It’s easy to overthink decisions 🧠
But here’s are six things to help with that 👋🏻
- Remember. If you keep looking deeper into a decision. There’ll always be more factors to think over (what brand of whole wheat bread should I use for my sandwich)? A lot of these factors are inconsequential.
- Know what “good enough” looks like. If you already thought through enough factors to get your desired results. Is it really worth your time to thinking through EVEN MORE things when you could put that time elsewhere (opportunity cost).
- The faster you take action —> The faster you collect data —> The faster you make data driven decisions (instead of blindly going off your assumptions).
- You won’t know the nuances of a situation or decision until you’re actually taking action. Theory can never fully capture reality. Take action so you can iterate on your decision (and so you know more for next time).
- Know that it’s ok to make mistakes. Mistakes are part of the process and how we learn – Make your decision. Act on it. And if things don’t go as planned, that’s fine… Chances are, it won’t kill you. And you’ll be able to make a more educated decision next time.
- Once you make a decision, stick to it. You thought through enough important factors. And yes, there’ll always be more things to take into account. But you’re overvaluing thinking and undervaluing action.
TL;DR
- Time box a problem.
- Think through it. Reach a “good enough” answer.
- Stick with your decision (don’t second guess yourself).
- Focus on action so you can collect data and make more educated decisions next time.
