10 Trick to Make Better Decisions

Is there a technique to make better decisions ? Any way to be more sure that you have decided the right thing?

Well it turns out that yes. If you’re like me and can spend 10 minutes thinking about what shirt to wear when going out or you tend to change your mind often, understanding the decision-making process can save you a lot of time and headaches.

Thinking more does not mean deciding better

At the beginning of the 20th century, Sigmund Freud already noted the following:

When I have to make a minor decision, I have always believed it is best to consider all the pros and cons. In vital decisions, however, the decision should come from the unconscious, from within us.

In a 2006 Dutch study, participants were instructed to choose one of five available paintings to decorate their home. But they were separated into three groups according to how they had to make the decision.

1. The participants in the first group had to look at the paintings for a minute and a half and extensively list all the pros and cons before choosing (a very thoughtful, rational decision).
2. The second group simply had to look and decide immediately (impulsive choice).
3. The third group had to look at the paintings, spend 5 minutes solving seemingly unrelated puzzles and anagrams, and then look at the paintings again before making a decision.

A month later, the researchers contacted the study participants and asked them how satisfied they were with their condition. And there was a very clear pattern: people who had been solving puzzles before making their decision were much happier with their choice.

Why use your unconscious mind

The authors of the study conclude that the secret lies in the power of the unconscious mind. The rational mind is very good when it comes to making logical decisions between a few options that only differ in one or two factors, but it is not as skilled at deciding when the options and differences are multiple and more complex. In that case you tend not to evaluate the situation in general and focus on the dominant characteristic, losing perspective.

However, the unconscious mind is much more powerful in making complex decisions. If you give it enough time it is able to analyze all the details and provide a balanced choice.

The study found that making a well-considered decision is just as ineffective as making an irrational decision on the spot. First you have to observe the situation and then give the unconscious part time to work. To do this you have to keep the rational mind busy so that it does not interfere . In the studio this was achieved by diverting attention to the puzzles, but there are many other ways to achieve the same effect.

In case you think that the scope of this methodology is limited to unimportant decisions such as choosing paintings, I must tell you that the study has been repeated several times with other types of decisions obtaining the same results .

How to make better decisions

In general, the authors of all these studies on decision making conclude that there are two ways to make decisions based on the importance of the issue:

1. For simple decisions,the ideal is to use reason, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages.
2. Before making a more complex decision, forget about it for a while, keep your rational side distracted by doing other things, and then decide. You’ll probably make better choices and have fewer regrets.

For me personally, the best ideas come to me later while swimming in the solitude of the pool, after having been thinking about the issue that was worrying me for a while, so I think I do it well. How do you usually make your decisions?