It’s 9 AM, and I’m already suffering from decision fatigue.

I’ve had to decide where to have coffee, what to order, and where to sit. I’ve had to decide what to have for breakfast and which bottle was body wash and which was shampoo. I’ve had to decide which laundry soap to buy and which cycle to choose on the washing machine.

These decisions are complicated by the language issues we encounter here in Ho Chi Minh City. They’re further complicated by our lack of routine and systems. I’m not complaining. I get that we are experiencing a special privilege. But it’s complicated, and it’s tiring.

Each cup of coffee involves thinking/deciding. The same is true of our breakfasts, showers, and laundry. We’re making more decisions in the first hour of the day than we used to make all day long.

It’s exhausting.

Decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual, after a long session of decision-making. It is now understood as one of the causes of irrational trade-offs in decision-making. For instance, judges in court have been shown to make less favorable decisions later in the day than early in the day. Decision fatigue may also lead to consumers making poor choices with their purchases.

Decision fatigue is the concern that caused Steve Jobs to standardize his clothing choices. President Obama has done the same thing, although he goes for dressier options.

Decision fatigue is the rationale for many of us in developing consistent morning routines or standardizing our lunch choices. We want to save ourselves for the bigger issues, even if that means we eat Fiber One cereal with skim milk every single day.

We’re only good for a limited number of decisions per day. Our limit has more to do with the quantity of decisions than their complexity.

It’s all downhill after we hit our limit. Our decisions get worse and worse.

The key to managing decision fatigue is awareness. Look at the quality of your decisions throughout the day. Can you see the fatigue kicking in at some point? At what time do you start answering your paralegal with “Whatever, I don’t care—that’s fine” instead of providing thoughtful feedback?

6 Steps to Better Decision-Making

Here how’s to use your decision energy efficiently to get the best outcome:

1. Be Aware

Know your limits. Monitor yourself. Watch for when you start to hit the wall. Step outside of yourself during the day and watch what you’re doing. Are you still firing on all cylinders, or are you sluggish and slowing down? Little/trivial decisions use up your energy as much as big/important decisions. It’s the gross number of decisions, not their magnitude, that wears you down.

2. Systematize/Automate/Simplify

Make your day easier and simpler with fewer decisions required. Assume you’re good for X decisions and eliminate as many as possible so you’ll be fresh for the important stuff. Decide in advance what’s for breakfast, whether you’ll exercise, who’ll drop the kids, what route you’ll take to work, etc. Build a strict routine so it’s all on autopilot. Think of your decisions as limited and save them for when you need them.

3. Prioritize/Plan the Night Before

The night before, take a few minutes to plan your day. Sort through the task list and get it organized so you’ll be good to go when you get to work. Decide on the highest-priority tasks and projects and put the most important thing first. Don’t waste your first few decisions on deciding what’s important. Be ready to roll when you get started.

4. Do the Important Stuff Early

Make sure the big decision tasks are the first thing on the list. Get those tasks handled before you deplete your decision-making resources. Get focused,  and get it done before you hit your limit. Get it done while you’re fresh.

5. Hit the Reset Button Over Lunch

Use your lunch break to replenish your decision-making supply. It’s not a full reset, and you won’t have the energy you had earlier. But you can experiment with naps, exercise, and meditation and figure out whether anything helps you recharge before you get back to work. With practice, you might find a system that helps you accomplish some decision-making before you fade out for the day.

6. Save the Dumb Stuff for Late

Put the mindless, easy, rote stuff late in the day. I’ll be watching a CLE video replay this afternoon, and then I’ll review some articles I saved for later review. Be sure you’ve got a stockpile of activities and tasks that are well suited to the time after you enter the depleted zone. There’s still plenty to do that doesn’t involve making major decisions.

You’ve got a job that requires good decision-making. However, the reality is that you’re not likely to make your best decisions all day long. Organize your life so you save your resources for when you need them. Make the key decisions before you get fatigued.

Save your good decisions for the big stuff. I’ve used my decisions on coffee, body wash, and laundry detergent. Learn from my mistakes, and use yours for things that really matter.