Overthinking the Small Stuff?
How many decisions have you made over the last day, week... month? Drive or Uber? Suit or no suit? Italian or Thai? iPhone or Huawei?
While today’s freedom of choice has obvious benefits, the constant pressure to make perfect choices can often rob our freedom, heighten our anxiety and lower our productivity.
1[■] For starters, trying to perfect every single decision is a ‘mission impossible,’ making it pretty in vain. 2[■] And finally, research shows that trying to nail every decision reduces our ability to perform at our best and make great decisions about the things that really matter.
The irony is that people who try to make the perfect decision every time tend to suffer more anxiety about their decisions, feel less satisfied with them afterward and, unsurprisingly, are less productive than people who just go with ‘good enough’.
“The habit of aiming for the best possible option every time actually robs people of satisfaction and effectiveness,” wrote Barry Schwartz on the Paradox of Choice. 3[■] However, they’re generally less happy about what they eventually decide upon.
Better than trying to maximize every choice is to make a ’good enough’ choice that meets a basic level of satisfaction. So you didn’t get the best possible hotel at the best possible price? Move on. So the shade of yellow you chose to paint the sunroom was a little dark? Again, move on! 4[■]
5[■] The reason is that they aren’t wasting precious time and energy on decisions that don’t really matter. So as you think about all the decisions you have to make in the day or month ahead, focus your precious time, talents and attention on the things that truly matter.