The Fatigue of Choices: It All Starts with “What Should I Eat Tonight?”

How many times did you find yourself debating something today?
From the moment we wake up—“What should I wear?”—to lunchtime—“What should I eat?”—and again in the evening—“Netflix? YouTube? Or just endless scrolling on TikTok?” Our days are stitched together by constant little choices.

Somewhere along the way, we began living in a world overflowing with options.
Food delivery apps present hundreds of restaurants, streaming platforms pile on endless shows, and online shops seem infinite. With just a few taps, you can have anything you want. And yet, instead of feeling free, many of us just feel…tired.

This is what they call the “paradox of choice.” More options should mean more happiness, but often it just leaves us stuck, undecided, and exhausted. Sometimes we don’t choose at all. And even when we do, we’re haunted by the thought: Maybe the other option would’ve been better.

I know this all too well. I’ve spent thirty minutes scrolling through a delivery app only to end up ordering the same thing I had yesterday. Or browsed streaming platforms for so long that I just turned off the TV and went to bed.

So these days, I try a different approach: I go with the very first thing that pops into my head.
If I ask myself, “What should I eat for dinner?” I just choose the first dish that comes to mind. Because let’s be honest—once you step outside, the number of options you see is already overwhelming, and searching online only multiplies them. By cutting down the time I spend debating trivial choices, I feel less stressed and, surprisingly, more satisfied with whatever I end up with.

Do you also feel this kind of “choice fatigue”?
And if so, how do you deal with it?

-Luda