Planning Fatigue Is Real and Here's Why You're Feeling It

Planning Fatigue appears because having to plan everything we have to do goes against how the unconscious brain has evolved.

Our minds have evolved to simplify our existence by automatizing processes and using shortcuts, to allow us to complete different actions in the same time, unconsciously. This way, it's easier for our conscious minds to focus on more pressing matters like learning new information or communicating with others, etc.

Unconscious actions serve an evolutionary purpose. And they make our lives easier in many ways.

*When you're reading something for example, your mind is also filtering a huge amount of sensory information, scanning the environment for relevant stimuli (food starting to burn on the stove or someone screaming), and even processing internal stimuli like thoughts and emotions related to previous meetings and discussions. All of these processes occur simultaneously, some more automatically and with less conscious awareness than others. If we were to give all of them the same amount of focus and attention, they would overwhelm us.