Read this article from The New York Times magazine on “Decision Fatigue.” It’s one of the most interesting, enlightening articles I’ve read in a long time.
Decision fatigue helps explain why ordinarily sensible people get angry at colleagues and families, splurge on clothes, buy junk food at the supermarket and can’t resist the dealer’s offer to rustproof their new car. No matter how rational and high-minded you try to be, you can’t make decision after decision without paying a biological price. It’s different from ordinary physical fatigue — you’re not consciously aware of being tired — but you’re low on mental energy. The more choices you make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes for your brain, and eventually it looks for shortcuts, usually in either of two very different ways.
More…
The cumulative effect of these temptations and decisions isn’t intuitively obvious. Virtually no one has a gut-level sense of just how tiring it is to decide. Big decisions, small decisions, they all add up. Choosing what to have for breakfast, where to go on vacation, whom to hire, how much to spend — these all deplete willpower, and there’s no telltale symptom of when that willpower is low. It’s not like getting winded or hitting the wall during a marathon. Ego depletion manifests itself not as one feeling but rather as a propensity to experience everything more intensely. When the brain’s regulatory powers weaken, frustrations seem more irritating than usual. Impulses to eat, drink, spend and say stupid things feel more powerful (and alcohol causes self-control to decline further).
I’ve often thought it quite funny that most people think we sit around all day and do nothing but have fun. As in, “Oh, I always wanted to be a graphic designer. It sounds like so much fun!”
The reality is that nothing could be further from the truth.
Designers make hundreds, possibly thousands, of decisions every single day. Design decisions about content, copy, direction, visuals, color, material, typography, format, interface, usability, etc. But that’s not all…
Now throw in a difficult client, a bill that needs to be paid, production problems, and a couple of crazy deadlines. Are we tired yet? But wait… we’re not done!
OMG, don’t forget about your personal life, assuming you still have one. Your relationships, your family, paying the mortgage, planning the weekend, and anything else – involved with “having a life.”
It’s a lot to handle.
One of the nicest things said to me – in 30 years of being in this crazy business – came from Jill Chan (Account Director at Phillips Design). At the end a particularly difficult day she said, “Now I know why you are the way you are.”
Thank you.
My old boss, Bob Rakela, once told me after I got hives from a horrible print job gone wrong, “Yeah, this business tends to wear people out.” Another designer friend – after pulling three all-nighters putting together a magazine – said, “You know Lee, ordinary people can’t do what we do.”
Yep, us designers tend to be a little weird.
Fringe? Maybe. Off center? Probably. Intense? Most definitely.
It’s a symptom of the occupation.
I know there are things that probably can’t be forgiven, but God, I sure do appreciate a little understanding.