I was pondering two ways to get where I was going. I decided if the light was green when I got there I would go straight, and if not go right.
And while doing so I realized there is a feeling of a decision. There is a bit of anxiety, and then a “cutting away”, which is the meaning of decision. One limb of the tree is removed, leaving one remaining.
[I have not been able to verify this, in the time I am allotting, but I believe decision, incision and precision are all related, with the root verb being, I believe, caedere.]
This takes energy, and it hit me that a big benefit of monasticism is that your day is regulated. There are few if any decisions. You eat what you are served, do the work you are told to do, sleep when everyone else sleeps, etc. This is true, at least, in most forms of Christian monasticism, and most forms that remain that I know of with regards to Buddhist monasticism (with Tibet, at least the Tibet before the Chinese Communist Imperialists and thieves conquered them, being a conspicuous exception).
Reducing the number of decisions needed in a day should free up spiritual and creative energy. This is the same reason Steve Jobs wore the same outfit every day. It was one less distraction.
Here is the rub, though: you need randomness too. You need the habit of stability on the one hand, and destabilizing and unpredictable events on the other.
In my own case, I am continually required to do things I don’t want to do. I am working today. I don’t want to work today. Boohoo. I get it.
But being pushed across my own grain is in general useful for me perceptually. I whine like a little bitch, but I keep after it, and if I have anything useful to say, it is mostly the shit I didn’t want to do that is the ultimate source.