Analysis paralysis
Decision fatigue occurs when people feel exhausted from making too many choices. Research has found that, even though we generally like having choices, having to make too many decisions in a short amount of time may lead us to make decisions that are less than ideal.
Keep it simple
People sometimes procrastinate because they are unable to make decisions in a timely manner. This can be an issue in various ways, such as when a person can’t decide which course of action to engage in, or when a person needs to make a certain decision before they can move ahead with their general plan of action.
For example, a person might delay starting to diet, because they can’t decide which diet plan to follow. Similarly, a person might delay getting started with an exercise program because they cannot decide what works best for them.
There are various factors that generally make it more likely that someone will get stuck over-thinking the situation while trying to make a decision, a phenomenon which is sometimes referred to as analysis paralysis or choice paralysis.
Main factors to consider from a practical perspective
- The more options you have, the harder it will be for you to choose. Essentially, the more options you have to choose from, the harder it will be for you to evaluate them and decide which one is preferable.
- The more similar your options are to one another, the harder it will be for you to choose. Essentially, the more similar the available options are, and the closer they are in value, the harder it will be for you to decide which one is better, especially in cases where there isn’t a single option that is clearly preferable to the others.
- The more important the choice is, the harder it will be for you to choose. Essentially, the greater the consequences of making a decision, the harder it will be for you to finalize your decision, so that you are generally more likely to delay before making a major decision than you are before making a minor one.
Create healthy habits
In addition, it’s important to keep in mind that each time you have to make a decision, you end up depleting your mental resources to some degree, especially if you are prone to indecisiveness. Accordingly, the more decisions you have to make during a certain time period, the more you deplete your capacity for self-control, and the more likely you are to procrastinate in making future decisions, at least until you have a chance to recharge yourself mentally.
