Hey,
Let's talk about why you're mentally exhausted by mid-afternoon. And it's not your workload, nor is it lack of sleep.
It's decision fatigue.
It's killing your performance without you even realizing it.
You wake up.
1st decision: "Should I get up or hit snooze?"
You negotiate for 5 minutes.
2nd decision: "What should I wear?"
Stare at your closet. Pick something. Change your mind.
3rd decision: "What should I eat?"
Open the fridge. Nothing looks good. Finally settle on something.
4th decision: "Gym now or later?"
Debate for 3 minutes.
And you haven't even left your house yet.
By 9 AM, you've made 50+ micro-decisions. Each one draining your mental energy.
By noon? Operating at 60% capacity.
By 3 PM? Fried. Can't focus. Can't execute.
This is decision fatigue. And it's why you feel exhausted despite not doing anything hard.
Here's what most guys don't understand:
Every decision depletes the same mental resource.
Deciding what to eat uses the same willpower as deciding whether to have that difficult conversation at work.
Your brain doesn't differentiate between big and small decisions. It just knows you're making decisions. And every single one costs you.
By the time you get to decisions that actually matter—training, work, relationships will be running on fumes.
So you make weak choices. Procrastinate. Take the path of least resistance.
Not because you lack discipline. Because you've already burned through your decision-making capacity on things that don't matter.
And here's the solution I have for you…
The Ulysses Contract.
Named after the Greek hero who tied himself to the mast so he couldn't be tempted by the Sirens' song.
The concept: Remove the decision before you have to make it.
1. Default Protocols
Stop deciding the same things daily. Decide once, execute automatically.
Morning routine: Same wake-up. Same first 3 actions. No debate.
Training: Same days, same time. Non-negotiable.
Meals: Same breakfast M-F. Same lunch rotation.
You're not removing variety. You're removing unnecessary decisions.
2. Decision Batching
Make related decisions all at once.
Sunday: Plan all meals for the week. Done.
Friday: Schedule all workouts for next week. Done.
Monthly: Set major goals and priorities. Done.
One decision session eliminates hundreds of micro-decisions.
3. If/Then Rules
Pre-decide what you'll do in common scenarios.
"If it's a weekday, I'm up at 5:30 AM."
"If it's a training day, I'm at the gym by 6 AM."
"If I'm invited out after 9 PM on a work night, the answer is no."
The decision is already made. No negotiation required.
And here's what happens when you implement this…
You get your mental energy back.
Instead of burning 50% of your willpower on trivial decisions, you save it for what matters.
That difficult conversation? You have the capacity.
That extra set at the gym? You have the energy.
That project you keep putting off? You finally have the focus.
I implemented this 2 years ago. Within a week, I wasn't exhausted by 2 PM anymore. Within a month, my output doubled. Not because I worked more. Because I had more mental energy for the hours I was working.
Training improved. Relationships improved. Work improved.
All because I stopped wasting decision-making capacity on things that don't matter.
Now, here's your action step: This week, identify your 5 biggest daily decisions.
The ones you make every day that drain you:
When to wake up
What to eat
When to train
What to wear
When to start work
Create a default protocol for each one. Make the decision once. Execute daily.
No debate. No negotiation. Just execution.
That's how you eliminate decision fatigue before it starts.
That's how you get your edge back.
Until next time,
Okello Luri
P.S. Next week, I'll show you how to use this same framework to eliminate procrastination entirely. Stay sharp for it.