I Let a Yes or No Wheel Decide My Life for 24 Hours - Here's What Happened
Ever feel stuck in decision fatigue? Like you're overthinking everything from what to eat… to what to do with your life? Yeah — that was me. Until I handed the wheel (literally) to a Yes or No spinner.
It sounded dumb. But desperation will have you trying strange things. And in just 24 hours, something shifted. Something big.
You know that feeling when your brain feels fried, even though you haven't done anything 'hard' today?
That's decision fatigue kicking in. We're hit with 35,000+ decisions every day, from 'What shirt should I wear?' to 'Should I finally quit this job?' The worst part?
Overthinking steals your energy, creativity, and confidence.
You stay stuck in your head… and nothing actually changes. You scroll more. Start more things. Finish none.
You think you need another planner, productivity hack, or 'motivation.' But what if all you needed was a stupidly simple tool…
I didn't expect much. But I was burnt out , and I needed a break from my brain. So I opened a Yes or No Wheel online, the kind that gives random 'yes' or 'no' answers when you spin it.
Then I let it control my life for 24 hours. No joke. Every decision that wasn't life-threatening? The wheel decided. Want to know what happened? Why trusting a random Yes or No wheel unlocked clarity I didn't know I needed
unlocked clarity I didn't know I needed The 3 surprising benefits of giving up control (temporarily)
How to try this safely for yourself — without wrecking your life
for yourself — without wrecking your life The emotional rollercoaster I didn't see coming
Why you're likely avoiding decisions that could change everything
Let me take you hour by hour.
7:00 AM: Should I skip snooze and actually get up?
→ Wheel says YES
Ugh. Brutal. But okay.
8:00 AM: Should I finally go for a run after months?
→ YES again
Fine. Laced up. Almost died. Felt amazing after.
9:00 AM: Coffee or tea?
→ NO to coffee
Now it's personal.
But then came the real questions.
Should I message that friend I've been ghosting out of anxiety?
→ YES.
Heart racing. I texted. They replied. We talked. The air cleared.
Should I post that business idea I've been scared to share online?
→ YES.
Nervous af. But I did it. Got 27 comments. A DM. And an opportunity.
By noon, the wheel wasn't just making random choices. It was dragging me out of my own way.
This isn't just woo-woo. Decision-making fatigue is real, and researchers at Columbia University found that limiting choices increases satisfaction and follow-through.
'When we surrender small decisions to randomness, we reduce cognitive load — freeing our brain for deeper focus and emotional clarity.'
— Dr. Sheena Iyengar, author of The Art of Choosing
Sounds fancy, but here's the bottom line: Letting go of control helps you regain it.
Here's the ugly truth: You already know what you want. But you're scared to admit it.
So you overthink, delay, 'analyze,' and stay stuck . I used the wheel as an excuse. A scapegoat. 'Oh well, the wheel said yes, so I had to…'
But that tiny permission slip? It made me move. And once you move… Momentum kicks in. Most decisions aren't as big as you think.
You'll survive bad coffee. You'll recover from awkward texts.
But you won't recover from never trying.
Fear loses power when you act fast.
Spin. Decide. Do. Before your brain talks you out of it.
Clarity comes from action, not thought.
Want to stop feeling stuck?
Do the thing. Anything. Especially the scary thing.
Don't be reckless.
But if you're stuck in a loop of 'should I or shouldn't I,' try this: Pick 5–10 non-life-threatening decisions you've been overthinking
decisions you've been overthinking Use the free Yes or No Wheel online
Commit to following the answer immediately
Journal how you feel after each one
Pro Tip: Start small. And never ask it about things like quitting your job or breaking up. Be smart.
You don't need to give up your life to randomness. But you do need a break from perfectionism.
That blog post you're scared to publish? That message you keep writing and deleting? What if the wheel said yes? And you just… did it?
I dare you. Right now. Pull up a Yes or No wheel. Ask 3 questions you've been avoiding. Then do what it says. Come back here and drop a comment with what happened.
Imagine Who You'd Be If You Stopped Hesitating
What if confidence wasn't a personality trait…but a skill you build through decisions?
Even tiny ones? You don't have to give the wheel control forever. But for a day? It might just give you your power back.
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Adam Met, one-third of indie-pop trio AJR, performs on stage in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2022. ... More The band kicks off a new tour on July 18. When musician Adam Met peers out at the audience from the stage of one of his shows, he doesn't just see many thousands of fans pulsing to the beat of his band's catchy indie-pop tunes. He sees an army of potential change makers who could help save the planet. Met — the bass player and background vocalist for the NYC-based multiplatinum band AJR — is also a climate advocate with a PhD in human rights and sustainable development who teaches about climate campaigning and policy at Columbia University and worked with Congress and the White House on a bipartisan energy bill recently introduced into the Senate. 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Drawing from his own experience growing a fan base — as he and his siblings progressed from performing in living rooms and busking on New York street corners to playing stadiums worldwide — he offers a blueprint for boosting awareness and igniting action, especially when it comes to saving the planet. Adam Met's new book "Amplify" takes its name from an initiative aimed at mobilizing fans at live ... More events to take action on causes like climate change. The book, out June 3, includes research into social movements and the power of live events and interviews with a range of artists, organizers and thinkers — among them, musician Ben Folds, comedian Jim Gaffigan, former U.S. presidential candidate Andrew Yang, scientist and entertainer Bill Nye, computer scientist and inventor Astro Teller and conservative commentator Glenn Beck, who attended an AJR show in Dallas and speaks with Met about the power of knowing your audience. 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Last summer, AJR turned concerts on their national 21-city tour into on-site civic and political activist hubs where fans could register to vote, sign petitions, call their representatives urging them to vote for climate-positive policies, make donations and learn about local volunteer opportunities. Fifteen percent of the people who walked through the doors of AJR shows joined the effort. 'I know 15 doesn't sound really big, but that is a huge percentage of people who are coming through the venue actually taking some sort of action,' Met said, adding that in the end, around 35,000 concertgoers made a climate-related move. Fans in Colorado wrote to the state legislature in support of phasing out fracking, for example, and in Wisconsin, they pledged to vote no on two state constitutional amendments that would have made it harder for the state to address climate change. Both amendments were later defeated. Performing in Clarkston, Michigan, are AJR members from left Ryan, Jack and Adam Met. On tours, the ... More band mobilizes its audience to join to fight for climate justice. Other artists are now adopting the Amplify model, including Grammy winner Billie Eilish, who will implement it on her U.K. tour this summer. Eilish did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the singer/songwriter has emerged as a vocal advocate for climate action who often addresses the topic in her music and on social media and has donated a portion of her tour ticket sales to climate justice initiatives. Among artists, Met believes musicians are uniquely positioned to tell the sort of impactful stories that can trigger emotion and action. That's because their work doesn't rely solely on the music itself, but weaves visual art, merchandise and live performance into a multi-sensory message. 'When you see someone like Billie Eilish posting about climate change on Instagram and having music about it and incorporating it into her show,' he said, 'it really screams authenticity.' Though Met's brothers Jack and Ryan write AJR's songs, they share his commitment to climate advocacy, and lines that reference it have made their way into at least one of the trio's tunes. 'I was gonna save the planet, but today I got plans,' bops a line from fan favorite song 'Inertia,' off of the band's fifth studio album The Maybe Man. The line has particular resonance for Met in 2025. 'As the administration changed in January, I saw more and more people start to become more and more apathetic,' he said. 'It's disappointing, but I think that every time a door closes, five others open. I'm an eternal optimist in terms of climate.' Fueling that optimism is the power of decision making at the local level. 'Community boards and local legislators decide on what zoning looks like, on what agriculture looks like, on where the next petrochemical plant gets placed, on what local transportation looks like and how that's electrified or not electrified, how the gas and utility companies are allowed to do what they're doing,' Met said. 'Those are decisions that you have so much power over.' One of the first things Met suggests to anyone who approaches him expressing an interest in tackling climate change, in fact, is to think locally, and to find the role where they can hold the most sway. 'So many people say, 'Oh, I want to start a campaign,' and I always say 'Look around to see what everyone else is doing first,' because your contribution might be so much more effective if you join something that's already gotten off the ground. He'll be reinforcing that message on AJR's upcoming tour, which starts July 18, and on his book tour, kicking off this week. The latter will include some of the very strategies he addresses in the volume — gamification, entertainment and creating the energetic sense of community prone to inspire collective action. Clearly this is not someone hindered by the kind of inertia his band playfully describes in song. So how does Met manage to juggle his many roles? On the morning we spoke, he'd been up since 4 a.m., but that was hardly evident from the energy or enthusiasm in his voice. 'I sleep very rarely,' he said. 'When you love all of these different things enough, you just make it work.' Adam Met accepts Time magazine's Time Earth Award in 2024. The award recognizes people whose work ... More influences the future of the planet.
