Episode 305: Decision Fatigue Is Killing Your Business: Rena Duell’s Story
She Had It All Together (Until Her Body Said Otherwise)
The decision fatigue entrepreneurs face isn't just about making too many choices. Sometimes it shows up as your body literally breaking down. That's exactly what happened to Rena Duell after 25 years of building her events business.
She was crushing it from the outside - traveling for clients, working from home before it was trendy, raising her kids. Total boss energy.
But inside? She was falling apart in ways that scared her.
Hair falling out in clumps. Unexplained weight gain. Migraines, so brutal that she got tested for lupus. Then came something she'd never even heard of: anxiety gagging. Her body would randomly start gagging or dry heaving. No warning. No trigger. Just pure stress erupting in the worst way possible.
Ignore decision fatigue long enough, and it'll catch up. It won't ask permission.
"I operated like that for way too long. My stress was physically destroying me, but I couldn't see it because it's so easy not to see. You just blame it on everything else." —Rena Duell
The Day Everything Stopped
Rena didn't ease into her breaking point. She slammed into a wall at full speed.
"I had a couple of days where I kept thinking - I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this," she tells me on the Game On Girlfriend® podcast. "Then I finally said it out loud. Nope. Done. Not working another minute."
She walked away from her entire business. No backup plan. No next step figured out. Just enough courage to admit that continuing would cost her everything that actually mattered - her health, her sanity, and her relationships.
Terrifying? Absolutely. But necessary.
That scary moment became the turning point. Not just for her, but for the hundreds of women business owners she now coaches at One Team Partners. Her breakdown became her breakthrough—and now she helps other entrepreneurs avoid paying the same devastating price for success.
What Decision Fatigue Actually Looks Like
Rena's story matters because it names something most of us feel but rarely talk about: the crushing mental load that decision fatigued entrepreneurs carry every single day.
"When you're a team of one, you're literally doing everything. Making every single decision in your business," she explains. "Decision fatigue shows up everywhere - you can't focus, you're busy but not actually productive, you're trying to stay locked into your goals but everything demands attention right now."
Here's what makes it dangerous: we get so comfortable living in constant overwhelm that we stop noticing it. The mental weight becomes background noise we've learned to tune out.
Until our bodies force us to pay attention.
"If you stand in the sewer long enough, it stops smelling. We don't know how much we've been carrying until it's suddenly gone."
That line hit me hard. Because it's true, isn't it? We normalize the chaos until we can't anymore.
Why Going Solo Multiplies Decision Fatigue
These days, Rena coaches at One Team Partners - and they've built something brilliant for solopreneurs struggling with decision fatigue.
Instead of working with just one coach, you get access to a team of five. An actual brain trust. You know, the thing every corporate CEO has but entrepreneurs working alone don't?
"We support businesses throughout their entire journey," Rena explains. "Some people want to stay solo forever. Others want to build big teams and scale. We have coaches who specialize in different areas, and we pull each other in based on what each client needs."
Think about what you're dealing with as a business owner. You're making massive decisions in complete isolation. No C-suite to consult. No board to bounce ideas off. Not even a coworker to grab coffee with and talk things through.
That isolation is exactly why the decision fatigue entrepreneurs experience becomes so overwhelming. You're holding every single choice in your head with no one to help carry the load.
The Simple System That Cuts Decision Fatigue in Half
Okay, so you're drowning right now. Your brain won't shut off. You're constantly switching between work mode and life mode. What can you actually do about it?
Rena's answer sounds almost too simple to work: create startup and shutdown routines.
I know what you're thinking. "That's it? That's the big solution?"
Yes. But here's the thing - the concept is simple. Actually building the habit? That takes discipline.
Your Shutdown Routine (How to Actually Leave Work Behind)
This is where you prove to your brain that it can trust you. Here's what Rena recommends:
- Keep a notebook or digital document right next to your workspace (make it easy to grab)
- Before closing your laptop, write down exactly where you stopped on each project
- List your top three priorities for tomorrow with the specific next action for each
- Do a quick brain dump of anything else bouncing around your head
- Read it back to yourself so your brain registers that it's captured
"Look at what you're in the middle of. Where were you exactly? Just dump it all out and be like, "Okay, it's here. I won't forget. Now you can actually step away and be present with your family."
This externalization is key. When decision fatigued entrepreneurs try to hold everything mentally, the brain never stops working. Writing it down gives your brain permission to let go.
Your Startup Routine (How to Hit the Ground Running)
- Read what you wrote the night before (don't skip this step)
- Start with the first action item you listed
- Skip the entire "what was I doing again?" spiral that wastes your best morning energy
"When you come back the next day, you're like - oh yeah, this is exactly where I was. I didn't forget anything important," Rena says.
Simple? Yes. Life-changing? Also yes. This is how you start reducing the decision fatigue entrepreneurs face every single day.
The Real Reason Your Brain Won't Shut Off
You know that constant mental switching? Working but thinking about your kids' soccer practice? Sitting at dinner but mentally drafting that client email?
That's not multitasking. That's training your brain not to trust you.
"We need a way to flip the switch to 'off work mode’," Rena explains. "When I'm with my family but my brain is running through my task list - don't forget this, respond to that client, make that post - all of that is stealing energy from the people right in front of me."
Every time you switch contexts without closing the loop, you're adding to your cognitive load. Your brain keeps those tabs open, running in the background, and draining your mental battery.
When you externalize your mental load by writing things down, you're proving to your brain that nothing will slip through the cracks. You can stop holding everything. You can be here now.
"It's creating systems that prove to myself - I trust myself. I can do this. I can actually step away."
This is how you break the pattern that creates decision fatigue entrepreneurs struggle with most.
Self-Care Is Strategy (Not Bubble Baths)
Let's talk about self-care for a second. Because Rena has strong opinions here, and honestly, so do I.
"I always want to push back when self-care gets reduced to bubble baths and face masks. That's not it," she says firmly.
Real self-care for business owners battling decision fatigue looks completely different:
- Protecting your energy intentionally (not just talking about boundaries but actually enforcing them)
- Building systems that reduce how much your brain has to hold at once
- Setting up your workspace to minimize distractions and context switching
- Planning your hardest work for when your brain actually works best
- Regularly asking yourself what you genuinely need to show up well today
"How do I protect my energy? How do I set myself up to live and show up the way I want each day?" Rena asks. "Because when I can do that, I'm way more productive. I'm present. I'm locked in. I can actually flow instead of forcing everything."
This isn't fluffy wellness content. This is a business strategy. Your brain is your most valuable business asset. Protecting it from decision fatigue isn't optional - it's essential.
As someone who's coached thousands of women entrepreneurs through my programs like the Abundance Academy and Heart-Centered Sales course, I see this pattern constantly. The entrepreneurs who build sustainable success? They're the ones who treat their mental energy as strategically as their revenue goals.
The Whole-Life Approach to Business
Rena draws on positive psychology research - specifically the PERMA-H model (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment, Health). But what makes her approach different is that she applies these principles directly to your work environment.
"Most people don't think about applying this stuff to how they actually work," she notes.
So if you're working from your kitchen table (no judgment - I've been there), here's what this looks like in practice:
- Create the best workspace possible with what you've got (even small changes matter)
- Manage family interruptions without losing your mind or your relationships
- Physically close the door (or curtain, or laptop) on work when you're done for the day
- Clear visual clutter so your brain can focus on one thing at a time
Schedule your most demanding work for your peak focus hours (not just whenever you can squeeze it in)
"Figure out when your focus peaks during the day. When can you really dive deep into complex work? Put your most cognitively demanding tasks there. Build everything else around it," Rena advises.
This kind of intentional planning directly combats the decision fatigue entrepreneurs face. Instead of constantly deciding what to work on next, you've already decided. Your brain can focus on doing instead of choosing.
Why Community Matters More Than You Think
Here's something valuable - One Team Partners created a community on the Skool platform specifically for women business owners dealing with decision fatigue and isolation.
"We wanted to bring solopreneurs together so they can share the real stuff - the struggles, the wins, the daily challenges. Just share the journey with people who actually get it," Rena explains.
Community isn't a nice-to-have. For solopreneurs, it's essential infrastructure.
This is something I'm passionate about too. In my Game On Girlfriend® community and coaching programs, I see how transformative it is when women entrepreneurs finally have people who understand the unique challenges of building a business. You're not crazy. You're not weak. You're just trying to do something incredibly hard without the support systems that make it manageable.
What Happens When You Keep Ignoring the Signs
The biggest lesson from Rena's story? Your body will eventually force you to listen. The question is whether you'll listen before or after the breakdown.
"Think about all the times we didn't realize we were carrying so much mental weight until something shifts and we're like - oh wow, I didn't even notice how heavy that was," Rena reflects. "We don't know what we've been carrying until it's finally gone."
The physical toll of chronic stress and unaddressed decision fatigue doesn't just affect today. It's shaping your health ten, twenty, thirty years from now. Your cardiovascular system. Your immune function. Your cognitive capacity as you age.
"Think about the wear and tear on our bodies from constant stress. What could our later years look like if we actually started taking care of this now?"
I want you around and thriving for a long time. Not just surviving year to year until your body taps out.
You Are Your Business's Ceiling
Rena's core philosophy is simple but powerful: You are the ceiling of your own business. When you grow, the business grows. When you're stuck, the business stagnates.
Which means investing in yourself - in managing decision fatigue, in building better systems, in protecting your mental energy - isn't separate from business strategy. It IS the strategy.
"We're not taught to look at what we actually need to show up present and genuinely enjoy what we're building. What would it take?" Rena asks. "Because when we figure that out, everything shifts. We're more productive because we're actually present and locked in, not just going through the motions."
Your business literally cannot outgrow your personal capacity. You can have the best marketing strategy, the most innovative product, the perfect pricing - but if you're running on fumes and drowning in decision fatigue, growth hits a ceiling.
That ceiling is you.
This is why I built the Game On Girlfriend® podcast and my coaching programs - to help women entrepreneurs develop both the external business skills AND the internal capacity to actually sustain success. You need both. Always.
Your Action Plan Starts Tonight
If you're reading this thinking "yep, that's definitely me" - constantly switching contexts, carrying an impossible mental load, never fully present anywhere - here's your action plan.
Tonight, before you close your laptop for the day, take five minutes to write down:
- Exactly where you left off on any unfinished project (be specific - "draft three paragraphs into client proposal," not just "work on proposal")
- Your top three priorities for tomorrow, in order of importance
- The specific next physical action for each priority (not "work on website" but "write homepage headline options")
- Anything else taking up mental space that you need to remember
Tomorrow morning, before you check email or social media, read what you wrote last night. Start with priority one, action one.
That's it. That's your starting point for managing decision fatigue.
"The concept is simple. The doing is not. But just writing it down - that alone makes you feel like, okay, this is safely captured somewhere. My brain doesn't have to hold it anymore. I can actually breathe."
Give yourself one week of this practice. Just seven days. Notice what changes.
Want More Support Building Your Business? Special Offer from Rena for Game On Girlfriend® Listeners
Get a FREE week in the One TEAM Partners' Skool community.
Email: skool@oneteampartners.com and include "Game on Girlfriend" in the subject line.
About Rena Duell
Rena Duell is a business coach at One TEAM Partners, guiding female small business entrepreneurs to lead with clarity, confidence, and purpose, without burning out. After 25 years of building her own business while juggling family and travel, Rena hit a wall that cost her everything. That breakdown became her breakthrough. Today, she helps women build sustainable businesses without sacrificing their health and happiness. Her belief is simple but powerful: you are the ceiling of your business. When you grow, your business grows.
Want More Support Building Your Business?
If you're struggling with decision fatigue around your sales strategy or feeling overwhelmed by how to grow your business authentically, check out my free resources and programs to find one that fits for you:
- Download my Freedom Calculator and discover exactly how much your business needs to make so you can be truly free
- Here’s a curated collection of free business coaching resources and trainings
- Heart-Centered Sales
- Book a free 15-minute call to explore working together
- The Abundance Academy
The Big Takeaways on Decision Fatigue Entrepreneurs Face
- Decision fatigue isn't just about choices - it's about the constant mental load of never being fully present anywhere
- Startup and shutdown routines dramatically reduce cognitive load by externalizing your mental task list
- You're not actually multitasking - you're training your brain not to trust you
- Self-care is strategic business planning, not soft wellness content
- Solopreneurs need support systems even more than corporate employees do
- Your business can only grow as much as you grow - you are the ceiling
- Community and coaching provide the brain trust that solopreneurs desperately need
Your Turn: Let's Talk About Decision Fatigue
Have you experienced decision fatigue or entrepreneur burnout? What specific symptoms showed up for you? What strategies or systems have helped you manage the mental load?
Drop a comment below - I genuinely want to hear your story and what's working (or not working) for you. Sometimes just naming what we're going through helps lighten the load.
And if this resonated with you, share it with another entrepreneur who might need to hear Rena's story today. We're all in this together.
About Sarah Walton
Sarah Walton is a business coach, podcast host, and mentor who helps women entrepreneurs build businesses they love. She's the creator of the Abundance Academy, Effortless Sales, and the Game On Girlfriend® podcast. Sarah's mission is to put more money in the hands of more women while teaching authentic, heart-centered business strategies.
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