One of my New Year's Resolutions this year is to get better at my decision paralysis. I think making decent decisions you are mostly happy with (and quickly) is a great character trait to have. Being more decisive in general is just something good to excel at as a person in these modern times (and some online accounts I've read have suggested it's a good trait for men to have specifically, but that's a different topic).
Decision paralysis is something I suspect a lot of people have these days, and I don't think I am alone in this. Especially when you consider stuff like consumerism, and the need to do research on your choices before you purchase something. Reading reviews, doing price comparisons, looking up different companies, etc. It feels exhausting at times, and I am sick of it. The thing about this stuff is, it's important to remember things didn't always used to be this way. Well, not on this level. Price shopping and things of that nature existed in the past, but we're living in a world that has exaggerated this behaviour by a lot. It's not just doing your research, it's hyper-consumerism.
The other day I found myself staring at my computer screen for about 4 hours because I was looking for a decent pair of boots to purchase. I was looking for a very specific type, so it took me much longer than necessary. So I ended up falling down this rabbit hole of reading about different leathers, the source of these leathers, different types of laces, design patterns, insole choices, outsole possibilities.....This went on for FOUR HOURS. Then shortly after this, Trump started his whole thing about tariffs and the U.S. and Canada started beefing in the news. That started a whole new path of research; now I had to have a pair of Canadian-made boots to support my country. Again, this took several hours. I went down another timehole of reading and cross-referencing and so on about all the different Canadian companies available to me. And here's the kicker: it's been several days since I got started on this search for a new pair of decent leather boots, and I have still not made a decision and purchased any of them. This is unacceptable behaviour, and this is what I am talking about when I say the phrase "decision paralysis."
Now, to contrast this behaviour: I recently bought a new mechanical keyboard. I won't lie to you: this is another big purchase that involved plenty of time being wasted and sitting around reading about the best possible options at my disposal. I'll spare you the details of what this process was like because it's very depressing like the boots. Anyway, the key difference here is I actually ended up making the purchase this time. And lemme tell you: I am happier than I ever could have imagined with this decision. The keyboard is everything I could have dreamed about and more. The feel of typing is satisfying, the noises are exactly what I wanted from it, I feel like I'm sitting in the office from All The President's Men, when I type now it feels very musical. And yet, I could have let this go on and on. I am not exactly sure why I ended up buying this keyboard (there is the indecision again), but it felt right. I guess it was also because the annoyance of having to make a decision was getting to be so bad for me that I could not take it anymore. I got so sick of constantly thinking about what the best possible choice could be that I finally had to just make a decision and do my best to be happy with it.
Of course, the reason why I don't make decisions faster is because there is a chance I won't always be so lucky. I could just as easily make a choice and end up with a terrible outcome. Like asking a girl out in high school to the prom or something. So then I end up wasting 4 hours on the computer reading about leather like an idiot. The thing I am trying to remember now is that the bad experiences and good experiences are probably equally likely, but the wasting time part is the only thing I have control over. I don't have that much control over what happens after, but I do have a say in how much time I waste, and from now on I want to be less wasteful when it comes to that stuff.
I'll close here with a humorous thing I noticed the other day that is quite fitting for this topic. I was in a coffee shop (this was a Tim Hortons if you're Canadian or know what that is) and I heard this old man say to the girl at the counter, "Lemme get a cup of coffee and a donut." The girl goes, "What kind of donut?" The old man didn't even really think about it until she asked him, all he knew was that he wanted a donut. He quickly decided and moved on. I thought this was funny because this is the type of person I want to be more like. It doesn't matter what donut it is, it just matters that you move on and stop holding up the line, that's really it. I mean, the type of donut matters slightly, but it’s way more important that you do actually make a decision and move on. Consumerism has convinced us all that our choices are the most important aspect of the transaction, but it’s actually the moving on part.
It's kinda funny to me that at a place like Starbucks, the more ingredients your drink has, the more it costs and the longer you have to wait. But if you're just ordering "a cup of coffee" like the old guy at Tims, your drink is gonna take like 2 seconds and cost basically nothing. We overcomplicate stuff a lot of the time when it doesn't have to be that way. And for all our troubles, we are rewarded with: a more expensive bill, and more time wasted.
There was another older guy I observed at a McDonald's recently (yes, I guess I have been participating in capitalistic eating/drinking a lot recently. I am stressed). He went up to the counter and stated, "I want a burger. And a McFlurry." Again, this made me laugh a little because of how sure the man was. There was zero time wasted there, and I also loved how he said "a burger” and not a “Big Mac.” Once again: it's not about the name of the burger or type or size or condiments or whatever else. It's about getting A burger, not a specific burger. I just love this type of decision making. You order it, eat it, feel full, take a poo, and move on.