Why does Mark Zuckerberg wear the same shirt every day?
For ones who are not familiar with this idea: No, it’s not that he doesn’t have enough money to hire a stylist, or that he wants to create a new trend.
Before diving in,
Raise your (virtual) hand if these sound like you.
You’re a punctual person. If you’re ever late, 9 out 10 times is because you could not decide what to wear.
Looking at the closet with over 100 options if you combine different items, you’d still tell yourself “I have nothing to wear”.
Packing for a trip can take you a whole night. Folding stuff is quick. Selecting what to fold takes forever.
To ensure you’re not late for flights, you will have to decide the airport outfit the night before. Yet you may still decide to swap it the last minute.
Not just outfits.
Getting pretty (h)angry to decide what’s for dinner. Getting frustrated to choose the right gifts. Getting lost in the supermarket aisle not knowing if you should get beef or chicken.
And there are some days, you will just let others to decide.
This term may sound new: “decision fatigue” is what you may have been through.
What is decision fatigue?
According to registered Natacha Duke, MA, RP, decision fatigue is a phenomenon where the more decisions a person makes over the course of a day, the more physically, mentally and emotionally depleted they become.
This suggests three ideas:
You are capable of making a limited amount of good decisions each day.
The more decisions you make throughout the day, the worse you are at making them.
The decision-making process drains your mental capacity.
This is the idea behind “wearing the same shirt every day”.
Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in an interview says, he wears a grey t-shirt ever day so he has one less decision to make, which frees up thinking time that can be devoted to other things.
I came across this idea when having a play with the Doing Well card deck from Hummingly. The idea of this card deck is to pick out the 12 cards that resonate with you to create your own Resilience and Wellbeing plan.
“Habits make space in your mind.” with Mark’s saying card was one of the 12 that I picked.
So, the idea is to build habits to limit unnecessary decisions
Mark Zuckerberg wears the same shirt.
And I started to buy and wear the same socks (not applicable to people who are passionate about cute socks).
How have I come to that decision?
i. Make a list of daily decisions.
I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, and started writing down all the decisions I have to make on during a normal day.
What shampoo or shower gel do I use?
Which lipstick shade do I put on?
What would I wear today?
Which perfume do I feel like?
Where are my socks?
Sneakers or loafers?
Do I want to make coffee in the office or buy one?
What do I have for lunch?
Gym or nah?
Grocery or takeout?
The list may go on…
ii. Pick the ones you can habitualise.
Socks
I usually find some of my socks disappear. And it becomes a pain trying to find the matching pair every morning.
So I built two habits:
From now on I will buy same socks.
If anytime my heart is fluttered by cute socks (like ones with watermelon on it), I’ll still buy them. And normalise the situation that I will wear socks of two different pairs.
Coffee
I’m in a constant battle of making coffee at the office to save money and buying takeaway coffee because they’re good.
So I built a schedule:
I will make coffee in the office Monday to Thursday.
I deserve a good coffee on a Friday. So takeaway it is.
Create little habits helps reduce the number of decisions in your day.
What will your grey t-shirt routine be?
#wotn4 #day22
Bài viết thuộc thử thách viết 30 ngày của khóa học Writing On The Net.