Shalom Lamm on Escaping Decision Fatigue: How Entrepreneurs Can Think Clearly in a World of Constant Choices

Entrepreneurship is often described as freedom. Freedom to build, pivot, choose your own clients, and create your own destiny. But hidden beneath that freedom lies something few talk about openly: decision fatigue—the mental exhaustion caused by making too many choices every single day.

Whether it’s pricing a new product, replying to dozens of emails, or choosing which task to prioritize, entrepreneurs face a constant stream of decisions, many of which feel urgent and high-stakes. Over time, this pressure erodes clarity, slows productivity, and, for some, can lead to full-blown burnout.

Shalom Lamm, a seasoned entrepreneur and the founder of the nonprofit Operation Benjamin, knows this battle well. Having built ventures in real estate, education, and philanthropy, Lamm has made thousands of decisions—some in high-pressure environments, others in deeply personal contexts, like honoring the memory of Jewish-American soldiers through Operation Benjamin.

His perspective on decision fatigue is both personal and practical.

“It’s not the big decisions that wear you down,” Lamm says. “It’s the constant small ones that chip away at your ability to think clearly.”

In this post, we’ll explore the mechanics of decision fatigue, how it affects entrepreneurs like Shalom Lamm, and most importantly—how to reduce its grip on your daily life.

What Is Decision Fatigue?

Decision fatigue is the cognitive decline in decision-making quality after a long session of decision-making. The more choices you make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes for your brain.

Psychologists compare it to a muscle that gets tired with overuse. And for entrepreneurs, whose daily workload can include hiring, finances, creative work, sales conversations, and strategic pivots, that “muscle” is under relentless pressure.

Symptoms of decision fatigue include:

• Indecisiveness or overthinking
  
• Impulse decisions (just to be done with it)
  
• Avoiding important choices altogether
  
• Mental fog or irritability by afternoon
  
• Over-reliance on others for answers
  

Shalom Lamm’s Experience: Too Many Hats, Too Little Clarity

Shalom Lamm’s career has spanned multiple industries and mission-driven ventures. At one point, he was managing a real estate firm while launching Operation Benjamin, a nonprofit that locates and corrects headstones of Jewish-American soldiers buried under incorrect religious markers.

The stakes were emotional, historical, and logistical. “Each soldier’s story mattered,” Lamm recalls. “But each case also required dozens of micro-decisions—research, outreach, coordination with families and government agencies. Add in my business responsibilities, and I found myself mentally depleted, even though I was working on things I loved.”

He began to notice patterns: minor tasks would take longer, emails would sit unanswered, and small decisions—like what to eat for lunch—suddenly felt overwhelming.

“Decision fatigue didn’t look like collapse,” Lamm explains. “It looked like hesitation. It looked like spinning my wheels.”

This realization led him to restructure how he worked—creating mental buffers, eliminating unnecessary choices, and setting boundaries on his cognitive bandwidth.

5 Strategies Entrepreneurs Can Use to Combat Decision Fatigue

Here’s how Shalom Lamm—and other high-performing entrepreneurs—reduce the daily cognitive load and get back to thinking clearly.

1. Automate the Small Stuff

One of the easiest ways to combat decision fatigue is to reduce the number of trivial decisions you make each day.

Shalom Lamm simplified his wardrobe, standardized his work schedule, and even pre-planned weekly meals. These seemingly small tweaks freed up mental bandwidth for high-level choices.

“Why waste energy on what shirt to wear when I need that brainpower for a veteran’s legacy?”

Try This:

• Eat the same breakfast daily.
  
• Use recurring calendar blocks for focused work.
  
• Standardize onboarding or client processes with templates.
  

2. Use the “Decision Hour” Rule

Lamm began scheduling a daily “decision hour” early in the morning—when his energy and focus were highest. All high-priority decisions were addressed during this window.

“By setting a deadline for decision-making, I avoided letting things drag—and I preserved clarity.”

Try This:

• Reserve the first 90 minutes of your workday for your hardest decisions.
  
• Push lower-stakes choices (like admin or social media) to the afternoon.
  

3. Delegate Ruthlessly

When Operation Benjamin began growing, Lamm quickly realized that holding onto every task—especially minor ones—was unsustainable.

“Delegating isn’t about ego. It’s about energy.”

Whether it was outsourcing research, hiring admin help, or leaning on a board of advisors, letting go of control became a key decision in itself.

Try This:

• List your most common recurring decisions.
  
• Ask: Which ones can someone else make 80% as well as I can?
  

4. Batch Similar Tasks

Instead of constantly switching gears, Lamm began batching tasks by category—emails in one block, strategic thinking in another, calls back-to-back. This minimized context switching and made decisions faster and more fluid.

Try This:

• Assign themes to each day (e.g., Monday = content, Tuesday = strategy).
  
• Use tools like Trello or Notion to group decisions for review.
  

5. Reconnect With Your Mission

Perhaps the most profound strategy Lamm used was to stay deeply connected to why he was doing the work.

For Operation Benjamin, the mission wasn’t optional—it was sacred. That emotional clarity helped filter decisions. If a task didn’t support the mission, it got dropped, delegated, or delayed.

“When you’re clear on your mission, saying ‘no’ gets easier—and so does staying focused.”

Try This:

• Write your mission statement and read it every Monday.
  
• Filter every new decision through this lens: “Does this support my mission or distract from it?”
  

Final Thought: Clarity Is a Competitive Advantage

In business and in service, clear thinking leads to better outcomes. And in today’s world—where digital noise, demands, and to-do lists never end—clarity is rare. But it’s possible.

Shalom Lamm’s experience reminds us that decision fatigue is not a sign of weakness. It’s a predictable result of caring deeply, doing too much, and not protecting your mind.

By streamlining choices, protecting your mental energy, and focusing on what matters, you can make faster, better decisions—and build a business or mission that lasts.

“You don’t need to make every decision today,” Lamm says. “You just need to protect the ability to keep making them tomorrow.”