You know how we talk about physical calories all the time? How you’re so aware of how much energy food gives you, or how much you’re burning when you work out? Well, the same thing is true for your brain. You only get a certain number of mental calories each day. And once they’re gone — that’s it. You’re in a deficit, and no amount of pushing harder is going to magically give you more clarity.

Here’s the kicker: when your body runs low on physical calories, you can eat more and keep going. But when your brain runs out of mental calories, you don’t get a refill. No snack, no coffee, nothing will replace them until tomorrow.

And every single choice you make burns one of those calories.

• Deciding what to wear = a calorie.
• Figuring out what to eat = another calorie.
• Choosing how to answer an email = another calorie.
• Even small things, like what route to drive or how to stack your calendar, burn more calories than you realize.

By the end of the day, you’re often wiped out — not because you’ve done too much work, but because you’ve spent all your mental calories on decisions that didn’t really matter.

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The Real Problem: Decision Burnout

Ever notice how at 9:00 a.m. you can crush strategy, planning, or creative work like a champ… but by 4:00 p.m. you can’t even decide what’s for dinner? That’s not laziness. That’s not lack of discipline. That’s decision burnout.

And if you’re an entrepreneur or leader, you burn through mental calories faster than anyone else. I know I do. I’m juggling client care, strategy, team communication, finances, marketing, and ten other things before lunch.

No wonder I feel drained some days.

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How to Save Your Mental Calories

The good news is, you don’t have to overhaul your life to protect your mental calories. You just need to get intentional about what’s worth spending them on — and what’s not.

Here are a few powerful shifts that work for me:

Delegate the 70%

If someone can do a task 70% as well as I can, I delegate it. That’s housework, admin, scheduling — all the small things that eat up my brainpower. Delegating frees my mental calories for the high-level work only I can do.

1. Use Your Peak Hours Wisely

Your brain is sharper at certain times of day. For me, mornings are gold. If I need to knock out a big project, I protect that time fiercely. I save the “no-brainer” tasks for late afternoon when my brain is already running low.

2. Automate the Basics

I rotate the same meals, wear simple “uniforms,” and let tools handle scheduling, reminders, and follow-ups. If a system can do it, I don’t waste calories on it.

3. Time Block the Big Stuff

Instead of scattering my energy across ten things in a day, I batch focus. A client day. An admin day. A creation day. Switching costs less, and I finish more.

4. Protect Your Shutdown Time

When the workday ends, it needs to end. Otherwise, your brain never recharges. Tomorrow’s calories depend on today’s shutdown.

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Final Thought

Your mental calories are precious. If you spend them on small, meaningless decisions, you rob yourself of the clarity and creativity you actually need to grow your business and live your life.

So the question is: where are you overspending your mental calories?

Because the moment you start protecting them, you’ll see that you don’t need more hours in the day — you just need more energy for what matters most.