The last year has been a challenging one for many of us. For me personally, it’s been the kind that involved making a lot of really impactful life-decisions and choices. I noticed, in particular, that I became not just physically fatigued, but mentally fatigued – from going round and round in my head trying to figure things out. I saw that there’s a particular kind of exhaustion that doesn’t necessarily come from doing ‘too much’ physically, but from ‘deciding’ too much.
What to prioritise. How to respond. Whether to speak up and fight. Whether to let it go. Whether to push through. Whether to choose what we want or to please. What to cook that evening.
There’s an almost constant demand on us mentally. And by the end of the day, we can feel depleted from making micro-decisions – even if we’ve not ‘done’ very much physically at all.
The fast pace of hectic modern life asks us to make an extraordinary number of choices. Practical choices, emotional choices, mental choices, soulful choices. We are constantly filtering, assessing, responding, adjusting, managing and planning. And often, we aren’t just thinking about our own decisions, but how they will impact others.
That can leave us in ‘decision fatigue’ – our executive functioning on overload – and that’s not a failure, but a sign our nervous system has been on overdrive. This can be especially taxing if we are neurodivergent – as I’ve experienced, ADHD or autistic minds can find prolonged decision-making especially hard.
Rather than adding more pressure, it calls for us to slow down. Essential oils are the perfect medicine for this.
How decision fatigue shows up
Decision fatigue might not appear in a dramatic way – it can show up in subtler symptoms, such as:
- Brain fog
- Irritability
- Procrastination
- Overwhelm
- Avoiding small choices
- Scrolling instead of choosing
- Snapping over minor things
- Feeling flat or demotivated
- Impulse decisions
- Physical fatigue.
When the mind is tired, we find ourselves feeling lost at sea – our clarity declines. We then find ourselves overthinking simple things or even unable to think at all.
From a holistic perspective, grounded in universal healing principles, when we override our minds, the body eventually speaks – and what began as cognitive overload can move inwards, into the body.
How decision fatigue impacts the body
I know from my own experiences as a young girl and adult that when I’ve been in decision fatigue, my body eventually mirrors what has been going on mentally and emotionally.
The mind and body are not separate – they are connected. So, when we stay in prolonged decision-making mode – constantly weighing up, evaluating and anticipating – our stress response is activated.
This can express in the body as:
- Energy crashes
- Exhaustion
- Tension in the shoulders or jaw – or anywhere in the body
- Headaches and migraines
- Digestive disturbance
- Sleep disruption
- Hormonal imbalances
- Feeling wired, yet depleted.
It’s not that the body is failing us (which is a big thing I felt when it happened to me) – it’s simply showing us that there’s too much to hold, too much responsibility, too much decision-making without a pause to rest. Often, it’s a result of the accumulation of decisions in one short timeframe.
Why essential oils can help
Essential oils work directly through the limbic system – the emotional regulation centre of the brain. When we use scent, it can shift our state. They also absorb into our bloodstream and can help create physiological, therapeutic changes.
In other words, they help us regulate our nervous system – and when our body feels supported and rested, our mind becomes clearer.
Essential oils calm the stress response, reduce mental overload and brain fog, help us feel more regulated and enhance clarity – as well as physically helping us be less exhausted and in balance.
Overall, they can help us to feel more resourced – mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. And when we are resourced, decisions feel easier.
Top essential oils for decision fatigue
My favourite oils for decision fatigue include those that can help us sharpen our mental clarity, calm our nervous system, ground us and help us set boundaries around our ‘problem solving’, and calm our emotions – but there are, of course, lots of oils that can help with the physical symptoms too. For now, I’ll focus on the nervous system and mental-emotional root of things, because the physical always follows.
Oils for mental clarity:
- Rosemary – a herbaceous oil, Rosemary is traditionally associated with mental sharpness. It supports focus when the mind feels foggy and helps cut through overthinking.
- Lemon – bright and refreshing, Lemon lifts mental heaviness and restores clarity during energy dips. It’s a perfect ‘cephalic’ oil – having a stimulating and clearing effect on the mind.
Oils for nervous system calming:
- Frankincense – a woody, spicy, grounding and centring oil, this slows racing thoughts and helps us to create space around a decision.
- Lavender – floral, soothing and regulating, Lavender calms irritability from cognitive overload and supports restful sleep after a long day of decisions
Oils for grounding and boundaries:
- Cedarwood – a woody oil, Cedarwood is stabilising, grounding scattered energy and helping us feel anchored in the body.
- Vetivert – a smokey, earthy oil, Vetivert is deeply grounding. It is helpful when fatigue tips into shutdown, steadying the nervous system when we feel overwhelmed.
- Clary Sage – a musky, bittersweet floral, this oil is clarifying and liberates our inner truth, encouraging aligned choices and supporting us to set boundaries when we are saying yes too often.
Oils for emotional calming:
- Bergamot – a citrussy floral, Bergamot is uplifting without overstimulation, lifting emotional heaviness when decisions feel draining and softening anxiety that sits beneath indecision.
- Patchouli – an exotic musky-sweet, spicy, herby oil, this one is earthy and grounding, stabilising us when choices feel destabilising, and helping us land back in the body.
Ritual for decision reset
When we are fatigued, keeping things simple is key, so I’m providing a small ritual to help you calm, rest and take a moment before making your next choice.
In the morning, use one, or both, of these blends:
Diffuser blend – mix 3 drops Frankincense, 2 drops Bergamot and 1 drop Rosemary in water in an electrical diffuser or candle burner for 30 minutes.
Massage oil – add 3 drops Patchouli, 2 drops Lavendar and 1 drop Lemon into 15ml Grapeseed oil, and apply to your body in slow, soothing strokes in the direction towards your heart.
Place one hand on your heart and one hand on your lower belly. Take some deep inhales – for a count of 5 – and exhales for a count of 8 and allow yourself to ground into the present moment.
Let yourself know that any decisions you’re compelled to make can wait – ask “is this mine, is it urgent, can it wait?”.
Remove one thing from your mental load. Look at your calendar and block off an hour that’s unnecessary, to do something for you – maybe to go for a walk in nature, or to a yoga class; anything that will not demand of you.
Delay your next choice. Delegate it. Or even decide it without over-thinking, if that helps.
Notice how your body feels when you reduce pressure – and demand – on yourself.
A call to pause
Remember; whilst we live in a culture that values and celebrates constant choice and demand, our nervous system thrives on rest, simplicity and being close to the natural rhythms of the wild.
Sometimes, the most regulating thing we can do is pause our decision-making, return to nature’s plant medicine, create a smaller routine and have a rest.
Decision fatigue is not incompetence, it’s a sign we have been carrying too much.
Essential oils won’t make the choices for us, but they help us slow down enough to reconnect with ourselves. Clarity rarely comes from pushing harder. It comes from stepping back, resting our minds and soothing our souls.
Happy blending.
Nicole Barton
Consultant Aromatherapist
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