There’s a specific kind of exhaustion that hits when you’ve been stuck making decisions all day.
And I’m not talking about the big, sexy strategic ones. I’m talking about the death by a thousand questions that bleed your attention dry.
“Do you want to approve this?”
“Should we pause that campaign?”
“Can we say yes to this client?”
“Hey, just checking – do you want still or sparkling?”
It’s no wonder you feel pulled in every direction.
And if your team’s constantly asking instead of acting? That’s not just a leadership issue. It’s a systems issue. And it’s costing you – focus, progress, and your actual role as the visionary.
This is where decision triage comes in.
I Didn’t Invent It. I Needed It.
I created my decision triage during a time when I was stretched thin and hyper-reactive, saying yes to everything and everyone, because I was too mentally fried to pause.
So I wrote three questions on a Post-it. Stuck it to my screen. And started using them like a boundary check:
- Is this moving me closer to what I actually want?
- Do I feel good about this decision?
- Will this keep my hustle healthy?
Not strategic. Not poetic. Just real.
It helped me say yes to the right things. It helped me say no faster. And more importantly, it helped me stop outsourcing my time to other people’s priorities.
Your Team? They Need Their Own Version.
If your people aren’t making decisions without you, don’t just blame their confidence. Look at what you’ve actually equipped them with.
Have you given them:
- Clear expectations?
- Guardrails they can safely operate within?
- Permission to own their space?
Most team members aren’t stuck in decision-making because they lack initiative. They’re stuck because they don’t know the rules of the game.
So give them a triage. Not a rigid how-to guide, just three smart questions that act like anchors. That’s how you build a team that thinks. That decides. That leads.
And that’s how you get to zoom out – back on the balcony where you belong.
This Isn’t About Being Efficient
Efficiency is a nice by-product.
This is about protecting your cognitive capacity.
It’s about protecting the deep, strategic thinking you were hired (or born) to do and not wasting it on whether Bob should send the email today or tomorrow.
So try it. Your version, not mine.
Make it messy. Make it yours. And trust that clarity is contagious.
When you lead with it, your team will follow.
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