Limit Your Choices
As you know I am a big fan of routine and segmenting non-important decisions: Roast on a Sunday, filling up with petrol on a Wednesday, laying out my clothes for the week (and having a ‘uniform’) – it turns out there is science behind my madness!
A few decades of research has made it clear that some people are not great at making decisions—they don’t know what they want, and the prospect of deciding often causes anxiety.
Have you ever been to a restaurant and thought the “the menu is too long’?
Barry Schwartz, the psychologist who wrote the ‘Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less’, 12 years ago, demonstrated how having more choice can interfere with happiness. And his work continues to be valid today.
In creating his theory Schwartz divided people into two groups, those who :
1) ‘maximise’ and those who
2) ‘satisfice’.
Those who maximise try and seek perfection in their choices. They seek out the all the best possible options and hope to make the perfect choice. Usually lamenting the final decision – maybe I should have…
Those who satisfice choose something based on a preset criteria (generally subconsciously) and move on. That is definitely me with most of the decisions I make.
By shifting some of your decision making into satisficing instead of maximising you will feel better about your decisions and free up your energy for more important activities.
In small business you sometimes might not make plans or decisions in the hope that something better may turn up (FOMB Fear of Missing Business!).
Subconsciously you probably satisfice on some decisions and maximise on others. You might buy the same brand of washing powder every shop without thinking about it, but pore over the varieties of canned tomatoes. Maybe you think about ever buying one type of car but consult Choice for your next lot of white goods. You may return to the same designer but try different printers.
Whatever your preferences, you will save time and energy by improving your decision making. Here are some ways to turn more of your decisions into satisficing:
- Think about the purchasing decisions you are going to make over the next week
- Choose one product
- Outline your criteria for success
- What do you really want from each purchase – what can’t you live without eg. Australian made; what is a non-negotiable eg. Made in China
- Choose the first option you land on or set yourself a time frame to make a decision
- Move on
- Accept your decision and do the same the next time
- Plan the next purchase
Or you just might want to shift some of choices into a no-brainer. For example:
- Buy the same brands that work for you and you know the size and style you like: shoes, clothes
- Outsource your decision making about food altogether by getting a food box delivered complete with recipes
- Choose from the specials board at the restaurant
Now this may seem boring – but really how much do your choices vary anyway? Add spice or variety for those things that matter and relegate the rest to the routine and mundane.
“Being a good decision-maker means you’re good at making decisions – It doesn’t mean you make good decisions.”
See Dr Schwartz TED Talk. https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice?language=en
You may also apply the principles of limiting choice to what you provide to your customers. If you provide less choice could your sales go up?? There have been numerous example where limiting customers choice has resulted in increased sales – but that’s a discussion for another day.