Guys in public accounting, how many blue shirts do you own? For the ladies, how many of the same cardigan in different colors do you own? I get it, I rotate the same few suits when I actually have to appear in public for work in Washington, with the scarf I tie around my neck the most exciting and varying part of my sensible outfit.
As it turns out, those of you with fewer wardrobe choices might actually be at least as smart as our own president, at least according to this Fast Company piece:
As he told Vanity Fair:
"You'll see I wear only gray or blue suits," [Obama] said. "I'm trying to pare down decisions. I don't want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make."
This is because, the Commander in Chief explained, the act of making a decision erodes your ability to make later decisions. Psychologists call it decision fatigue: it’s why shopping for groceries can be so exhausting and judges give harsher rulings later in the day.
Managing decision fatigue calls for the high-value, low-effort systemization that entrepreneurs swear by. Whether or not our offices are oval, we need to find ways to reduce friction in our days.
Granted, President Obama does live in DC and if you dare wear a color other than Prison Bar Grey and Rotten Heart of a Lobbyist Black, you will definitely be shunned by the all-important Black Suiterati (I say this as a Washingtonian who dares to wear neon orange Nikes in public, so just trust me on that).
All this time I incorrectly assumed you guys are just boring and uncreative, but it turns out you are actually brilliant; by taking the guesswork out of what to wear that day, you are saving up your brainpower to make important judgment calls like what to grab from the vending machine at 8pm at the peak of busy season and whether or not the client is completely bullshitting you. Well done!
