OVERCOMING ANALYSIS PARALYSIS

You want to make the right decision. We all do.

But every time you get close to making a decision, doubt creeps into your head and you start to look for more information. And then a little more. There is truly no end to the research and information gathering you can do.

This is what I refer to as "Analysis Paralysis."

Rather than making a decision given the best information you have at a given point in time, you agonize over every possible outcome and small piece of information. As a result, your decision process becomes slow and laborious and you miss out on opportunities simply because you could not decide.

Here are 3 ways to move forward and get unstuck!

1. TRUST

You were probably hired because you have a specific skill set, have demonstrated a level of care about your work, and have a proven track record of showing good judgement. So why do you always second guess yourself? Start trusting your own judgement and don't overthink every decision.

2. PARETO'S PRINCIPLE

You might already be familiar with Pareto's Principle (also known as the 80/20 rule.) While it has many applications, the one I like best is that 20% of the work provides 80% of the results. This implies that looking to get to 100% might be very costly in terms of time and effort. When you feel like you've done a reasonable amount of legwork towards making a decision, before going further, ask yourself - Is it worth it?

*My second favorite application of the principle is that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time.

3. PRIORITIES

Getting stuck in Analysis Paralysis means other work is not getting done. You need to decide if getting to the 'perfect' choice is more important than an educated decision that allows time to get other important work done. You need to constantly prioritize.

Next time you get stuck over-analyzing a decision, try applying these three methods to keep you moving forward.