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Every “Yes” You Say, Takes Minimum 23 Minutes From Your Focus

3 min readMay 21, 2025

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Have you ever said “yes” when your head was already screaming “no”?

I do it more than I’d like to admit. Sometimes it feels easier, kinder, or just simpler to agree.

But here’s the problem: each “yes” has a cost, even if you can’t see it immediately. There’s interesting science behind this.

Roy Baumeister, a psychologist, studied something called decision fatigue.

It means every choice we make, even the very small ones, uses some mental energy.

Imagine your brain like your phone battery. When you start the day, it’s full. But every “yes” drains a little bit of energy.

After many decisions, your battery gets low. And what happens when your battery is low? You struggle with decisions that matter.

I remember days filled with endless meetings, requests, and quick favors.

By the afternoon, deciding what to eat for dinner felt exhausting.

My brain was too tired to think clearly. Small things became hard things, and real priorities stayed untouched.

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William Meller
William Meller

Written by William Meller

Career, Management & Leadership | Helping people grow in their careers, become great leaders, and manage work and life better.