Mental Bandwidth

Time moves steadily throughout the day, but we don’t possess a steady amount of mental bandwidth. I’m sure it’s been scientifically proven, but I have this theory that at the very beginning and very end of each day, our mental bandwidth (and willpower) is low. If it hasn’t been proven already, my hand-drawn graph should do the job.

No matter how badly I tell myself to eat healthy, if it’s late at night, all that sentiment goes out the window. Often I relent and inhale several cookies. I wouldn’t dream of eating those cookies earlier in the day, but there’s just something about it being late at night. 

This is where yesterday’s article on habits comes into play. I wasn’t making it easy to eat healthy. I let there be all those desserts nearby. At a time of day when I have more willpower, that’s the perfect opportunity to go to the grocery store and only get healthy foods. 

Similarly, in the early evening, that’s the perfect time to choose a book and place it by my pillow, so reading before bed becomes even easier. Reading became more obvious, and it was set up when I had ample energy to do so. 

When we have excess mental bandwidth, using it to make decisions visible and easy later in the day (or in the morning) is a great investment. We’re making a tougher decision for our future selves easier. That way, we’re smoothing the graph and manipulating our environments to our advantage.