Cognitive Fatigue Is an Audit Error: How to Reset Your Decision-Making

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]30.59 increase in decision-making just by doing a simple thing. If you have been concerned about your cognitive functions, so maybe your mind gets a bit slow when you get tired, there is one very simple thing shown in a 2026 study that will improve your decision-making.

[00:00:20]That was tested in three different sports, simple breathing exercise, which you may have heard of, box breathing.

[00:00:27]And in one of its simplest forms, 4 4 4 4. I would actually suggest you upgrade that and I will tell you at the end how.

[00:00:35]But this is what the athletes did in their warm-up and during their breaks, and they were found to make much better decision during the game. Now, there is a small tweak that this study took that allowed the athletes to actually monitor their heart rate. And this is something that you can do as well. I often tell those that I work with to learn how to drop their heart rate, because if you have this direct feedback, you can easily improve.

[00:01:04]So, doing that first thing in the morning, great idea. Doing it last thing at night, also possibility it will help with your sleep. And if you want to upgrade it, just start prolonging the breath holds. And you know what will happen? You're very likely to start entering meditation at the end. This is what I call empty state of mind and it's an exercise that I can send you the link if you want to practice guided. I'm Anastasis, author and clinician, and you can catch my weekly research breakdown every Monday on this platform.