I often get lost when making even the simplest of decisions. Analysis paralysis is a common struggle that I think many people can relate to. Some people spend almost all their time stuck in a loop trying to figure out what to do, others make most decisions with ease but when it comes to a certain area of life they crumble with frustrating predictability.

We often start down the road of over-analyzation with good intentions. We care about the work we are doing, we genuinely want to help someone, or we are acutely aware of our own limitations and don’t want to fall pray to a mistake we feel we might make (either for lack of self-control or out of ignorance). Our fear of failure leads us to try and consider all the possibilities in an attempt to do the best job we possibly can. The irony of this is that our anxiety leads us to perform worse than if we took our goal a little bit less seriously. We subject ourselves to all kinds of emotional stress and spend our precious time and energy on our fears rather than what is important. We begin to treat Fear as our friend when instead we should kick it to the curb.

While I don’t have an answer for why some of us struggle to choose – I have found a few strategies that help me to quickly make decisions with more confidence.

Find the Cheapest Productive Thing You Can Do

Sometimes when we are split on how best to solve a problem there is a foundational set of tasks that need to be done before the choice is ultimately made. If you find yourself in this situation – rejoice! All you need to do is focus on the tasks you already know need to be completed and you can consider your options while working. I find that while working on the foundation pieces I will often gain perspective about the project that helps me answer the question I was stuck on.

Consider a project to finish a basement in a house. There is lots to do to prepare the space and you can’t wait to pick out colors for the walls and furniture to decorate the new room of your house. What color should you pick though? If you pick mid-century modern furniture will you need a bold primary color or pure white? Do you have money for all new furniture or do you need to get some free used pieces? That is a lot of questions! Whatever color you pick out and whatever furniture you eventually end up with you still need to go through all the boxes, hang all the drywall, and lay down a coat of primer. Start the project and daydream while you work!

Keep a List of Low Hanging Fruit

This is one of my new favorites. Write out a list of tasks that are low effort that just need to get done and use those as filler for when you are struggling to make a decision about other work. Sometimes we fall into analysis paralysis simply because we are mentally fatigued and can’t manage to think things through without getting overwhelmed. When this happens it is helpful to have a list of basic tasks that don’t require too much critical thinking.

My list of low hanging fruit at work looks like

• Clean up my email inbox
• Write an automated test
• Review the Jira board
• Clean my desk – throw away papers/notepads

My email inbox gets out of hand really quickly. I find that going through and deleting 50 or so emails helps me to have a more productive email habit. Attending to my inbox as a retreat from problem solving also usually encourages me to respond to a few message I may have neglected. Probably the biggest benefit though is that it resets my anxiety level by allowing me to get a small productivity win.

Ponder With a Time Limit

Concerns and worries aren’t necessarily bad. Sometimes they can be necessary to help us understand complications that might arise and their consequences. The problem is that often our concerns lead to confusion and our worries lead to whining. Personally I find a set time limit and pen and paper to be helpful in this situation.

Take a pen and notepad (digital is okay, but I usually prefer the real deal) and start a timer. Give yourself 10-20 minutes to think things through while taking notes. Shorter is generally better. Remember, we are trying to solve the problem we are trying to manager our time and emotions. Sometimes I will even go as low 2-5 minutes.

Begin to write out what you are worried about, what you don’t understand, and any questions you might have. Once your timer goes off review what you just wrote out and extract some action items. Can you answer one of your questions with a bit of research? Is there someone you know who has the skills you feel you lack? If you had to accomplish these tasks in the next 10 minutes what could you do? Go do it!

Don’t Try to be Perfect

Lately I’ve come to realize that which a my analysis paralysis may have something to do with good-intentions it often as a lot to do with pride. I am just too confident that if I thought about a problem hard enough or long enough I would be able to accomplish everything. That simply is not the case. Often, regardless of the task, there is often something about me that needs to change before the goal is achieved. I need to learn something, admit a weakness of mine, have more self-control, etc… The quicker I can get over trying to be perfect the faster I can make a mistake or uncover a hidden challenge the more time and energy I will have to throw at it.