This column will change your life: Short cuts for taking everyday decisions

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Everyday decisions are often the ones that we find most problematical. So why not have a few short cuts to help you reach the right ones?

 

 

I feel slightly sorry for Suzy Welch, the self-help guru behind the book 10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea. Welch's "10-10-10" method for taking decisions (not to be confused with the 10:10 climate campaign or, for that matter, 1010, the year Beowulf was probably ­written) is genuinely wise. When faced with any dilemma, she advises, ask yourself: what will the consequences be in 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years? This process "surfaces our unconscious agendas", Welch claims, though what it most ­obviously does is properly balance short- and long-term perspectives, avoiding both hedonistic impulsiveness and a grim-faced fixation with the future. "Sound simple? Not quite," warns the book's publicity material. ­Actually, though, it is simple. That's its strength – but it also means that, unsportingly, I've now told you ­everything important in the book. That I can do this so briefly is surely, sales-wise, a problem.

Yet decision-making tricks such as 10-10-10 ought to be ridiculously simple, because we need them most when it comes to addressing the countless minor dilemmas that crowd our days. Momentous life-choices, by contrast, can be dwelt on and discussed with friends. But it's a curious fact that many people seem to find the insignificant choices at least as paralysing as the big ones – a truth I've had many ­opportunities to ponder while ­waiting for my ­father, not an indecisive man on the macro level, to agonise over ­toppings at PizzaExpress. Here are three more short cuts for taking ­everyday decisions:

1) 5-3-1: A dependable tactic for two people choosing a restaurant or movie: one person picks five options, the other narrows the field to three, then the first person selects one. This "has saved me and my girlfriend from starving to death on more than one occasion", writes one commenter at ask.metafilter.com. Hint: couples should agree in advance to use this rule, so that "whether or not to use 5-3-1" doesn't become a ­dilemma itself.

2) Be a satisficer, not a maximiser: "Satisficing", coined by the economist Herbert Simon, means not ­letting the best be the enemy of the good. But it's more rigorous than that. Rather than trying to pick the best bed-and-breakfast, for example, decide first on the criteria that ­matter most – "near woodland", "serves a great breakfast" and "in Wales", perhaps – then select the first one you encounter that ticks all the boxes. This is far less exhausting, and may actually bring you closer to the "best", by focusing your mind on what matters, rather than alluring advertising or other distractions.

3) The 37% Rule. This is for ­sequential choices, where each ­option must be accepted or rejected in turn – as in flat-hunting, where an option may vanish if you hesitate, or, say, choosing where to picnic while hiking (assuming you don't want to retrace your steps). Provided you can estimate the total number of options – the number of flats you're prepared to look at, the number of potential picnic spots – it's a weird mathematical truth that your best bet is to reject the first 37% of them, then pick the first one that's better than any of those first 37%. (If none is, pick the final one instead.) According to an article in Lecture Notes In ­Economics And Mathematical ­Systems, this can be applied to choosing a mate, too. But maybe that journal's not the greatest place to look for dating tips.

agonise: cierpieć, męczyć się

alluring: powabny, nęcący

assume: zakładać, robić założenie

dwelt on: dwell (dwelt, dwelt) on: rozwodzić się nad

indecisive: niezdecydowany, chwiejny

insignificant: bez znaczenia, nieistotny

momentous: doniosły, ważny

ponder: rozmyślać

retrace: powracać tą samą drogą, odtwarzać

rigorous: rygorystyczny, surowy

unsportingly: nie fair, nieszlachetnie

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