Title: Decision Paralysis: How To Stop Overthinking Your Choices | Procrastination.com
Headings: Decision Paralysis: How To Stop Overthinking Your Choices
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Decision Paralysis: How To Stop Overthinking Your Choices
If we want to find out why people procrastinate it's important to understand the phenomenon of decision paralysis.
Complicated choices result in postponed decisions
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Content: For instance, have you ever stood in the aisle of a supermarket unable to choose between 50 different flavors of yogurt? This inability to choose is known as decision paralysis (and also known as choice paralysis or analysis paralysis) and it is an insidious enemy. Decision paralysis occurs when we have to select from options that are difficult to compare. Simply stated, decision paralysis can be described as having such a tough time choosing between action A or B that we pick action C or do nothing at all. The more options we have in front of us, the harder it becomes to choose one. In addition, as complexity or importance is increased, the amount of energy the analysis takes out of us increases, as well. In fact, having to make a choice at all creates negative emotions, which can lead to decision fatigue or a delay in making the decision. In many cases, even if a decision is made, decision paralysis exhausts the decision maker so much, that he or she doesn’t have any energy left to carry out the action itself. This is an important concept for understanding procrastination because when we're supposed to do two important things, but we don’t know which to start first, we often don’t do either. “People don’t make decisions based on what’s the most important, but based on what’s the easiest to evaluate.”