Making decisions is hard, and whether we realize it or not, we often go out of our way to make it even harder.  We become so obsessed with making the “right” decision that we confuse our neuroses with legitimate concerns and end up running our brain in circles.  While there aren’t any hard-set rules on decision-making, 99percent writer, Jocelyn Glei has a couple tips that might help us become a little more clear-headed.   

1) Satisficers vs Maximizers

Ever spent hours or days agonizing over a decision when you know you’ve already got an adequate solution?  You might just be a maximizer—the type who lies awake at night because they’re not sure they got the best possible deal on that new camera they bought – even though it was already well below their budget point.  Well, if you value your productivity, and your sanity, you might want to consider becoming more of a satisficer.  Set the criteria for your decision early and take action once those specific areas have been met.  Don’t spend a lot of unnecessary time scrutinizing factors that aren’t really that important to the outcome.  Do you really need to save an extra $30 on that $500 camera?

2) Less can be more

Human beings are hard-wired to make quick decisions with small amounts of information, but too much information has a tendency to freeze us up.  The solution?  Ditch the extra baggage.  Use the most important information to come to a sound conclusion and then move on to other matters. 

3) Know when to look instead of leap

We’re often told that we need to trust our instincts, but it can be hard to decide when that advice is better off ignored.  Columbia professor, William Duggan, argues that we have two other kinds of intuition apart from the standard gut feeling that we all know.  Expert intuition allows us to make quick decisions in familiar settings, while strategic intuition allows us to create unique solutions for unfamiliar problems over a longer period.  The key is knowing when the latter is going to over-complicate a simple problem and when the former will get us in trouble with an unfamiliar one.   

4) Someone else knows better

We don’t always know what’s best for us—at least according to Psychologist, Daniel Gilbert.  If you don’t think you have the knowledge, experience to make a good decision, ask someone who does.  You’d be surprised how often this is more useful than scouring the internet or thumbing through published books.   

5) Choose your battles wisely

Let’s face it.  We spend a lot of time worrying about some pretty trivial things.  Our media-rich society has socialized us into believing that our decisions regarding tooth-paste, shoes and soft drink brand are all deathly important to our existence.  When it comes down to it, we all know better, but it’s easy to fall in to that anxiety trap brought on by an abundance of choice.  Ask yourself whether the decision is really all that important, and you might discover that it’s easier to take action once you realize that it isn’t. 

Photo: Above photograph used under CC license

This article was inspired by a Jocelyn Glei piece entitled “Don’t Overthink It: 5 Tips for Daily Decision-Making” that originally appeared in the 99% blog.