Decision Fatigue, Or, Why I Cannot Be Trusted After 7pm

An article in Wednesday’s New York Times outlined the phenomenon of “decision fatigue.” Basically, it is as follows:  We have a finite amount of mental energy.  From the very moment we wake up we are using that mental energy to make millions of decisions.  As we continue to do so our willpower, as though it were a muscle, fatigues to the point where it gets more and more difficult to exercise good self control or good self discipline.  You’re mentally spent and it’s harder to make compromises or make good trade offs. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Sugar and I am suffering from decision fatigue.  And I’m guessing a lot of you are too. 

My day starts with decisions and trade offs.  Getting myself ready for work is fraught with so many decisions it’s a wonder my willpower isn’t depleted by the time I get out the door.  Let’s take a sampling: 

Getting dressed (and gents, here’s where you have to have some respect for the ladies – our mental power is taxed in ways you don’t even understand):  Dress OR Skirt and Blouse OR Pants and Blouse OR Dress/Pants/Skirt with Sweater.  Once that’s decided it’s Muted Colors OR Bright Colors.  Then we go to Shoes: Flats OR Heels?  Neutrals OR Bright?  Accessories:  Pearls/Studs/Hoops/Dangling (and that’s just the earrings); Simple Chain/Statement Piece/Simple Pearls/Multi Strand (and that’s just the necklace); Cocktail Rings/Sentimental Rings/Simple Rings; Cuffs/Bangles/Pearls (that’s just the bracelets).  You get the idea.  And we haven’t even gotten to makeup. 

Work is inundated with its own set of decisions:  Which project to tackle first? How much time to spend on it? How to write this memo or that email?  How much research is enough research?

Taking all this into account, it is no wonder that my patience is sapped as the day drags on.  Merely restraining myself from telling a coworker how I really feel about her choice of office attire takes more and more of my energy, depleting energy from important things I need to do like, think. 

Take this as a warning.  Your mother told you nothing good can happen after midnight.  Well, I say nothing good can happen after 7pm. 

Guilty Pleasures: Girls' Night In Edition

Sure, we all love to go out and hit the town but sometimes, some of the best nights are those spent in with your best girlfriends, a few bottles of wine, Bethenny Frankel’s Skinnygirl cocktails, guacamole and a good movie.  Here’s this lady’s top picks for a guilty pleasure girls’ night in: 

1.      Legally Blonde:  I don’t know many women who can’t quote at least 5 lines from this movie off the top of their heads at the drop of a hat.  And while that may say something about the people I choose to associate with, I think it’s just good sense.  Elle Woods is a fun, lighthearted, fashionable character with a heart of gold and TWO uber-cute love interests. 

2.      Clueless:  Clueless will forever be a part of pop culture for those of us who were tweens and teens in the 90s.  To this day, I still lust after Cher’s rotating closet and believe that digital photographs (an upgrade from the Polaroid) are better than any mirror. 

3.      Sex and the City (I, not II):  Carrie and Big.  Big and Carrie.  This love story was as much a part of my pop culture education as multiplication tables were to my math skills.  As much as I love these characters, I do firmly believe that the second movie was simply in poor taste.

4.      Sweet Home Alabama:  Another Reese Witherspoon hit!  Sweet Home Alabama has all the necessary ingredients for a successful girls’ night movie:  North meets South, Wealthy Fiance meets Secretly Wealthy Ex-Husband, Civil War battle reenactments and a Tiffany and Co. proposal.  Done and Done. 

 

5.      Love Actually:  Some might believe Love Actually is properly a Christmas movie but I believe Love Actually is so good it’s meant to be enjoyed year-round.  There’s young love, lost love, forgotten love, new love, weird love.  It’s just a whole-lotta love. 

6.      How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days:  Matthew McConaughey.  Matthew McConaughey on a motorcycle.  Matthew McConaughey shirtless.  Matthew McConaughey in a tux. 

7.      The Notebook:  The Notebook is perfect for a good girls’ night – you can (and you will) cry your eyes out.  And not a cute, attractive cry.  No, no, no.  A-get-the-Costco-sized-box-of-tissues cry that should only be seen by your girlfriends (and maybe your husband, but only after you’ve been married a few years). 

8.      Mean Girls:  Li-Lo before she went La-Loca.  Watch this on a good girls’ night and reminisce about all the “mean girl” things you did in high school.  Unless, of course, you weren’t ever a mean girl.  Which means you’re probably not reading this blog.

9.      Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants:  Sisterhood!  Bonding!  Growing up!  Pants that MAGICALLY fit every girl!  I recommend watching this movie and then sharing pants with your closest female friends.  But instead of jeans, let’s be a little more forgiving ladies and opt for some always flattering yoga pants. 

10.  Bring It On!:  All my life I wanted to be a cheerleader, but due to my parents’ decision to send me to a Catholic girls’ school, that was not quite in the cards.  Bring It On lets you tap into your inner cheerleader.  Come on.  You have one.    

Our Tween Heartthrobs

Lately I’ve found myself thinking wistfully of my care-free pre-teen and teenage years.  It was a glorious life before work, advanced degrees and bills where summer actually meant sleeping in and living a life of leisure.  In doing so, I recalled all my great loves of those years.  So here it is, a mildly-comprehensive list of my first celebrity crushes: 

1.      Jack Kelly (Newsies):  I understand that this is a movie character and really, should be listed as Christian Bale (oooh, didn’t he grow up nice), but Jack Kelly is in a class all his own.  He danced his way into my heart long before the male cast members of Glee (ok, Sam really) ever did. 

2.      Nick Carter (The Backstreet Boys):  Sure, I turned down the volume on “Backstreet’s Back” during a certain lyric to avoid a scolding from my parents, but boy-oh-boy.  Nick Carter papered the walls of my pre-teen bedroom.  Despite some unfortunate fashion choices (coughcough overalls), he had that good boy appeal that could rope in a nun.

3.      Jonathan Taylor Thomas (“JTT”):  JTT was the original Justin Bieber, hands down.  Even though I may be a 25 year old Belieber, JTT is still the best, hands down.

4.      Justin Timberlake (N’Sync):  JTimberlake may have grown into modern day eye-candy, but let’s not forget his original beginnings and his ability to make the hearts of 11-17 year old girls worldwide pound simultaneously with one smoldering look.

5.      Joey McIntyre (New Kids on the Block): MMMMM.  This delicious little slice of pecan pie has had me “flyin on the G-5” since I was conjugating Latin verbs. 

6.      HRH Prince William of Wales:  Though today I’m more of a Prince Harry kind of girl than a Prince William, back in the day I would have done anything to tousle that hair.  Kate Middleton, my inner tween is extremely jealous.   

7.      James Van der Beek (Dawson’s Creek): Ah, yes.  How could a list of tween hotties be complete without brooding Dawson’s Creek hottie Dawson himself?  His constant teen angst would annoy me to nth-degree now, but ten years ago, I would’ve given anything to get caught up in that stare. 

      8.      Joshua Jackson (Mighty Ducks):  Joshua Jackson is another Dawson’s Creek star, but I value          him more for his performance in the Mighty Ducks movies, particularly the last one.  There’s something about that good-boy-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks character at the prep school that makes (tween) me swoon.  

9.      Zack Morris (Saved by the Bell):  In grade school, I dreamed of being Kelly Kapowski just so I would get to slow dance with Zack at the super adorable Zack and Kelly prom.   

10.  AC Slater (Saved by the Bell):  Frequently. Exposed. Muscles.  Enough said.