Does the following sound familiar? You are facing an important choice in your life. It’s clear that you have to make a decision, but you drag it on and on. Perhaps it’s a particularly daunting choice – just thinking about it makes you cringe. Or you have a hunch that there are more options to choose from than you are aware of, and you want to do more research. Or you might simply be busy with other things, and making that decision is not your key priority.
Here are the most common reasons decisions don’t get made – and tactical advice to become a more decisive person.
1. Eliminate options. Facing an overwhelmingly large number of options can be demotivating. In one noted study, the scientists Iyengar and Lepper (2000) demonstrate that people are more likely to purchase gourmet jams when offered a limited array of choices rather than an extensive selection of 24 choices. If faced with too many options, try to eliminate as many as possible. Then score the options (for example, on a scale from one to ten) that are important to you.
2. Timebox the search for alternatives. Not knowing whether or not you’ve considered all options can lead to “I need more information” anxiety. Since looking for all options might take prohibitively long, the best approach here is to “timebox” your search. Allow yourself 30 minutes or an hour and research all the options you can find in that timeframe. Chances are that you’ve pretty much exhausted the list of available options after the session.
3. Keep decisions reversible. Arguably the most difficult part of decision-making is assessing possible outcomes. Doing it right is supremely difficult, and includes factoring in and weighing off various kinds of prior beliefs and gathered evidence. But since you’ll hardly be able to predict an outcome with full certainty, look for opportunities that allow you to revoke your initial decision if necessary. For example, negotiate a trial period that allows you to test a service or product before you buy. Try to keep options open and your decisions reversible.
4. Get clarity on priorities. Do you clearly know what you are trying to solve? What is it you are intending to achieve with your decision? Say you are trying to decide whether or not to move to a different city, for example; what aspect of that move is most important to you? Improving job prospects; being close to family or your circle of friends; lowering your rent or getting a good deal on real estate – get your priorities straight and rank them by importance.
5. Overcome perfectionism. Here’s some uncomfortable news: good decisions can lead to bad outcomes, and vice versa. Whenever the outcome is at least partly driven by randomness, the link between “right decision” and “favourable outcome” is interrupted. Aim to make the best decision given your knowledge at the time and then try to let go. You are responsible for your decisions; the results are only partly within your control.
6. Convert choices to habits. Ideally, eating healthy or exercising regularly doesn’t need to be a repeated choice, but a cultivated habit. The key is to succeed with small achievements first and then gradually move on to forming more extensive habits. Going running for 15 minutes in the morning is much more doable than exercising for a full hour. And anchoring desired behaviours to existing procedures is another way to put them into effect. A morning routine could look like this: start the coffee percolator immediately after getting up, go for a run, and enjoy fresh coffee 15 minutes later.
7. Automate decisions. Building habits is one way to avoid needing to make smaller decisions repeatedly. A separate way is to pre-commit to a course of action upfront. For example, saving for retirement is difficult when you have to make a repeated (say annual) decision to contribute to your savings plan. Setting a level of savings to be deducted on a regular basis (from your current account – or even better, right from your paycheck) without your repeated consent will allow you to build savings smoothly.
8. Tackle decision fatigue. Lastly, there is emerging evidence that at least for some people making multiple decisions over the course of the day can lead to “decision fatigue”. Reducing the mental load and cutting one decision out of their days is the reason that Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg famously only keep one or two combinations of clothing in their wardrobe.
The Decision Maker’s Playbook by Simon Mueller and Julia Dhar is out now.
