Quick decisions

When the marginal difference between worst possible and best possible outcomes from any given decision is less than the opportunity cost of time needed to decide (combined with the decision fatigue) – just choose randomly and move on.

More subtle than making the right decisions is knowing which decisions you actually need to sit down and spend time thinking about. For all other smaller decisions, you actually stand to gain more by just closing your eyes and pointing your finger (as long as you’re quick about it).

For example, let’s say your significant other asks, “Hey dear, how do I look in this dress?” And you’re deciding between “beautiful” and “stunning.” But you pause and scratch your chin. Now she’s storming back into the closet to change for the tenth time because you paused when she asked you how she looks and any remotely positive answer would have done the job.

Another example, choosing a font for an email. Let’s say you’ve got it narrowed down to Times New Roman and Helvetica. Chances that whoever you’re sending to will notice a difference? Very small. And if they do, it’s an extremely minimal difference. So the only way to lose is by spending any time trying to decide between those two.

Decide quick when it doesn’t matter. This will save time for when it does.