By afternoon, your brain feels like mush. You can barely think straight, let alone make another important business decision. Sound familiar? 

There’s a reason for that mental fog, and it started the moment you woke up. 

Snooze or hop up? Blue shirt or white? Check email first or shower? By 8 a.m., you’ve already made dozens of decisions. 

Then the real day begins. 

Which vendor should we use? Should we approve this expense? How should we respond to this customer complaint? What about this staffing issue? That software update? The marketing budget? The office supply order? 

You’re suffering from decision fatigue. 

Research suggests that we make thousands of decisions on a daily basis, and that relentless game of “this or that” can take its toll on your focus, energy, and ambition. Cornell University researchers found that we make 226.7 decisions each day on just food alone. Business owners? We make even more. Every choice depletes our mental energy, leaving us less capable of making the important decisions that actually matter. 

The cruel irony is this: the more decisions you make, the worse you get at making them. 

You start taking shortcuts and avoid making decisions altogether. You say “yes” to things you should decline. You postpone choices that need immediate attention. Your judgment gets cloudy right when you need it most. 

Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Jonathan Levav studied judges and found that prisoners who appeared in the morning received parole about 70% of the time, while those appearing late in the day were paroled less than 10% of the time. These are trained professionals making life-altering decisions based not on facts, but on when the decision occurred.

Here’s what I’ve learned after decades in business: not every decision deserves your personal attention.

The Power of Strategic Delegation 

The solution isn’t to eliminate decisions. That’s impossible. You just need to delegate the right decisions to the right people. 

But you can’t just hand off decisions to anyone, right? You need team members who understand your values, your mission, and your vision — people who can make choices the same way you would make them. 

That’s where HireSmart steps in. 

“Luna is totally amazing,” said one of our clients about their HireSmart VE. “The thing I appreciate about Luna the very most is that she takes initiative on things. When work orders come in that she normally handles she doesn’t wait to be told what to do she just does it.” 

That’s the difference between having help and having the right help. 

When you work with HireSmart Virtual Employees, you’re not just getting extra hands. You’re getting decision-makers who align with your business values. Our extensive vetting process ensures we find people who think strategically, act independently, and make choices that serve your goals. 

Where Decision Fatigue Hits Hardest 

Roy Baumeister, the psychologist who coined the term “decision fatigue,” says that we have a finite amount of willpower. So the more decisions you make, the lesser the willpower remains. Most business owners get bogged down in operational decisions that eat up mental energy without moving the needle: 

• Should we order more office supplies now or wait until next month? 
• How should we respond to this routine customer inquiry? 
• Which format should we use for this weekly report? 
• Who should handle this vendor follow-up? 
• When should we schedule this routine maintenance?

These decisions matter, but they don’t need your personal attention. They need someone who understands your standards and can execute accordingly. 

“Charlene runs an entire department as a VE,” one client shared. “She is in charge of our applications and has a direct report. She has decreased our processing time by one full business day and is responsible for increasing our overall Google review presence.” 

The HireSmart Advantage 

When you partner with us, you’re not just outsourcing tasks. You’re outsourcing decisions. Our VEs go through 40 hours of intensive training before they start working with you. We teach them your processes, your standards, and your expectations.

More importantly, we make sure they embody our SMARTER core values: Service, Mindfulness, Availability, Respect, Teamwork, Ethics and Integrity, and Relationships. These aren’t just words on paper. They’re the foundation that allows our VEs to make decisions you can trust. 

Reclaim Your Mental Energy 

Imagine starting your day knowing that routine operational decisions are being handled by someone who thinks like you do, shares your commitment to excellence, and makes choices that align with your vision. 

Suddenly, you have the mental bandwidth to focus on what really matters. Strategic planning. Business development. Innovation. Growth. 

This isn’t about working less. It’s about working smarter and preserving your decision-making energy for the choices that only you can make. 

“Nikka is incredibly devoted to the success of our company and actively participates in our goal setting,” one client said. “She works in processing tenant applications, which can be such a monotonous, daunting, and thankless task, and she does it with such enthusiasm and dedication that is hard to imagine someone being a better fit for the task.” 

Ready to break free from decision fatigue? Click here to schedule a free consultation about how a HireSmart VE can help you delegate the right decisions to the right person. 

Your future self will thank you for the mental clarity.