Overcome Paralysis by Analysis
What is analysis paralysis?
Analysis paralysis is a term for feeling stuck because you're overthinking a problem. It happens when you have too many options and keep researching instead of making a decision.
What causes it? Anxiety. Decisions are hard—what if you choose wrong? Our brains want to make the right choice, even if there's no perfect solution. Being indecisive might be a sign of impostor syndrome, where you feel like everything has to be perfect at work.
An example:
You have $15k to invest. You spend weeks doing research... maybe you're so confused at the end, you decide to do nothing (a confused mind often steps away from fear of making the wrong choice). When all you needed to do was deposit your money into a CD or Money market account paying interest. And in the grand scheme, that 1 or 2% more you earned may not offset the delay. My recommendation? Robinhood.
Psychologist Barry Schwartz came up with the "Paradox of Choice." More options can lead to better results but also cause more anxiety, indecision, and dissatisfaction with the final choice.
In 2000, psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper did a study on consumer choices. They had a table with 24 jams one day and six jams another day. They found people were 10 times more likely to buy from the table with six choices.
Why? Making decisions takes mental energy. The more we have to analyze, the harder it is. Sometimes, it's easier not to choose at all.
Analysis paralysis can impact our daily lives.
Watch out for decreased performance in critical tasks. Our working memory helps us focus on information we need to finish tasks. It's important for learning and creating. But, our working memory has limits. When we use too much of it, focusing gets harder.
Jason Sattizahn, Jason Moser, and Sian L. Beilock found a link between working memory and performance in their 2016 study. They saw that high-pressure situations can lead to lower performance on challenging tasks.
Overthinking can hurt your creativity.
Grace Hawthorne and Allan Reiss studied students' creativity by scanning their brains with an MRI while they drew pictures based on action words. The more students thought about their drawing, the harder it was. Manish Saggar, the study's lead author, said, "The more you think about it, the more you mess it up."
If you don't have a timeline, you might never make a decision. Choose a deadline or time frame for when the decision must be made.
If you have too many choices, eliminate some right away. Think about what you want to achieve and remove options that don't fit.
Being impulsive isn't always bad.
If you struggle with overthinking, try making small decisions fast. Choosing where to eat or which way to go to work can help you be more decisive with bigger choices.
A step-by-step guide can make big decisions easier. Following a guide can help lighten the mental load of making tough choices.