Decision When Tired

Tired brains make bad decisions — impulsive, pessimistic, or whatever's easiest — and then live with them. The best protocol when depleted is usually don't decide yet. This first checks whether the decision can wait; if it genuinely can't, it walks you to a safe-enough choice with minimal thinking: default to the reversible option, dodge the known tired-brain traps, and apply a simple rule rather than deep analysis you can't do right now.

What This Skill Produces

• The can-it-wait check — the first and best question: does this actually need deciding now, or can it wait for a rested brain?
• The tired-brain trap flags — the predictable ways exhaustion distorts choices (impulse-buying, catastrophizing, picking the easy-not-right option, saying yes to make it stop)
• The safe-enough path — if it can't wait, a low-effort route to a reasonable choice (favor reversible, satisfice, use a rule)
• A simple decision rule — a heuristic to apply instead of analysis you don't have the energy for
• A do-not-decide list — the choices to explicitly defer until rested

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• The decision — what you're trying to choose
• The real deadline — does it truly need deciding now, or does it just feel that way
• How depleted you are — mildly tired or completely fried
• Reversibility — can the choice be undone or changed later