Thursday 26 April 2012

Life challenge - week 17 - decision making



Decision making is one that is baffling for me. I manage a project in my job so have to make decisions on a daily basis. I have no problem doing this. I acted as the Manager of the branch once and a piece of advice that was given to me prior which stuck was - The worst thing you could do is not make a decision - a lot of times there are many different answers, so make a decision and stick to it. I can manage this at work, but when it comes to personal decisions I really struggle. Things like choosing a restaurant for dinner, what to order at a restaurant, what to do on the weekend etc. These decisions don't come easily.

So I'm baffled as I find it easy at work, but not so much at home. Deb has us looking at decision making in week 17.

So I've tired to think about it a little simpler. I need to tackle my personal decisions the same way I do my work ones.

A few examples....
I needed to purchase ink for the printer today. Usually this would have taken me a long time to decide. For example my thought process is something like this:
Should I get the compatible brand or the genuine brand? Hmm the compatible is much cheaper and last time we went through the ink in 4months...but did we go through the ink so quickly as we got the compatible brand? Would it have lasted longer if we got the original? Hmm, check out the Big W catalogue for price. Umm I think I will get the compatible one. Hunter has been printing heaps lately and it's better to get the cheaper one. Log onto the website where I have bought ink from - hmm the one I want is $42. Free postage if you spend $50 - or $6.50 for postage. Hmmm, do I pay the postage, or buy more so I spend over $50. Hmm I could get 2 lots for $84 and save on postage - but then I will need to pay all that now, compared to $48.50 for 1 lot. Ohh look, there is another deal - $119 for 4 blacks and 2 colours - well that's 2 extra blacks from getting 2 lots and is only $35 more - I wonder how much blacks are on their own?  Hmm maybe I should get that?

This can go on for ages until I get myself confused. This morning I decided, at the end of the day, all we need is some ink to print. We had a situation on Saturday when we ran out and I had promised the kids I would print them colouring pages. I don't want to run out again, so if I get extra, then when we run out I can grab the spare, and then order another one then! So I got the $119 pack and stocked up for a while! Decision made in about a minute - I'm sure this decision took much longer last time.

I've also been looking at accommodation options for our NZ trip coming up. I made a spreadsheet- and of course got myself confused with the different options, prices and different prices depending on which company you book through. Ahh so confusing. At the end of the day - what do we need - comfortable accommodation that isn't too expensive! Easy, we were recommended one by the travel agent - check it out - yep it looks good - good location, good price - lets stick to that!

Decision making is something that I am going to have to consciously work on. 'm going to ask myself is it a small decision or life changing? If it's a small decision - it only warrants a small amount of time. I'm sure with conscious effort- I can make making personal decisions a easier process!

And now I'm deciding to press publish - despite not having read over the post properly....go me!


5 comments:

  1. Exactly! you did awesome with this one - that is a perfect example of simplifying your life - extrapolate this out to all those little decisions made in a year and think of the time, stress and effort you save and free up for living!

    LOVE IT!

    Deb @ home life simplified

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can totally see where you are coming from with this although at the moment I am only working part-time outside the home {only about 15 hours a month} I can remember what it was like when I was working full-time in an office and having to make decicions everyday and quickly too.

    I find some days I am REALLY good at making decisions- fast, stick to what I decide etc. Other days it can take me forever.

    With my history of depression I have found in the past that if I am already stressed or have high anxiety that simple decisions that should take me 30 seconds often send me into a panic. Things like "Do I want chicken or beef for dinner?" used to throw me. Luckily in recent years I have not had so many problems with this but I still remember what that felt like and it was so hard.

    I think the ink sounds like a great deal :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love this post Bec, I agree totally that the only wrong decision is one not made. I did the same this week and made decisions without overthinking them and with less stress.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Know exactly what you're talking about with the printer ink. I did the same when ordering new blinds for my place. A friend kindly advised that while I expended all that time and energy on weighing up which company I went with, time burned that wasn't spending on something else (more constructive). He said 'what's your time worth?'. I try to remember that every time I find myself obsessing unnecessarily.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like you've made a great start on making decisions quickly. We can overload ourselves with information so easily and then the decision becomes harder and feels like it is much more important than it really is.

    ReplyDelete