What You (& I) Can Do When Indecision Cripples Our Thinking At Work and During After Hours
Debating with yourself is not always the best thing to do. Here’s how I break the neck of indecision.
Indecision is like the common cold.
It comes and goes, comes and goes, comes and goes.
Unlike the common cold, there is no medication for indecision. I wish there was. All I need to do is pop the pill, and that teetering decision goes away like the headache and stuffed nose…
Except.
There are no such shortcuts.
I battle indecision throughout my waking hours. It visits me when I work to service my client, make a pitch, write an online article, or place a position trade in the markets.
I have never defeated it.
I learned to live with it.
The Root Cause Laundry List
Jim, my ex-colleague, was obsessed with indecision.
Technically, he was all about defeating this psychological plague. His words, not mine.
Jim would dutifully log down that moment he became indecisive, specifically how he felt and what he was thinking about. He would ask us when we talk about our experience on our own accord.
- He made notes.
- He compared notes.
- He extracted commonalities.
Jim shared his secret laundry list with me once. His documentation prowess impressed me.
In that list, he covered the following moments that led to indecision.
- Money decisions.
- Big money decisions.
- Psychological fatigue.
- Multi-variable fatigue.
- Boardroom policy impasse.
- Human relationship gridlock.
- Today versus tomorrow consideration.
I went down his list. I looked up, down, down, then up, and plunged into deep thoughts.
On paper, it looks as if there were overlaps.
Thinking things through — There were none.
Jim knew exactly what I was trying to do. He nudged me.
“Hey, Aldric. Overthinking is another form of indecision in the making. Talk to me about your thought bubbles. I am certain I have thought about what you are thinking about.”
Jim is right.
I Want Solutions, Not Root Causes!
Yup, that was my exact retort to Jim.
He looked slightly annoyed.
“You instant noodle old boy!”
We broke into a loud chuckle. Yes, I am anxious to find out. Jim must have figured it out.
It is my duty to figure out what he has figured out.
Jim broke it down further for me. What a handsome intellectual man he is!
He said there are 3 pillar determinants of indecision.
- You,
- People,
- Pain.
Of course, he elaborated.
You refer to the individual. We can suffer from indecision because of internal reasons.
We slept late. The caffeine boost wore off. We just completed a 3-hour brain-draining professional examination. Our bosses reprimanded us. We missed our quarterly sales target.
Yadda, yadda, yadda.
A million things can go wrong during our day. And they stack up.
What happens when it is 8 in the evening and you are due to complete your article draft? Right.
You teeter. You hum. You haw. You go back and forth in your head. You stare at your laptop, hoping ChatGPT will finish your work on your behalf.
You are more likely to experience this during the 12th waking hour of a terrible long day.
Jim’s advice is simple.
Don’t sacrifice tomorrow for this evening. It is never worth it. Forcing through indecision may accelerate burnout(s).
Take a step back. Go sleep. Live to fight another day.
Because there will always be another day.
Indecision does originate from others — He cautioned me to be aware of those around me.
“Indecision can come from a negative energy source. When you are surrounded by indecisive people thinking about where to go for lunch, you will catch their aura. Be aware!”
I could not believe my ears.
For a moment, I thought he was a quack.
And then, I was reminded of one incident. I was in a meeting room with my peers (senior people, by the way) to drop a project because the client is a perpetual pain in the ass and has been making life difficult for our team members.
It was an easy discussion because the contract value was low. Or so I thought.
“Should we drop this client? You know, it took me 3 years to secure this deal…”
“The project is doing well. We must allow the team to climb the learning curve, right…?”
“What if we meet such clients again? What if this client badmouths us? What if, what if, what if…”
I went in, searching for a decision.
I came out more confused than ever.
So, yes. Jim has a point. In fact, he recommends the opposite.
Avoid group dynamics when you are crippled by indecision. I think Jim is right. After all, no one will help us make our decisions. Yet, people are willing and happy to confuse us further.
We live in an asymmetric, crazy world.
And then, there is pain.
This one is easy to explain.
By default, we avoid pain. That is why we delay all the right things we must do. Reason? They require effort.
It includes,
- Exercise,
- Saving money,
- Eating our vegetables.
It might be clear to you when I write the above in isolation.
Let me write the above in comparison mode with other examples.
- Exercise versus Netflix.
- Saving money versus buying that new iPhone 15.
- Eating our vegetables versus fried chicken with beer.
- Writing online articles versus consuming content online.
- Preparing for a deal pitch versus attending an investment webinar.
Can you see the contrast?
The contrast is the problem.
If you put the fried chicken beside the plate of garden veggies — The fried chicken wins. Well, maybe not all the time. That said, I will place my bets on that fried chicken.
In short, to avoid indecision from crippling us — Avoid making direct contrast.
It made sense to me.
However, it is too early for me to judge its effectiveness. I must give it a try.
The Close
Can indecision cripple us at work and during after hours?
Absolutely.
That said, there are things we can do. We can,
- Avoid making decisions when we are tired,
- Avoid people who are indecisive when we must plant a flag deep in the ground,
- Avoid making obvious contrasts between today and tomorrow.
That way, we free our minds from decision gridlock and execution inhibition.
I think so.
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