Five tips to help you make quick decisions

Discretion is a wonderful and important leadership quality that will undoubtedly lead to better results. But when thinking about decisions, there comes a point when thinking becomes overwhelming. If you are facing the same problems, here are five ways to stop the thinking cycle and come up with good, quick solutions.

1. Forget about perfectionism

Perfectionism is one of the main obstacles to fast, effective decision-making, as it relies on a flawed all-or-nothing mindset. For example, due to perfectionism, you may start to think that if you don't make the “right” choice (as if there is only one right decision), you will be overwhelmingly defeated. Or that you have to know everything, anticipate any eventuality and have a carefully crafted plan before taking action. Attempts to weigh any possible outcome are paralyzing.

To deal with this trend, ask yourself the following questions:

· Which decision will have the greatest positive impact on my core priorities?

· Of all those I can please or grieve, who are the one or two people whom I would least like to disappoint?

· What one thing can I do today to get closer to my goal?

· Based on what I know and the information I currently have, what is the best next step?

In the end, it's much easier to figure out and take a step than trying to anticipate the future months or even years ahead.

2. Determine the scale of the problem

Some decisions require careful thought, others don't. Before you make a decision, write down what goals, priorities, or people close to you it will affect. This will help you distinguish what is important from what you shouldn't dwell on.

Likewise, if you are worried about the prospect of making the wrong decision, try the 10/10/10 test. When you’re afraid of giving up, think about how you’ll feel about this decision in 10 weeks, 10 months, or 10 years? Probably, this choice will have no consequences or you will not even remember how worried about it. The answers will help you look at the problem from a new angle and find the motivation to take action.

3. Use the underestimated power of intuition

Intuition works by pattern matching. The brain considers the situation, quickly evaluates all of your life experiences, and makes the best decision in context. This automatic process is faster than rational thinking, which means that intuition is a necessary decision-making tool when time is short and traditional data is not available. Research shows that combining intuition with analytical thinking can help you make better, faster, and more accurate decisions and give you more confidence in your choices than if you rely solely on intelligence. In one study, car buyers who relied only on rigorous analysis were satisfied with their purchases in about a quarter of the time. Those who made an intuitive purchase were happy 60% of the time. This is because quick cognition, or the ability to perceive "thin slices", allows the brain to make intelligent decisions without unnecessary thought.

4. Minimize decision fatigue

You make hundreds of decisions a day - from what to eat for breakfast to how to respond to an email - and each one drains your mental and emotional resources. You’re more likely to think too long when you’re tired, so the fewer minor decisions you make, the more energy you will have for the really important ones.

Create routines and rituals to help you spend less mental effort, such as planning your menu for the week or getting yourself a capsule wardrobe. Likewise, look for ways to get rid of some of the solutions, introduce working methods and standardized protocols, delegate tasks, or attend meetings.

5. Create creative limits

You may be familiar with Parkinson's Law, which says that work takes up the allotted time. Simply put, if you give yourself a month to prepare your presentation, you will need a month. But if you only had a week, you would finish the same presentation faster.

Sensitive people have similar principles - they will ponder any question to the last. In other words, if you give yourself a week to worry about an issue that takes an hour to resolve, you will spend a disproportionate amount of time and effort.

This tendency can be combated through creative limitations. For example, determine the date or time by which you will make the selection. Write it down on your calendar, put a reminder on your phone, or even get in touch with the person waiting for your decision and keep them informed when you give them. One good practice is “worry time”: set aside a short period of time throughout the day to constructively resolve the problem.

Especially not to forget that your mind gives you a major competitive advantage. Once you learn to control the duration of your reflections, you can transform your receptivity into a superpower.