7 Mistakes You’re Making with Your Decision Energy (and How to Fix Them)
It was 5:45 AM this morning, and I was standing in front of the refrigerator like it was a crime scene.
I wasn’t even hungry yet. I was just staring at the almond milk, the oat milk, and a half-empty carton of eggs, trying to calculate the caloric density vs. the time it would take to clean a frying pan. Ten minutes later, I realized I hadn’t even started the coffee.
I was already "spending."
Before my feet had even hit the pavement for my morning walk, before the first Slack notification chimed, and long before my first 9:00 AM meeting, I was leaking decision energy on things that don't move the needle.
If you lead people, lead companies, or lead a family, you know that heavy feeling in the chest by 4:00 PM. It’s not just physical fatigue. It’s "Decision Fatigue." You haven’t run out of time; you’ve run out of fuel. Your brain has a finite battery for choosing, and most of us are using the "Super Fast Charge" setting on things that should be handled by a disposable AA battery.
Here are the 7 mistakes you’re making with your decision energy: and how to fix them before you lose another day to the noise.
1. You’re Treating Every Decision Like a Supreme Court Ruling
This is the biggest energy leak in leadership. You give the same mental weight to a color choice for a slide deck as you do to a $50,000 budget reallocation.
When you treat every choice as "high stakes," your brain never gets a break. You’re redlining the engine on a 25-mph residential street. By the time you get to the highway where you actually need the power, the engine is smoking.
The Fix: The A-B-C Triage.
Every morning, look at your plate.
- A-Level: Strategic moves that change the trajectory of the week. Give these your best 90 minutes.
- B-Level: Important, but not existential. Delegate these with clear guardrails.
- C-Level: Low stakes. If it takes less than 2 minutes, decide now and never look back. If it takes longer, set a "good enough" standard and move on.
2. You’re the Self-Appointed Bottleneck
Listen, I get it. You’re the founder. You’re the CEO. You’ve got the vision. It feels "responsible" to have the final say on everything. But when your team comes to you asking, "What should we do about X?" and you give them an answer, you aren’t being a hero. You’re being a battery. And they are plugging into you.
If you are the one making every call, you aren't leading a team; you’re managing a group of order-takers who are draining your mental reserves every hour.
The Fix: "Bring Me a Recommendation, Not a Question."
Make it a rule. Nobody enters your office (or your Zoom) with a problem unless they have two possible solutions and a preferred choice. Your job isn't to make the decision; it’s to approve the logic. This shifts the energy burn from you to them and builds their leadership muscle in the process.
3. You’re Falling into the "Waiting for Certainty" Trap
You want more data. You want one more report. You want to see how the market reacts next Tuesday. You think you’re being "diligent."
You’re actually just procrastinating.
Analysis paralysis is just high-functioning anxiety. Every hour you spend "considering" a decision you already have 70% of the information for is an hour of energy you could have spent executing. Most decisions are reversible. Staying in limbo is the only thing that’s permanent.
The Fix: The 70% Rule.
If you have 70% of the information you need, make the call. The remaining 30% usually reveals itself only after you’ve started moving. Speed is a competitive advantage. Give yourself a time limit: 45 minutes, two days, whatever: and when the clock hits zero, the coin is tossed.
4. You’re Re-Deciding the Same Thing Three Times
Have you ever made a decision on a Tuesday, then spent Wednesday night lying awake wondering if it was the right one, only to bring it up again in a meeting on Thursday?
You just "paid" for that decision three times.
Ruminating is the silent killer of executive clarity. It creates a "mental cache" that stays open in the background of your brain, slowing down everything else you’re trying to do.
The Fix: The Decision Record.
When a big decision is made, write down the why. What were the facts? What was the goal? Once it’s documented, it’s closed. Unless material new information (not just new feelings) comes to light, you don't get to re-open the file. Move on to the next play.
5. You’re Making "Big Moves" When Your Battery is at 2%
We’ve all done it. 6:30 PM, you’re tired, you’re "hangry," and you decide to send that "difficult" email or finalize that contract.
Your decision quality is directly tied to your glucose levels and your circadian rhythm. Making a high-stakes call when you’re fried is like trying to win a Formula 1 race on a flat tire. You might finish, but it’s going to be ugly, and you’ll probably crash.
The Fix: Respect the Energy Curve.
Schedule your "A-Level" decisions for your peak window. For most of us, that’s between 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM. If a major choice lands on your desk at 4:30 PM, sleep on it. The world will still be there at 8:00 AM, and you’ll have the clarity to handle it with precision instead of desperation.
6. You’re Wasting Juice on "Micro-Choices"
What are you wearing? What’s for lunch? Which route are you taking to the office? Should you check email now or in twenty minutes?
These micro-choices are the "vampire draw" on your decision battery. Individually, they’re nothing. Collectively, they’re the reason you’re too tired to think about your five-year plan by Friday afternoon.
The Fix: Automate the Mundane.
Eat the same breakfast. Buy five versions of the same outfit. Set a fixed schedule for your deep work and your admin. The more of your life you can put on "auto-pilot," the more energy you have available for the things that actually require a pilot.
7. You’re Carrying Yesterday’s Leftovers
Sometimes we make a bad call. It happens. But many leaders spend today’s energy beating themselves up for yesterday’s mistake. You’re carrying the weight of a decision that’s already in the past, and it’s making your current choices sluggish and fear-based.
The Fix: The Morning Reset.
Every morning, you have to flush the cache. Whatever happened yesterday is data, not a definition of your character. Take five minutes before you start your day: real clarity time: to remind yourself that today’s decisions deserve a fresh battery. Don’t let the ghost of a bad Tuesday haunt a potentially great Wednesday.
The One Move to Make Today
Look at your calendar for the rest of the day. Identify the one "A-Level" decision that has been sitting there, draining your energy while you "think about it."
Stop thinking.
Apply the 70% rule. Decide. Document it. And then, for the love of everything, go for a walk and stop talking about it.
Your energy is your most valuable asset. Stop spending it like it’s infinite. Use it on the moves that matter, so you can come home at the end of the day with something left in the tank for the people who actually call you by your first name.
Get clear.
Move on purpose.
And come home intact.
*J. Richard Byrd \ www.jrichardbyrd.com \ is a business development mentor, media strategist, and CEO of The ByrdOlogy Group. ByrdOlogy In the Morning is a 4-minute daily leadership devotional available on YouTube, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms. \ www.BLKHustle.com/byrdologyinthemorning *
