The saying ‘variety is the spice of life’ is tried and true. People tend to love having options to choose from, whether they’re deciding where to travel on their next vacation or what to order from a restaurant. But why are we so drawn to having options, and what about the negative consequences of endless possibilities, like decision fatigue? This article will explore the psychology behind our natural inclination for variety and the unintended consequences our craving for variety has led to.
The Thrill of Novelty
Variety and novelty trigger our brains’ reward systems to release the chemical dopamine whenever we experience them. Dopamine is the chemical that creates positive feelings, motivating us to seek out and engage in rewarding experiences. It’s a natural response our brains developed long before seemingly endless options were a constant presence.
Today, the novelty-dopamine connection might motivate you to compare all the different sneaker options available to ship to you by tomorrow or have you trying as many pokies as you want to find the best gaming platform. In the past, it was motivating us to engage in survival behaviours. Dopamine would be released for activities like eating and drinking, meaning it would have been released far less frequently than in today’s onslaught of options.
Alongside releasing dopamine, novel experiences activate our hippocampus, the region of the brain associated with memory and learning. Because of this, we’re better able to remember these experiences than our usual routines. This adds to the appeal of abundant choices because we know they can deliver exciting and memorable experiences. We’re more engaged and excited about experiences with options at our disposal.
The Illusion of Control
Novelty and dopamine aren’t the only psychological factors fuelling our interest in having variety and options in our daily lives; there’s also the concept known as the ‘illusion of control’ at work. The concept refers to how having choices creates a perception of control over situations and events, even if we don’t actually have any control.
However, the illusion of control isn’t all bad. Having options provides a sense of control that can empower us, even if the decisions are small and mundane. For instance, the feeling of control can play a role in supporting our physical and mental well-being. When we feel we have some control, we’re more likely to choose options promoting our health and wellness, like exercising, opting for a home-cooked meal instead of takeout, and prioritising our sleep quality. Participating in these activities helps improve our life satisfaction and self-esteem, giving us a sense of agency and purpose.
When we’re given options, we feel we can find the best option for ourselves, whether scrolling to find the best movie to watch or deciding what to have for dinner. Options create a sense of freedom and opportunity, making us naturally inclined to want them at our disposal.
The Downsides: Dopamine Depletion and Decision Fatigue
While our brains are wired to seek out variety, not just enjoy it, there are pitfalls to endless variety: dopamine depletion and decision fatigue. When dopamine-releasing activities constantly surround us, our brain reacts by reducing dopamine production. This doesn’t stop our natural inclination to seek out rewarding behaviours. Instead, it prompts us to seek more intense behaviours to get bigger dopamine rewards and negatively impacts our decision-making. This is why some typically harmless behaviours like checking our phones and shopping can become compulsive and harmful.
The continual bombardment of options can also take a toll on our decision-making ability, leading to decision fatigue. When everything we do has multiple options—from the type of coffee we have when we get up to the food we eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to the clothing we put on before bed and deciding what time to get up—it adds up and becomes exhausting. When we’re making constant decisions for ourselves and others or if we have perfectionist tendencies, it’s even more exhausting and taxing on our minds. This exhaustion ends up harming our physical and mental well-being. It makes it difficult to make small decisions and leads to procrastination, brain fog, and fatigue.
Reduced dopamine production and decision fatigue contribute to mental health concerns like stress, anxiety, and depression. It’s important to be aware of these when we’re offered endless options—which, let’s be honest, merely existing in our modern world comes with—and to take steps to keep our mental health in good shape.
Finding the Balance
Finding the balance between the thrill of novelty, the sense of control, and the downsides of each involves prioritising self-care and taking proactive steps to get ahead of the decisions and overstimulation. These steps can include:
- Prioritising exercise and sleep: Exercise and sleep support our physical and mental health in many ways, and it can help combat the fatigue and adverse effects of constant decision-making and overstimulation. Aim for 2.5 hours of exercise each week and seven to eight hours of sleep each night.
- Meal planning and prepping: Instead of scrambling to make decisions on the go, setting up time to meal plan and prep can give you peace of mind and reduce the number of decisions you must make each day.
- Prioritising daily downtime: Setting aside time daily to disengage from decision-making can help you feel rested and refreshed.
- Maintaining a regular routine: A regular routine minimises decision-making across days, weeks, and months. It can help dictate the days we exercise and grocery shop and tell us when to go to bed and wake up each day, relieving our minds from recurring decisions.
- Removing decisions where you can: Steve Jobs famously wore the same outfit every day, and he did this to reduce the number of decisions he had to make, saving his mental capacity for other endeavours. While not everyone would be happy wearing the same thing daily, we can lay out clothing beforehand or commit ourselves to a specific grocery store to remove decisions.
- Reducing high-dopamine stimuli: Reducing how much time we spend with high-dopamine stimuli, like scrolling social media, can help us reset our minds and natural dopamine production.
If we find ourselves experiencing a lack of motivation, loss of concentration, and heightened stress, it’s time to assess our balance with dopamine-releasing stimuli and decision-making. Reducing sensory input—especially overwhelming choices—enhances their value while protecting your health. With moderation and by prioritising self-care, we can reclaim balance in our lives.
