Your vacation has been booked for months, you’re dreaming of walks on the beach, lazy days, and nonstop sunshine. You wait in anticipation, counting the days, but as the date edges closer, you realize you still have a to-do list the length of your arm. You have deadlines to meet, work to hand over to colleagues in your absence, and loose ends to tie up before you turn on your Out Of Office response. You have laundry and ironing to do and you’ve been so busy organizing everything else that you haven’t had the chance to think about what you want to pack. You imagine cool, effortless linen dresses and stylish espadrilles, effortlessly styled to perfection and wonder how you can achieve this vision when you are running out of time?
Preparing and packing for your vacation can feel overwhelming. It shouldn’t—it’s a break in routine after all, an experience to enjoy and look forward to, but the planning and decision-making can feel intense. Research shows that the average American adult makes 35,000 decisions a day. Most of these decisions are simple, uncomplicated, and straightforward, but a study published in the Journal of Health Psychology shows that choices made over an extended period of time can be cognitively taxing, resulting in decision fatigue, which can impair the ability to make decisions and control behavior.
So how does decision fatigue impact your vacation packing?
Evidence shows that decision fatigue can result in you making impulsive or irrational choices. So in terms of pre-vacation shopping, you may order clothes without thinking about the bigger picture. You might panic buy because you’ve been busy and left everything to the last minute. You purchase the eye-catching pieces on a whim but then discover when packing your suitcase that the items don’t match what you have and you don’t have complete outfits. To try to avoid more decision fatigue, instead of reevaluating and selecting pieces more carefully, you pack more and more and then realize you’ve exceeded your weight allowance. You panic and then order more clothes to plug the gaps, thinking that this will help to simplify things.
Research also shows that those who are experiencing decision fatigue are most likely to choose the default option, the one that requires the least amount of cognitive effort. This may mean that you choose pieces that are practical, boring, and dull because it somehow feels easier. But the fall-out of this is that you spend your holiday feeling dowdy and old-fashioned, not relaxed and content like you had envisioned.
A study by OnePoll found that over 70% of Americans feel stressed when packing for vacation. Most admit to leaving it to the last minute, while nearly a quarter of the items packed are often left untouched, meaning that many people are overpacking.
As a PowerStylist for busy executive women, I create capsule wardrobes for my clients. This bespoke service includes a personalized style and color consultation, the end result being that every client has a closet that truly reflects their personality and suits their lifestyle. Having a wardrobe that is versatile, cohesive, and easy to navigate is worth its weight in gold when you have a demanding job and a busy lifestyle. Mornings become stress-free, meaning that you start the day feeling confident, calm, and stylish.
With a capsule wardrobe already in place, planning for a vacation, a weekend away, or a business trip becomes easier because you already have key pieces, meaning that all you need to do is add some seasonal pieces and accessories.
If you haven’t yet invested in your capsule wardrobe, here are a few tips that will eliminate decision fatigue and save you time and effort when packing for vacation.
Effortless Vacation Packing
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Traveling light feels liberating, calming, and effortless. It offers versatility and choice without compromising your style, and it alleviates holiday wardrobe stress, meaning you can truly relax and enjoy your break.
If you would like help with your vacation capsule wardrobe, get in touch through my website. I have an exciting new PowerStyler vacation package that ensures effortless PowerPacking, helping to eliminate decision fatigue and saving time and money. You can read more about it on my Instagram. You can also connect with me on Linkedin. I’d love to hear from you!
WRITTEN BY
Catherine Jackson