Perhaps the most critical quality an Executive Assistant (EA) can possess is the ability to make decisions quickly and effectively. While the average person may make hundreds of decisions in the course of a day at their job, this is especially true for an EA. Their ability to always be on their toes and think critically is essential to ensure that their executive, team, and organization can properly function.
Being on high alert for long hours every day can take its toll, though. Making so many decisions can be mentally exhausting, leaving you feeling drained and potentially allowing your work to fall through the cracks. Here's how to conquer the decision fatigue of being an EA, making sure that you stay as creative, sharp, and productive as possible.
Decision Fatigue in Your Personal Life
The decisions that you make at work are not the only ones that threaten to steal your mental sharpness. There are countless decisions you must make in your personal life from the time you wake up until the time you crawl into bed at night. By making as many of these second nature and as routine as possible, you will save the energy and alertness it requires to thoughtfully handle more pertinent decisions the rest of the day. Here's how to streamline some of the decisions you make every day:
Morning & Evening Routines
Going through the same motions every morning and evening is an effective way to get important things done without costing you brainpower. Write down all of the tasks you need to accomplish before and after work, then practice doing them until they are easy and mindless.
Meal Planning
Decide what you are going to eat and when a week (or even a month) in advance. Preparing your food at home over the weekend and bringing it to work, or even knowing which restaurant and meal you are going to order for take-out before the week begins will save you an enormous amount of time and effort.
Wardrobe
There's a reason that successful people like Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg recommend having a limited wardrobe: it works! While you may not be a fan of wearing a black t-shirt and jeans to work every day, you can practice the same idea by keeping your wardrobe simple with pieces that are easily interchangeable or, like your menu, decide what you will wear each day at the start of the week.
Dates & Gifts
Plan time with your significant other and holiday gifts in advance. Create a list of date ideas, then decide when you will go out with your partner each month. Likewise, make a list of gift ideas for holidays and events that you can reference when the time comes.
Decision Fatigue in Your Professional Life
The choices make in your personal life may bleed into your professional one, but at the end of the day, the decisions you make for your boss and company are the ones that really count. For this reason, you want your mind to be fresh for anything that comes your way. Here are some helpful steps you can take to do just that.
Schedule Time to Make Decisions
Turn off distractions like pop-ups and email notifications on your devices, then set aside a specific time to focus and respond to emails, phone calls, and texts. Not all problems need an immediate answer; by scheduling a designated time to answer non-pressing issues, you will save time and effort that trying to answer everyone immediately might cost you.
Make a Today and Tomorrow List
Create two lists every day: one for things that must get done today and one that can wait until tomorrow. As you cross off the tasks of today, you can get ahead on tomorrow's list.
Trust Your Gut
Don't overthink every decision that falls in your lap. In most scenarios, your intuition is right. Go with your gut, then don't think twice. Second-guessing is a waste of energy.
Delegate to Your Staff
Trust your team enough to make some decisions for you. This is especially true for routine decisions that pop up consistently every week, such as scheduling. Prepare your staff to handle certain tasks, give them the authority to do so, and let them do their jobs to better serve you and your executive.
Working as an EA may require you to make more decisions than you can count in the course of any given day, but with a few strategic techniques, you can end your days feeling accomplished and energized rather than exhausted and overwhelmed by decision fatigue. Staying organized, preparing in advance, and eliminating the need to make smaller decisions will help save your mental endurance for larger, more pressing matters.
To help you find the right role, contact The Hire Standard today. Guidance is a big part of beating decision fatigue after all!