August 4, 2022.

Don’t worry, this is not a math lesson but something to consider. When we make decisions, our brains tend to bucket them into big versus small, consequential versus inconsequential, emotional impact versus no emotional impact. Depending on the situation you may do a risk analysis mentally. I learned very recently that not doing a risk analysis for a small seemingly inconsequential decision can turn into a big issue.

We are constantly making decisions whether we consider our thoughts a decision or not. Some people like to sit down and write a list of risks or a pros and cons list, which usually hints at some possible risks. Most of the time we make small decisions quickly and automatically: from what to eat, which route to take, and when to do work or rest. Occasionally we are faced with big decisions such as where to live long-term, which college to attend, what career to pursue, who to marry etc. For these decisions we give ourselves more time to contemplate on what’s at stake which increases the chances of making a good decision. It’s usually small seemingly inconsequential decisions that can create some unexpected negative consequences because we tend to brush over them.

Making small decisions carefully

Because small decisions seem simple and straight forward, we don’t offer them time and we don’t ask ourselves what’s at stake automatically as we would with a big decision. As a result, we can have blind spots. Have you ever noticed that you might think one thing, sleep on it and wake up realizing you were wrong or now have a slightly different perspective? This is the gift that time gives us when making decisions. Everyone understands that time is needed when making a big decision and usually we uncover valuable insights with increased contemplation on a topic. By making small decisions quick, we don’t go through this process. Our fast decisions might be right majority of the time. However, there will come a time when given adequate room to think, we would have chosen a different path. It’s in these situations that we might have made a decision that comes with negative consequences.

Time is your friend

Treat all decisions the same whether big or small. If there is room to sleep on a decision, choose that over making the decision quickly especially if it’s not necessary. Time is your friend!

Question of the day:

  • Which decisions do I need to give more time in the future?

Comment and share with a friend who might benefit from reading this!