Set defaults for low-stakes choices such as clothes and meals
Strong evidence is lacking. The claim that choices deplete a finite supply of willpower failed in two large, multi-laboratory replications involving roughly two and three thousand people. Defaults may still save minutes and indecision, without “conserving willpower.”
What it takes
Free. Spend a little time choosing your defaults initially.
What you may gain
The gain cannot be quantified. Original ego-depletion experiments proposed a shared limited resource consumed by choices and self-control. Two preregistered multi-laboratory replications did not reproduce the effect: 23 laboratories with 2,141 people found d=0.04, 95% CI [−0.07, 0.15]; 36 laboratories with 3,531 people found d=0.06. These were negligible differences.
Context & considerations
Popular accounts often present decision fatigue as settled despite repeated replication failures. Defaults remain inexpensive and save real time. Do not expect them to improve afternoon judgment through a proven willpower mechanism.
Research & references
Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven & Tice (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1252 ; Hagger et al. (2016). A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect. Perspectives on Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616652873 ; Vohs et al. (2021). A Multisite Preregistered Paradigmatic Test of the Ego-Depletion Effect. Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797621989733