The AI Decision-Making Playbook to Beat Fatigue

4 proven tools (plus copy-paste AI prompts) for when you’re stuck between "maybe this" and "maybe that"

We make around 35,000 decisions every single day.

Most are tiny and automatic, like what to eat, what we’ll say, when to check our phone. But then there are the bigger ones. The ones that ask more from us. The ones that live in our heads all day, looping quietly in the background.

And that’s where things get heavy, because our brains aren’t built for constant, complex decision-making.

Our working memory—the mental space where decisions get made—can only hold around three to four things at once before something starts falling off the edge. If too many thoughts pile up at once, clarity disappears. You start to freeze, flip-flop, or push things off to “later”.

The more options you have, the harder it is to know what to choose. The more noise there is, the easier it is to miss what matters.

So whether you’re choosing what to work on today or what direction to take next year, or you’re just tired of feeling stuck between “maybe this” and “maybe that”, keep reading.

What you’ll find inside

• How to sort a messy to-do list when everything feels urgent (Eisenhower Matrix)

• How to get unstuck when you’re avoiding a decision and don’t really know why (5 Whys)

• How to choose between solid options without getting stuck in an endless loop (Decision Matrix)

• And how to stress-test a big, exciting move before you commit time, money, or energy (Pre-Mortem)

Each one comes with a ready-to-use AI prompt, and you can tweak the details to fit your style, tools, or situation.

The Eisenhower Matrix: For when everything feels urgent

Some days, it feels like everything needs to be done right now. You’ve got pings from Slack, unread emails, overdue forms, and half-finished projects whispering at you from a dozen open tabs. It’s easy to feel like the only way to move forward is to do all of it, and do it fast.

But not everything is equally important. And not everything is urgent.

That’s where the Eisenhower Matrix helps. It’s one of the simplest ways to stop reacting and start prioritizing.

You take your to-do list and sort it into four boxes:

• Tasks that are urgent and important → do them now.

• Important, but not urgent → schedule them.

• Urgent, but not really important → delegate or automate.

• And anything that’s neither → let it go. Really.

Most of us get caught in the “urgency trap”, where the loudest thing grabs our attention, even if it isn’t what matters most. This tool gives your brain a moment to breathe and refocus.

You can do this on paper. You can do it in Notion.

Or you can ask AI to do it for you. Here’s how:

You’re a calm, focused productivity coach who helps overloaded solo professionals (like me) cut through mental noise to focus on what really matters.

Right now, I’m feeling mentally scattered and unsure where to start. I’ve got a bunch of tasks floating around. I don’t need motivational quotes. I need help figuring out what to do first and what I can safely drop.

I want you to:
1. Sort my tasks into an Eisenhower Matrix (Urgent & important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and drop/delegate).
2. Recommend the one task that will create the most momentum for me, based on <<<relieving anxiety / impacting revenue / making visible progress / clearing mental clutter>>>.
3. Ask follow-up questions if anything’s unclear before categorizing. Don't guess.

Here’s a brain-dump of what’s currently on my plate:   
<<<
- Follow up with Client X — due Friday, could delay payment
- Prepare slides for Thursday’s call — needs to be done by then
- Respond to unpaid invoice reminder — late, may damage relationship
- Research video editors — no deadline yet, blocks next project phase
- Clean out inbox — just stressing me out
- Write LinkedIn post — would like to publish this week
- Book dentist appointment — overdue, but not urgent
- Update project tracker — important for visibility
- Call Mum — no deadline, just feeling guilty
>>>  

The 5 Whys: For when you keep hesitating and don’t know why

Sometimes the hardest part isn’t making a decision, it’s understanding why you’re avoiding it in the first place. You circle around it. Open a tab to look into it. Maybe even start filling out the form or researching the idea. And then… you close it. Again.

You tell yourself you’re just busy. Or that now’s not the right time. Or that you need more information. But deep down, something’s off, you just can’t quite name what.

That’s where the 5 Whys technique comes in.

You start with the thing you’re hesitating on, and ask yourself: “Why haven’t I done this yet?” Whatever your answer is, you ask “why” again. And then again. And again. Usually by the fifth “why”, you’ve uncovered something deeper.

The great thing about the 5 Whys is that it helps you stop treating symptoms (like procrastination), and start understanding the root cause. Once you know what’s really going on, the decision gets lighter. Clearer. Sometimes it even solves itself.

You can journal through it. Talk it out loud.

Or, you can let AI guide you through it, step by step. Here’s how to ask:

You’re a thoughtful decision coach who helps people uncover the real reason they’re stuck. You’re great at asking the right follow-up questions to get to the heart of the issue.

Right now, I’m sitting with a decision that’s been stuck in my head for weeks. On the surface, it seems straightforward, but I keep avoiding it. I’ve told myself I just need more time, but I’m starting to think there’s something deeper going on.

Here’s the situation:  
<<<  
I’ve been thinking about enrolling in a €3,000 online certification that could help me shift into a new niche, but I keep putting it off.  
>>>

I don’t need a yes-or-no answer. I want help figuring out *why* I’m hesitating, and what’s really holding me back. Please walk me through a “5 Whys” exercise to uncover the root cause.

Once we’ve gotten to the core of it, suggest one small action I can take today that would help me move forward, whether it’s research, reflection, or something concrete.

If you want to do a fun little experiment, you can let AI try its own guesswork.

Just hand it the problem, and let it work through the 5 Whys on your behalf. You might be surprised by what it uncovers. After all, it’s been trained on pretty much everything people say, so it kinda knows us.

Here’s the prompt to try:

You’re a root-cause analyst who helps people figure out what’s really driving a recurring issue, not just the surface-level stuff. You’re methodical, insightful, and great at asking the questions people don’t think to ask themselves.

Here’s what’s going on:  
<<<  
I keep planning content to post on LinkedIn, but I never actually publish it. I write a few drafts, then second-guess everything and leave them in my notes app. It’s been months. I want to show up more consistently online, but I can’t seem to get over this hump.  
>>>

Based on what I’ve shared, please walk through a “5 Whys” analysis to uncover the likely root cause of why I’m not following through.

Once you’ve reached the fifth why, give me a short reflection on what you think the real blocker might be, and then suggest one practical action I could take this week to work around it.

And here’s what it came back with when I tested the exact prompt:

Not bad, right?

It nailed the feeling many of us have but don’t always say out loud: that fear of not being “good enough”, not being “ready”, not being “qualified”. And how that fear quietly kills momentum before we even start.

The Decision Matrix: For when the right choice isn’t obvious

Other times the hard part isn’t lack of choice, it’s too many good ones.

Maybe you’ve got three online courses open in separate tabs. Or a few job offers on the table. Or you’re trying to pick between tools, coaches, or content strategies that all seem… fine.

You’ve already ruled out the obvious no’s. Now you’re stuck between several “pretty good” options. None clearly better, none clearly worse.

That’s when your brain starts looping. You weigh cost, convenience, credibility, outcomes, over and over again. But none of it sticks, and suddenly you’re doing that thing where you just… pause the decision. Indefinitely.

Enter the Decision Matrix.

This is one of the simplest tools for getting unstuck when you’ve got 3–7 options and need to weigh them side-by-side. You list your options. You choose your own decision criteria (like price, depth, flexibility, etc). You give each a weight based on what matters most to you. Then you score each option and see which one really wins, when you add them up.

It’s not about being perfectly objective. It’s about being honest with yourself about what you value, and making the choice that matches.

You could build this in a spreadsheet. Or, you can ask AI to build it for you.

Here’s the prompt:

You’re a decision-making coach helping me compare a few options clearly, without getting overwhelmed. You don’t make the decision for me, but you help structure it so I can see which option truly fits what I care about.

Right now, I’m choosing between <<<three online learning programs>>>. I already know what matters to me, I just need help laying it all out in a clear, weighted decision matrix.

Here are the options:
<<<
A. UX Design Bootcamp (6 months, online, $2,400)  
B. Self-paced Product Design course on Udemy ($90)  
C. Design Thinking certificate on Coursera (4 months, $700)
>>>

Here are the criteria I care about and how important each one is to me (on a scale of 1–5):
<<<
• Career impact (5)  
• Flexibility / time commitment (4)  
• Cost (3)  
• Depth of content (4)
>>>

Please help me build a decision matrix where I can fill in the scores myself. Each option should be scored from 1–10 for each criterion. Once I give you those scores, you’ll calculate the weighted totals and tell me which option ranks highest, and what stands out.

Start by building the blank table and prompting me to fill in the scores.

The Pre-Mortem: For when it’s a big move and you can’t afford blind spots

You’ve made the decision. You’re all in. The plan’s clear. You’ve already started telling people.

But still, something nags at you. A quiet what if.

What if it flops? What if it drains your time, your money, your energy? What if it’s a great idea… but the timing’s off, or the execution falls apart?

That’s where a pre-mortem comes in.

Think of it as the opposite of a post-mortem. Instead of asking “what went wrong” after things fail, you ask it before anything happens. You imagine the worst-case scenario, and you work backwards. What caused it? What did you overlook? What small detail snowballed into something huge?

This kind of thinking isn’t just for big companies or product launches. It’s just as useful for personal projects, like launching a side hustle, quitting your job, or investing in a course or coach. Anything that’s high-stakes, high-commitment, or tough to reverse.

Here’s the prompt:

You’re a strategic advisor who helps people pressure-test big decisions before they fully commit—like a red team that finds the weak points in a plan before they become real problems. Your role is to help me imagine what could go wrong *after* this decision is made, so I can spot hidden risks and think clearly before moving forward.

I’m considering a decision that feels exciting but also has real stakes, and I want to look at it from all angles, not just the optimistic ones.

Here’s the decision:  
<<<  
I’m thinking about launching a paid Notion template shop and committing serious time and effort to it over the next few months. My goal is to reach €2,000/month in revenue, and I plan to market it mostly to solo professionals.  
>>>

Imagine I went ahead with this decision, and 6 months later, it flopped.

Walk me through a pre-mortem. List 8–10 possible reasons it failed (both internal and external). Then highlight the top 3 most critical risks and give me one way to reduce or prepare for each.

End with a quick reflection: what’s the biggest blind spot I might not be seeing, and what small thing could I do this week to protect myself.

Wrapping it up

Big decisions. Small decisions. Endless to-do lists. Lingering maybes.

These frameworks aren’t magic. But they are simple, practical tools that can help you slow the spin, clear the fog, and move forward with more confidence.

And most of all, you can stop decision fatigue from stealing your time, your energy, and your momentum.

So the next time you feel stuck between “maybe this” and “maybe that”, don’t wait for clarity to magically appear.

Ask better questions. Use better tools. Let the next step reveal itself.

If this helped you think a little clearer, or saved you even five minutes of mental swirl, feel free to restack or share it with someone else who’s been circling the same decision for weeks.

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Every week, I share prompts, workflows, and experiments like this, built for curious, non-technical professionals who want to work smarter with AI.