Decision-Making: Common Challenges Faced, Tips To Make Good Decisions

As young children, we often looked up to the adults around us for help with making decisions and were often spellbound by the ease with which they could make decisions. However, as we grew older and entered adulthood, we found ourselves struggling with decision-making, along with our peers.

Over time, one realises that making decisions isn't so much about being an adult but rather about one’s skills and the process they utilise that makes them good or not so good at making decisions.

Everyone struggles with making decisions and it's alright to feel indecisive at times, however if it begins to hamper one’s everyday life, one starts to feel petrified of making decisions and begins finding reasons to handover decision-making to someone else, like a parent, sibling or a friend, or even a stranger, we may have some introspection to do.

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Why Decision-Making Is Often Difficult

Decision-making can be difficult in general, however, there are certain factors that can make this process more tumultuous. Let us understand the common factors many professionals believe to be the issue with decision-making.

Complexity

It is usually observed that the more complex a decision is, the harder it will be to choose. This complexity could arise from there being a large number of options to choose from, a phenomenon referred to as “choice overload or overchoice''. This is especially common for individuals in the urban-metropolitan segment where each product they have to purchase will have several competitors in the market and one has to make numerous decisions in a day. This is where the paradox of choices comes into play, wherein, it is understood that the more options we’re presented, the more stressed out we get and the less we are able to make swift decisions.

Risks

Decision-making can also be difficult when one has to make choices between two or more extremely precious or valuable things or the loss incurred could be heavy if the choice is wrong. The former can be when choosing between two friends who are in conflict with one another, and the latter in a high stakes game.

Unknown Territory

Making decisions can be especially challenging when faced with choices that are unfamiliar or ambiguous. This is similar to trying to choose a meal from a menu in a restaurant located in a new town, where the individual may not be familiar with the dishes. Similarly, when presented with options that are unclear or not well-understood, it can create confusion and make it difficult to make a decision.

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Consequences

It is often easier to make decisions when the potential consequences of each option are clear and can be estimated. For example, when choosing between two laptops, an individual may be able to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each option and make an informed decision. However, when the potential outcomes of a decision are unclear or difficult to estimate, such as when choosing between pursuing a career in law or fashion, it can create uncertainty and make it challenging to make a decision.

Self-Doubt

Our past experiences with making decisions can impact our current decision-making process. If we have made choices in the past that we regret or have been criticised for, it can lead to self-doubt and make it difficult to trust our own judgment when making new choices.

Instead of going back and forth and overthinking the decision, go ahead and take action.

Simplifying Decision-Making

Let us look at a few tips that you can use to make decision-making easier.

There are three types of decisions we make in life—

• High stakes
• Low stakes
• No stakes

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No Stakes Category

We should ideally spend as little as possible brain power on the everyday decisions whose consequences are inconsequential and the choice made will become insignificant in a matter of hours. This will include what to wear out to a party, what to eat at a luncheon, what to watch on Netflix and where to go for a brunch outing. This can be done by—

• Flipping a coin
• Pooling your suggestions and pick a chit
• Pre-plan
• Make a list

Low Stakes Category

Many choices we make in school or at home may appear to be high stakes simply because of what people say or because we’ve become too hyper-focused on them. Low stakes decisions are those decisions that do have some consequences but they are not make-or-break decisions. Once made they will become history in a few weeks or so. This could include which clubs to join, which tuition teacher to reach out to for classes, which events to attend etc.

• One of the best ways to go about these decisions is to outsource it to a person. Depending upon the context, ask someone from the field, someone with experience or someone in that club/tuition or team to tell you more about its pros and cons.
• Do not spend more than a few hours or a day to take this decision
• Do not catastrophise the consequences of these decisions

High Stakes Category

When faced with high-stakes decisions, it is common to experience anxiety and apprehension. However, it is important not to approach these decisions with fear, but rather with a clear and rational mindset. To simplify the decision-making process, it is beneficial to clarify your values and priorities, gather relevant information, weigh the pros and cons, and seek advice from trusted sources. Remember that high-stakes decisions, such as choosing a university or relocating to a new country, have long-term implications and should be carefully considered.

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• Be Clear | Be clear about your values and priorities in life. The burden of choices can be overwhelming but when we assess all these choices through the lenses of what our values and priorities are, the process is easier to make.
• Gather Information | Gather all the necessary data before making any decisions. Do not let small details sway you, rather allow the entire picture to develop and then reach decision-making.
• Use Flow Charts | Visualise the data with its pros, cons and consequences and compare them efficiently rather than doing it in your head or in conversations.
• Weigh Your Options | If there are multiple options, choose an option that you have natural bias towards and compare it with all the alternatives. If it stands strong against all the alternatives, then it wins, if it doesn’t in one or two cases, compare the winners.
• Trust Your Instincts | If things still feel odd, go with your gut instinct. If you want to gain clarity on it, try free journaling about the option for a full page or more.
• Commit To Your Choices | The problem with most choices people make is not being able to commit to them and this is because they believe it will happen organically, which it often doesn’t. We need to ‘choose’ to commit to our decision. Instead of going back and forth and overthinking the decision, go ahead and take action.

The process of decision-making is difficult but it can be made simple with these tips in mind.

Nilanjana Parijat is a depth-oriented, and holistic wellness psychologist, with extensive hands-on experience in working with children, adolescents and families. She currently works with Reboot Wellness, Gurugram.