day long.
(08:04):
So what can we do?
Here are three strategies toconsider to reduce decision
fatigue and realign with clarity.
Number one we're always lookingfor reconnecting or realignment
to purpose.
I know a lot of people will saythat.
Go back to your focus, yourmission, whatever your purpose
is, but it's true.
(08:25):
When everything feels urgent,come back to what matters most.
Ask yourself is this alignedwith our core goal?
If not, can you let it go,delegate it or reframe it?
Come back to center when itfeels overwhelming.
(08:49):
There's the sense of I needsomething, I need a point of
control, and then, when wereconnect to that purpose, other
things become clearer.
Number two limit microdecisions.
What, might you ask, is a microdecision?
(09:11):
These are small things that addup in our decision making.
They are the little decisionsthat are repetitive or routine,
that you have to keep making,which actually takes up
bandwidth from where we needyour mental energy on bigger
(09:32):
things that require yourexperience and your talent.
There are a number of authorsout there who have recognized
the power of checklists orrituals, and when we create
checklists, rituals or even somesense of default settings for
things you do daily, likemorning routines, like morning
(09:54):
routines, email processing,meeting prep, when we can take
those regular things and justmake them a checklist or process
, it actually frees our brain upand saves some of that energy
(10:15):
for the big stuff.
Try it and let me know how itgoes for you If you want to
reach back out and let me knowsome sort of decision that you
just put as a process so youdon't have to make it anymore.
It just became part of theroutine.
I would love to know what youdid.
What you did?
Number three, on what can we dofor today?
(10:36):
Spot the misalignments, frameit, to name it.
Take inventory when do yourvalues and your calendar not
match?
No-transcript, because thosemismatches or misalignments just
(10:59):
consume energy.
Even small shifts, like sayingnot right now to one project,
can bring relief, I do believe,and in our change management
curriculum we talk about stagingchange when you have a really
big something and you canpostpone another really big
something.
Or you have smaller tomedium-sized changes that need
(11:24):
to be made.
How can you sequence those in away that sets us up for success
instead of overloaded andmisery?
We can't always postpone oneproject to bring that relief.
Look for the small momentswhere you can say not now or
(11:47):
that's not aligned to this, weneed to regroup.
Or that email thread that isnow 10 messages deep.
That should have been aconversation at email number two
.
Right, those things all hit.
And here's a bonus Talk aboutit with your team, co-workers,
(12:07):
your manager, maybe, if you havedirect reports, give them
permission to name decisionfatigue when they feel it.
Decision fatigue when they feelit.
Sometimes the most powerfulthing a leader can say is let's
pause and clarify this before wepush forward.
It doesn't take very long.
(12:28):
Now there are someorganizations when I'm in doing
the work I do when I say you gotto slow down, to go fast.
That's not always my mostpopular moment.
Just a little bit of clarity.
A couple of minutes might be acouple of hours.
On a really big something givesus energy for later.
(12:53):
When we clarify it now we canprevent some of the decision
fatigue at a later stage.
Decision fatigue is real, butit's also a signal.
If you can picture this on yourradar screen, it tells us where
things are off track, what wemight need to simplify, clarify
(13:16):
or re-center.
You might need to simplify,clarify or re-center.
You don't have to run on empty.
Choose alignment overexhaustion and when you do, you
(13:38):
will make better decisions, notjust for yourself, but everyone
around you.
Thanks for listening to theWorkplace Chameleon.
If this episode sparkedsomething for you, send it to a
colleague or, better yet, pausefor five minutes and ask
yourself where am I misalignedand what's one small step
towards realignment?
Because that'll get you alittle bit of a short nap on
(14:00):
decision fatigue.
We will be back next inupcoming episodes around focus,
prioritization and alignment.
This season is about leadingwith intention and, until next
time, lead with purpose.
Protect your energy and keepshowing up for what matters.
(14:25):
And, as I will remind youbecause I need reminded every
day to learn something new today, take care and be well.
Welcome to the Workplace Chameleon.
I'm Dr Selina, and this iswhere we explore a little more
into how to adapt, align andlead through constant change
without losing yourself in theprocess.
This season, we're digging intowhat it really takes to focus,
(00:29):
prioritize what matters and leadwith intention when everything
feels urgent.
This is the third in a12-episode sprint focused on
three themes focus itself,priorities and alignment.
We're also excited to sharewith you that those are the
(00:49):
three themes in my upcoming book, 39 Swirls.
This is the third book in aseries that will be out soon.
The first two, 49 Chameleonsand 29 Owls, are now available
on our website and by contactingour team.
We're excited to tell you moreabout those, so reach out if
you'd like to talk and otherthan a short definition, about
(01:14):
the amazing work chameleon cellsdo to reflect the light around
them.
There's really nothing aboutanimals in these books.
They're not children's books.
They're about leading andnavigating change together in
this organizational life.
So what could we work on today?
Decision fatigue.
(01:37):
Have you ever opened up thefridge, stared inside and just
couldn't make a decision?
It's not usually about the food.
Sometimes it's just your brainis done.
(01:58):
Decision fatigue at that momenthas entered the conversation In
my own life.
This became apparent early in mymarriage to David, where we
(02:19):
would just hit the end of theday and neither one of us or one
of us at a time had nothingleft in the tank to make a
decision.
It started.
We were young professionals inour field, trying to navigate
the world of work, and when oneof us came home and asked the
other one so what do you wantfor dinner?
We coined the key phrasechicken pill.
(02:43):
Now, that might soundcompletely ridiculous to you and
after 32 years it still soundsridiculous to us, but it's
really become a code word forI'm done, like I have no
decisions left in me, and itsymbolized the I don't care what
I eat right now.
Like just give me a pill so Idon't have to think about it.
(03:03):
I don't care what I eat rightnow Like, just give me a pill so
I don't have to think about it.
Whatever, that is for you whenyou just hit done.
Today we're digging into thisvery real mental overload and
how small misalignments in ourdaily lives actually quietly
wear us down in our daily livesactually quietly wear us down,
(03:33):
because it's not always the big,significant moments that burn
us out.
Sometimes it's the constant,quiet pressure of decisions that
just don't quite align with whowe are, what we want or what we
thought we were prioritizing.
Decision fatigue happens whenthe quality of our decisions
deteriorates after a long day oreven an hour of decision making
(03:58):
.
It's not just a time managementissue, it's cognitive overload.
Cognition is this process ofknowing, thinking, deciding that
our brain overtakes and yourbrain, just like your body, gets
tired.
In the last few months we havehad more requests for content
(04:24):
around mental clutter, and Ithink that's absolutely tied
into this wider conversationaround decision fatigue and
cognitive overload.
Because there's just so muchstuff in there we have to sort
through the muck and that's aheavy lift.
We have to clear through allthis noise just to get to a core
(04:48):
decision.
And in leadership roles we don'tjust make decisions for
ourselves, right, we'reinfluencing others, coordinating
across departments, weighingmultiple outcomes, and often do
it with incomplete information.
Multiple outcomes and often doit with incomplete information.
(05:09):
So what wears us down isn'talways how many decisions we
make.
It's how many unclear,misaligned decisions we have to
navigate.
Let me give you an example.
You've told your team thatprioritizing client satisfaction
is key.
Client, customer, member,whoever that is for you.
(05:30):
You've told your team thatprioritizing client satisfaction
is key, but we also know thatsenior leadership expects cost
savings and now there's adeadline that's just moved up
again.
So now you're trying to decide.
Do we push quality speed?
This is like the proverbialtrying to thread the impossible
(05:51):
neater.
Okay, that word was needle.
I don't know where the R camefrom.
It's tug of war.
It's really misalignment andover time it doesn't just slow
you down, it wears you out.
I believe there is a hidden tollof misalignment.
(06:15):
Misalignment looks likecompeting goals between
departments, job descriptions orrole expectations that don't
match daily responsibilities,personal values that are
clashing with a team ororganizational culture, constant
(06:36):
pressure to be available evenwhen you're off the clock.
These seem small at times, butthey're cumulative.
Consider, maybe a hitch in yourgiddy up there's a phrase we
haven't heard for a while Aslight limp in your walk because
something's just out of whack.
(06:58):
It may not hurt at first.
It just creates a little bit ofdifference in your cadence
right, the way you move, butafter a while maybe a mile,
maybe a day, it throws yourwhole body out of alignment.
That's when you need to govisit the chiropractor, but the
(07:19):
same is true for your mental andemotional bandwidth.
Tiny misalignments lead tofriction, and friction drains
energy.
You start second guessingyourself, you delay simple
decisions, you get irritableOkay, I get irritable over minor
(07:40):
requests and then you wonderwhy am I so tired?
I didn't even do anything thathard today, but you did.
You fought against misalignmentall day long.
Misalignment all day long.
(08:04):
So what can we do?
Here are three strategies toconsider to reduce decision
fatigue and realign with clarity.
Number one we're always lookingfor reconnecting or realignment
to purpose.
I know a lot of people will saythat.
Go back to your focus, yourmission, whatever your purpose
is, but it's true.
(08:25):
When everything feels urgent,come back to what matters most.
Ask yourself is this alignedwith our core goal?
If not, can you let it go,delegate it or reframe it?
Come back to center when itfeels overwhelming.
(08:49):
There's the sense of I needsomething, I need a point of
control, and then, when wereconnect to that purpose, other
things become clearer.
Number two limit microdecisions.
What, might you ask, is a microdecision?
(09:11):
These are small things that addup in our decision making.
They are the little decisionsthat are repetitive or routine,
that you have to keep making,which actually takes up
bandwidth from where we needyour mental energy on bigger
(09:32):
things that require yourexperience and your talent.
There are a number of authorsout there who have recognized
the power of checklists orrituals, and when we create
checklists, rituals or even somesense of default settings for
things you do daily, likemorning routines, like morning
(09:54):
routines, email processing,meeting prep, when we can take
those regular things and justmake them a checklist or process
, it actually frees our brain upand saves some of that energy
(10:15):
for the big stuff.
Try it and let me know how itgoes for you If you want to
reach back out and let me knowsome sort of decision that you
just put as a process so youdon't have to make it anymore.
It just became part of theroutine.
I would love to know what youdid.
What you did?
Number three, on what can we dofor today?
(10:36):
Spot the misalignments, frameit, to name it.
Take inventory when do yourvalues and your calendar not
match?
No-transcript, because thosemismatches or misalignments just
(10:59):
consume energy.
Even small shifts, like sayingnot right now to one project,
can bring relief, I do believe,and in our change management
curriculum we talk about stagingchange when you have a really
big something and you canpostpone another really big
something.
Or you have smaller tomedium-sized changes that need
(11:24):
to be made.
How can you sequence those in away that sets us up for success
instead of overloaded andmisery?
We can't always postpone oneproject to bring that relief.
Look for the small momentswhere you can say not now or
(11:47):
that's not aligned to this, weneed to regroup.
Or that email thread that isnow 10 messages deep.
That should have been aconversation at email number two
.
Right, those things all hit.
And here's a bonus Talk aboutit with your team, co-workers,
(12:07):
your manager, maybe, if you havedirect reports, give them
permission to name decisionfatigue when they feel it.
Decision fatigue when they feelit.
Sometimes the most powerfulthing a leader can say is let's
pause and clarify this before wepush forward.
It doesn't take very long.
(12:28):
Now there are someorganizations when I'm in doing
the work I do when I say you gotto slow down, to go fast.
That's not always my mostpopular moment.
Just a little bit of clarity.
A couple of minutes might be acouple of hours.
On a really big something givesus energy for later.
(12:53):
When we clarify it now we canprevent some of the decision
fatigue at a later stage.
Decision fatigue is real, butit's also a signal.
If you can picture this on yourradar screen, it tells us where
things are off track, what wemight need to simplify, clarify
(13:16):
or re-center.
You might need to simplify,clarify or re-center.
You don't have to run on empty.
Choose alignment overexhaustion and when you do, you
(13:38):
will make better decisions, notjust for yourself, but everyone
around you.
Thanks for listening to theWorkplace Chameleon.
If this episode sparkedsomething for you, send it to a
colleague or, better yet, pausefor five minutes and ask
yourself where am I misalignedand what's one small step
towards realignment?
Because that'll get you alittle bit of a short nap on
(14:00):
decision fatigue.
We will be back next inupcoming episodes around focus,
prioritization and alignment.
This season is about leadingwith intention and, until next
time, lead with purpose.
Protect your energy and keepshowing up for what matters.
(14:25):
And, as I will remind youbecause I need reminded every
day to learn something new today, take care and be well.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com