The Five Ordered Steps of Problem-Solving

Step 4: Making a Decision

Due to impulsivity, being pressured by others, or feeling like you have to do something, you may rush into decisions when you could wait. You can reduce the chance that you are making an impulsive decision by asking

• "When do I have to make this decision?
         Often, you have more time than you think.
•  "How will I feel about this decision 5 years from now?"

On the other hand, you may have trouble making a decision and acting on it because you worry that you will make the wrong decision or that your decision will have consequences that you did not anticipate.
To help you make decisions with less stress,

• Be less emotional about the decision by asking
  •  "What would I advise a friend to do?"
  • "Do I really need to optimize --make the perfect choice-- or would I be happy just satisficing--selecting an option that was good enough?"
  • "If making this choice is making a mistake, is there a way to make the mistake less costly (e.g., investing less money in it, moving in rather than getting married)or to insure myself if the decision leads to a bad outcome?"

   

• Avoid feeling like making a decision both commits you to one option while also eliminating other options by realizing that
  • You may be able to try out an option before committing to it (e.g., renting before buying, doing something part-time before doing it full-time).
  • You may be able to have the benefits of more than one of your original options by following the Heath brothers advice: Instead of asking "Should I do x OR y?"  asking  "Could I do x AND y?"
  • If things don't work out with your original plan (Plan A), you can go to a backup plan (Plan B) --and even Plans C, D, and E.

   

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