Most people head into summer expecting it to feel lighter. Less structure, longer evenings, a change of pace.
And yet so many capable, organised people arrive at the end of July feeling more drained than they did in the middle of a busy February.
It is not usually because they have been working longer hours. It is because they have been making significantly more decisions.
Decision fatigue, the mental exhaustion that comes from processing too many choices throughout the day, is one of the most overlooked reasons driven people feel overwhelmed in summer. And understanding it can change the way you approach the next few months entirely.
Why summer creates more decisions, not fewer
One of the reasons summer feels so different is that it quietly dismantles the routines we rely on throughout the rest of the year.
The structure we have built around work, school, family life and home suddenly begins to shift. Children are at home, colleagues are taking annual leave, clients are working to different schedules, holidays need organising, and family commitments naturally increase. Even the longer evenings and better weather encourage us to make different choices about how we spend our time.
None of this is a problem in itself. In fact, many of these changes are exactly what we look forward to.
The challenge is that every change brings another decision. Who is looking after the children? What is for dinner? Should we make the most of the sunshine or stay in and catch up on everything that needs doing? When can we book annual leave? Who is working when? What happens if plans change? Which jobs can realistically wait until September?
None of these decisions feels particularly significant on its own. Most of them take only a few moments. Yet together they create a mental load that many people do not recognise until they are already feeling exhausted.
Our brains don’t distinguish between one large decision and dozens of smaller ones. Every choice requires us to process information, weigh up options and make a judgement.
What is decision fatigue and why does it matter?
Decision fatigue is the deterioration in the quality of our thinking and decision-making after a sustained period of making choices. It does not matter how experienced, organised or capable we are; sustained decision-making depletes the same mental resources we need for focus, creativity and clear thinking.
Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the quality of decisions made by experienced judges deteriorated significantly over the course of a day, with poorer outcomes recorded later in sessions regardless of the complexity of the cases being considered. The research concluded that mental resources, not expertise or intention, were the limiting factor.
By the end of a summer day, even one that did not feel particularly demanding many driven professionals have used far more mental energy than they realise. Not because they worked longer hours, but because they spent the entire day adapting, deciding and rethinking.
The difference between being physically busy and mentally overloaded
This distinction matters enormously, and it is one I come back to often in my work with clients.
Being physically busy — working long hours, attending meetings, completing tasks is tiring in a way most of us can identify and account for. We know what we did. We can see the output. The tiredness makes sense.
Being mentally overloaded is different. It is invisible. The decisions that created it were each too small to notice individually. There is no obvious output to point to. And yet by three o’clock in the afternoon, the simplest choice of what to have for lunch, which email to reply to first, whether to say yes or no to a request can feel genuinely difficult.
Most of the business owners and professionals I work with are organised, capable and incredibly committed to what they do. When they come to me feeling overwhelmed in summer, they often assume they are not managing their time well enough. In reality, they are asking themselves to maintain the same pace despite living in a completely different season.
Their circumstances have changed. Their expectations have not.
Productivity should never be separated from context. The way we work in July doesn’t have to look the same as it does in February.
How disrupted routines make decision fatigue worse
Routines exist, in part, to protect us from decision fatigue. When we have an established rhythm, a predictable morning, a familiar structure to the working day, consistent patterns around mealtimes and family life, we make far fewer active decisions. The routine makes them for us.
Summer disrupts that. And the disruption is not just logistical. It is cognitive.
Without the usual structure, we find ourselves making decisions from scratch about things we normally handle automatically. What time should I start work today? Is it reasonable to take a break now? Should I reply to this or wait until the morning? These questions are not difficult. But they are additional. And they accumulate.
This is why some people find that working fewer hours in summer does not necessarily feel easier than working longer hours in January. The volume of conscious decision-making has increased, even if the volume of actual work has not.
Why reducing decisions creates more space than finding more time
When people tell me they do not have enough time, I often wonder whether time is really what they are short of.
Because in my experience, the people who feel most overwhelmed in summer are not necessarily the ones with the fullest calendars. They are the ones making the most unstructured decisions throughout the day and carrying the mental weight of everything that remains undecided.
One of the principles that sits at the heart of Joyful Productivity is this: productivity is not about constantly doing more. It is about making conscious choices that protect our energy, reduce unnecessary mental load and create space for what matters most.
Applied to summer, this often looks less like time management and more like decision reduction. In practice, that might include:
- Creating simple routines for everyday decisions so that they no longer require active thought: what to have for breakfast, when to check emails, how to structure the start and end of the working day
- Making summer-specific decisions in advance wherever possible: annual leave dates, childcare arrangements, which commitments can genuinely wait until September rather than revisiting them repeatedly throughout the weeks ahead
- Reducing the number of open loops by making a decision and committing to it, rather than leaving things in a state of ongoing consideration
- Setting clearer expectations around availability and response times so that fewer incoming requests require real-time decisions
- Letting go of the pressure to optimise every choice, and giving yourself permission for good enough rather than perfect, particularly in areas that genuinely do not require your best thinking
None of these changes is dramatic on its own. Together, they create something genuinely valuable, the kind of mental space that no amount of time management alone can produce.
The S.O.U.L. Approach to Summer
The S.O.U.L. System is a framework I developed to help driven people build a more intentional, sustainable way of working. It applies throughout the year, but it is particularly useful in summer when the usual structures fall away, and everything requires a little more conscious navigation.
S – Simplify
Ask honestly: what actually needs to happen this summer, and what can wait? Not what you feel you should be able to manage, but what genuinely matters right now. Simplifying in summer often means giving yourself explicit permission to do less, not because you are lowering your standards but because you are responding to reality with intention.
O – Organise
Put as many summer decisions on autopilot as possible before the season starts. The more you can decide in advance – routines, plans, expectations, boundaries the less mental energy you will spend navigating each day from scratch. A little organisation at the beginning of summer creates a great deal of space throughout it.
U – Understand
Recognise what is actually creating the feeling of overwhelm. If you feel drained despite not working particularly long hours, decision fatigue is worth considering. Understanding the real source of the problem is always the first step towards addressing it effectively.
L – Leverage
Use your clearest mental energy for the decisions that genuinely require it, and create systems that handle the rest. Your best thinking is a limited resource. Spending it on what to have for dinner or whether to reply to a non-urgent email is not a good use of it. Leverage means being deliberate about where your energy actually goes.
A Different Question for This Summer
As summer unfolds, perhaps the question is not how can I find more time.
Perhaps it is something much simpler.
Which decisions can I remove, simplify or make in advance?
Because every decision you no longer have to make is a little more mental space you have created for something else. Space to enjoy a long conversation without thinking about tomorrow’s schedule. Space to be fully present with your family. Space to take a walk without mentally writing your next to-do list. Space to enjoy your holiday before it begins, rather than spending the first few days recovering from the weeks leading up to it.
I have always believed that productivity is not about constantly doing more. It is about protecting our energy, reducing unnecessary mental load and creating space for what matters most.
This summer, instead of trying to fit more into your days, perhaps give yourself permission to make fewer decisions.
You may discover that it is exactly what creates the space you have been looking for all along. If you would like to explore how the S.O.U.L. System can help you build a more intentional way of working, you can find out more at claudia-romero.com/soul-services.
FAQs
What is decision fatigue?
Decision fatigue is the deterioration in the quality of our thinking and choices that occurs after making many decisions over a sustained period of time. It affects everyone regardless of experience or capability. As mental resources become depleted, even simple choices can begin to feel disproportionately difficult or draining.
Why do I feel so overwhelmed in summer even when I am not working more?
Summer typically disrupts the routines we rely on to reduce daily decision-making. When normal structures fall away, we end up making far more active, unstructured choices throughout the day — about childcare, schedules, meals, plans and commitments. This significantly increases the cognitive load, even when the volume of actual work remains the same or reduces.
What is the difference between being busy and experiencing decision fatigue?
Being busy refers to a high volume of tasks and activities. Decision fatigue is specifically about cognitive depletion from making too many choices. You can experience significant decision fatigue on a day where you have not done very much physically, simply because you have been navigating a high number of small, unstructured decisions throughout the day.
How can I reduce decision fatigue in summer?
The most effective approaches involve reducing the number of decisions you need to make actively, rather than trying to make decisions faster or more efficiently. This includes creating simple daily routines, making summer-specific decisions in advance wherever possible, setting clear boundaries around availability and response times, and letting go of the pressure to optimise choices that do not genuinely require your best thinking.
How does decision fatigue affect productivity?
Decision fatigue directly undermines the mental clarity, focus and creative thinking that productive work requires. When our cognitive resources are depleted by accumulated small decisions, our capacity for the deeper, more meaningful work suffers. This is why protecting mental energy, not just managing time, is often the most important lever when it comes to sustainable productivity.
What is the S.O.U.L. System and how does it help with overwhelm?
The S.O.U.L. System is a framework created by Claudia Romero to help driven professionals and business owners build a more intentional, sustainable way of working. It stands for Simplify, Organise, Understand and Leverage. Rather than adding more to an already full life, it focuses on reducing unnecessary complexity, protecting mental energy and creating space for what genuinely matters most.
