Does even a simple decision feel hard? Hello Decision Fatigue.

I'm going to take you inside my head; I know, scary, right; this is a real thought that I had when working on my content creation. I was pouring a cup of coffee, and the thought popped into my head that I needed to make fewer decisions when creating my content. You see, at that moment, I was overwhelmed with the amount of decision I had to make to get my blog ready to be posted. And friend, it was the beginning of the day I was at the height of my metal clarity. Blah, the sheer number of decisions for every blog post. If you're new to me, writing content for my blog when I started my business was my least favorite thing to do. Along with my feelings of imposter syndrome, it was the perfect recipe for analysis paralysis. Seriously, then having to: Picking images…Titles…Meta Description…Social Media Content…Search Engine Optimization…

The list goes on and on. It's a lot of decisions.

These are all big decisions because these are the items that draw your ideal client to your brand. It was time to figure out how I can reduce decision fatigue in content creation and simplify content decisions in the future.

Grr, The Amount of Decisions in Content Creation

As an online business owner, there comes a point when even the smallest decisions—like picking an image or writing a title—feel overwhelming. Heck, don't even get me started about end of the day decision-making abilities. I don't know about you but I was relieved when I learned about decision fatigue, and it’s inevitable when you’re constantly making choices throughout the day.

At the start of the day, making decisions feels easy. You’re energized, ready to tackle your to-do list, and confident in your choices. But as the day progresses, your mental energy depletes, and even simple decisions become exhausting. I'm not sure about you, but I created an 8 week meal plan to avoid the end of the day decision and question, “What's for dinner, Mom?” If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

What is Decision Fatigue?

Decision fatigue is the deterioration in the quality of choices after making too many decisions in a row. Social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister coined the term to describe how decision-making power declines throughout the day.

For business owners, this can lead to:

Poor content choices (rushed titles, subpar images, inconsistent messaging)
Decision avoidance (putting off decisions because they feel too hard)
Effects of decision fatigue (feeling paralyzed by too many options)

How Decision Fatigue Impacts Your Content Creation

Every piece of content requires multiple small decisions, including:

What topic should I cover?
What will be the best keyword for search engines to attract the most web visitors?
What are the subtopics for the outline?
What title will attract my audience?
How will I write my meta description in under 160 characters?
What image best represents my brand?
What’s the best call to action?
How many social media posts should be created?

Those are only the decisions I can think of off the top of my head for one piece of long-form content. Never mind if you record a podcast to go along with it. Now, we are into a whole new set of decision-making responsibilities.

Until I discovered how to put a system in place, a decision-making framework, all those decisions add up. Ultimately, it leaves you in content fatigue, exhausted, and stuck. The good news? You can streamline your content creation process to reduce mental exhaustion and maintain high-quality output. I get it, while I wish all small businesses invested in marketing teams, that is not reality. Leaving the important decisions regarding marketing efforts and content strategies falling on the shoulders of the owner, along with every other business decision.

How to Reduce Decision Fatigue in Content Creation

1. Create a Decision Parking Lot

Not every decision needs to be made immediately. If a content choice isn’t urgent, add it to a decision parking lot—a simple list in your project management system (or even a notebook) where you capture additional decisions that can be revisited later. Then, batch process these decisions at a set time when your mind is fresh. A decision parking lot is not just for content choices; it is used for all the tiny decisions that are not urgent.

When I was taking on new OBM clients, a decision parking lot was one of the first things I created for team members. This is a great way to collect all the non-urgent decisions on a daily basis and table them until the next team meeting. I feel this is the best way to make better decisions without the impact of decision fatigue

2. Establish Brand Guidelines

Make fewer decisions by setting clear brand guidelines, including:

Approved color palette, fonts, and visual elements
Tone of voice and messaging style
Target audiences and personas

If you don't know how to do this, let ChatGPT help you or use something from Canva.

A brand style guide means you don’t have to decide on branding details when creating content.

3. Use Content Templates

Pre-designed templates for blog posts, social media, and emails reduce the number of choices you need to make. Your templates should include:

Create title formulas

SEO title formulas are structured formats for writing blog post and podcast titles that help improve search engine visibility, attract clicks, and peaks curiority of your ideal audience. These formulas use elements like numbers, power words, and keywords to create compelling and optimized headlines. Use the tool Headline Studio to create SEO friendly titles, it will give you a score on your title. Try out different formulas like list-based titles such as:

[Number] Simple Strategies [Keyword] 7 Simple Strategies to Reduce Decision Fatigue in Content Creation
How to + [Action] + [Benefit] How to Streamline Your Content Creation Process to Avoid Burnout
[Question] + [Keyword] + [Solution] Why Does Content Creation Feel So Hard? A Simple Way to Fix It

Meta description formulas

[Pain point] + [Number] + [Actionable benefit] + [Outcome] Feeling overwhelmed with content decisions? Try these 7 simple strategies to reduce decision fatigue and create content with ease.
[Problem] + [How-to solution] + [Positive impact] Struggling with content overload? Learn how to streamline your content creation process and avoid burnout while maintaining quality.
[Ask the question] + [A hint of the solution] + [Encourage action] Does content creation feel exhausting? Discover why it’s so hard and the simple fix that will help you create content with confidence.

Book A 1-Hour Virtual Session

Discover the Secret to Effortless Content Creation –

From Overwhelmed to Thriving: Your Content Creation Simplified Journey Starts Here!

Book Now!

Standard image placement

If you're website theme allows you to create a templates set one or two for easy content set up of your blog posts. This will give you a couple different ways depending on the type of content. For instant, if you only have a blog post template and a blog post with a podcast episode template. Then set up a Google Doc with the same format to make it easy for your team members to follow the template and set up the post to keep consistency. Create a quick how-to video for each template for easy reference and add it to your content process in your project management software.

Social media templates

Use canva to set up social media templates in your brand style. Create template for your preferred social media platforms that can be used to repurpose your long-form content and provide social proof of your expertise.

Call-to-action formulas

Along with creating a template for blog posts, also create call-to-action (CTA) templates. Here are ideas for call-to-action formulas tailored for an email list sign-up, a life coach service provider, and a course provider:

Email List Sign-Up CTA Formula
👉 [Problem] + [What They’ll Get] + [Action Step]
💡 Overwhelmed by content decisions? Get my free checklist to streamline your content process and reduce decision fatigue. Sign up now!
Life Coach Service Provider CTA Formula
👉 [Empathetic Statement] + [Transformation/Benefit] + [Action Step]
💡Feeling stuck in decision fatigue? Let’s simplify your path to clarity and confidence. Book your free discovery call today and take control of your choices!
Course Provider CTA Formula
👉 [Pain Point] + [What the Course Teaches] + [Result] + [Action Step]
💡 Struggling to stay consistent with content? My Content Systems Mastery course will help you create with ease and avoid burnout. Enroll now!

By setting a variety of standard formulas you're able to mix and match them to make to create the best option. This allows you to plug and play rather than start from scratch. I'm not sure about you but for some starting is the hardest part.

As mentioned earlier, your web design theme may allow you to set up global templates, use them for the blog structure and call-to-actions. It streamlines your decision-making processes and makes bringing on a team member easier.

4. Curate a Stock Image Library

Instead of hunting for the perfect image every time, build a collection of pre-approved stock photos that match your brand aesthetic. Organize them by theme, topic, or color to make selection quick and effortless. Have you ever noticed that business owners will reuse the same brand photos for YouTube thumbnails, blog featured images or social media content? The same image can be change used in a wide variety of ways to give it a fresh perspective.

In addition to your image library, create a b-roll video library for your short-form video clips. With a video library you'll be able to put together different variations for your promotional content. This helps with having to come up with too much content.

5. Implement Decision Blocking

Decision blocking is time blocking for decision-making this goes hand and hand with your decision parking lot. Set aside a dedicated time each week to make non-urgent content decisions, such as:

Creating a content calendar for the upcoming month
Choosing blog post titles for the next month
Approving content topics
Selecting images for upcoming posts

When you batch these decisions together, you eliminate the constant interruptions that drain your mental energy. Consider your conversion rates to understand what works now when making these decisions. You do not always have to create something new. Recycle and reuse your old content and make it new again when you're sitting down to create your content strategies and calendar.

6. Use A/B Testing to Reduce Future Decisions

Instead of agonizing over which title structure or email subject line will perform better, run A/B tests and let data decide. Over time, you’ll identify what works best for your target audiences, reducing uncertainty in future content creation.

7. Automate and Delegate Where Possible

Not every decision needs to be made by you.

Use scheduling tools to automate content posting.
Delegate image selection, formatting, or publishing to a team member or VA.
Set up automated workflows in Asana to streamline approvals and reminders.

Winning the Daily Decision-Making Battle

When you get into the habit of asking yourself, Does this decision need to be made right now? and time-blocking decision-making for when your brain is freshest, you eliminate unnecessary stress and gain more creative freedom in your business.

By implementing these systems, you’ll spend less time on big decisions and more time creating impactful content that moves your business forward.