We don’t see the world as it is but as we are. We are motivated by short-term gratification, so we shy away from those which require long-haul slogs. Uncertainty is challenging, so our brains are likely to stick to the known, procrastinate, or make quick decisions to reduce anxiety rather than solve a problem or create a new option outside what is known and familiar. They take in the minimum amount of data and match it to previous experiences or established belief patterns to reach a conclusion, which is not helpful when evaluating something with fresh eyes. Change requires a lot of mental processing energy and any organ in our bodies is trying to do its job with maximum efficiency. Making decisions is made even harder for a number of reasons: Which leaves us with a problem when it comes to making difficult and important choices: when faced with an expanded choice, how do we make the right one? In a famous psychological experiment known as the Stanford Jam Experiment, participants who only had six types of jam from which to choose were much more likely to make a purchase than those who had to choose from twenty-four varieties. Choice overload is real and presents us with a paradox. President Obama used to say you’d only ever see him in one of two suits or ties because he needed to save his decision-making energy for the thorny choices that were waiting for him in the Oval Office. But as the number of decisions has multiplied massively with the expansion of consumer choice and the algorithm-led technological culture in which we live, we find ourselves overwhelmed and exhausted. Most of them are unconscious and automatic, such as the multitude you make when you drive or walk down the street, for instance. You could also do what you intended to do today, but are putting off by reading blogs about why you can’t make decisions.Įach day we make thousands of decisions – a stunning 35,000 according to some sources. You could answer an email, or check a social media update. You could click on the many other enticing links available to you at this moment.
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