The Hidden Cost of Starting Every Day Asking “What Should I Do?”

A week ago, I closed a chapter. A big one.

A project I had been living inside for years was finally done. Long hours. Deep focus. A clear rhythm. And then… silence. Or at least, that’s what I thought would come next.

Instead, this week felt off. Not dramatically off. Subtly off. The dangerous kind.

I sat down to work and asked myself a simple question: What should I do first? And that’s where everything started to wobble.

I opened one thing. Then remembered another. Then thought, “Oh, I’ll just quickly do this.” Then — surprise — I ended up doing the thing I enjoy the most 🙃 and gently postponing the ones that require more friction, more courage, more energy.

Three days later, my week felt… chaotic. And that’s unusual for me.

But here’s the uncomfortable part: when I go into organizations to help them, this is their normal.

People start their days staring at a list of tasks, messages, emails, Slack pings, half-decisions, and open loops. Progress is something they assume happened because they’re exhausted at the end of the day. They finish thinking: “I didn’t do what I wanted… but wow, I’m tired.”

Sound familiar? 😅

Here’s the myth most people still believe (and I did too, briefly): 👉 If I have discipline and motivation, I’ll be productive.

That’s cute. And wrong.

Your brain doesn’t work that way.

From a neuroscience perspective, your brain is not designed for constant choosing. Every time you decide what to do next, you’re burning cognitive energy. It’s called decision fatigue, and it quietly drains your ability to focus, prioritize, and resist distractions. Add context switching (jumping between tasks), and your prefrontal cortex — the part responsible for planning and self-control — starts tapping out.

Your brain then does what it does best to survive: It seeks the familiar. The easy. The rewarding.

That’s why you end up reorganizing Task, Notion, answering emails, or “just checking something quickly” instead of doing the one thing that actually moves the needle. Your brain isn’t lazy. It’s overwhelmed. 🧠

So let me ask you a question — pause for a second before answering: How often do you start your day deciding what to do… instead of executing something already designed?

Here’s the funny part. We joke about “monkey brain,” but honestly, the monkey is doing its job. It’s reacting to chaos you haven’t structured yet. Expecting clarity to magically appear in a noisy environment is like expecting calm in the middle of a concert without earplugs 🎧.

What did I have to do to get myself back into flow and build a productive rhythm for this new chapter?

I didn’t need more willpower. I needed to redesign my processes, habits, and rituals to adapt to my new projects.

So if you’re rebuilding your rhythm — or realizing you never really had one — maybe this sparks something for you too.

🔥Ritual 1: Monthly priorities (non-negotiable). Once a month, I define 3 to 5 key priorities. Not goals. Priorities. These are the few things that deserve my best energy. I define clear deliverables for each and consciously decide what I’m not focusing on. I also plant seeds — things I can start now that might help future work. This alone removes dozens of micro-decisions from my weeks.

🔥Ritual 2: Protect focus like it’s fragile (because it is). I decide when I will think deeply and when I will be reactive. Focus time means no phone, no Slack, no email. And yes, this goes in my calendar. Messages and emails get their own time blocks. Your brain loves boundaries. Without them, everything feels urgent — and nothing meaningful gets done.

🔥Ritual 3: Review the process behind each priority. Every monthly priority needs a supporting process. High level is enough. What are the steps? Where do decisions happen? What does “done” look like? If the process is vague, your brain fills the gaps with anxiety — and distraction.

🔥Ritual 4: Weekly setup before the week starts.(IdothiseveryFriday) Monday doesn’t start with figuring things out. Everything is already prepared. Meetings have clear objectives and structures. Notes are ready. Tasks are sequenced. My job during the week is to follow, not to wonder.

Wondering is expensive.

Flow is efficient.

🔥Ritual 5: Ruthlessly review what’s noise. Not everything deserves your attention. If it’s not necessary, it’s probably noise. And noise is the silent killer of energy. Protecting your focus also means protecting your emotional and mental energy — because time without energy is useless.

This is the part we rarely talk about. We protect time, but forget that focus and energy are what actually make time valuable. Studies consistently show that cognitive performance drops sharply when we’re mentally depleted, even if we technically “have time.” Burnout isn’t always about doing too much. Often, it’s about doing too much without structure.

So here’s the question I’ll leave you with: What if your exhaustion isn’t a sign of effort… but a sign of poor design?

You don’t need to try harder. You need fewer decisions. Clearer processes. And rituals that guide you back into flow.