Mark Zuckerberg famously wears the same bland uniform of a gray tee-shirt and jeans every day. Before that, Steve Jobs made wearing a black turtleneck every day the mark of a genius Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Was it because these nerds didn’t know how to dress? Maybe. But it turns out settling on a daily uniform has something to do with decision-making. As it turns out, so does breakfast.
The reason for it has something to do with decision fatigue, a psychological concept that explains the gradual cognitive drain over the course of your day. In essence, we have a finite reserve of decision-making power at our disposal at any given time. Any decision, monumental or minute, drains our metaphorical battery until we eventually lose the ability to do anything but take the easiest way out. It’s why research shows that judges are more lenient and rational at the start of the day than at its end.