WEBVTT - Go on a decision spree

0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:09.360
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:16.880
<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:21.560
<v Speaker 1>tip is to go on a decision spree. If you

0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:26.000
<v Speaker 1>need to make lots of small decisions, challenge yourself to

0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:30.560
<v Speaker 1>do them in a short period of time. You probably

0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:34.080
<v Speaker 1>won't be worse off in terms of outcomes, but you

0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:37.400
<v Speaker 1>will be better off in terms of saving time, and

0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:42.600
<v Speaker 1>that is a win either way. Today's tip, like some

0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:45.720
<v Speaker 1>others this week, comes from Nell Wolfhart, who is a

0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:50.640
<v Speaker 1>decision coach. Nell helps people make better and swifter decisions.

0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.480
<v Speaker 1>She shared some of her favorite decision making tips with

0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.800
<v Speaker 1>me so I could share them with Before Breakfast listeners.

0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.880
<v Speaker 1>If you want to learn more about Nell's work, you

0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:07.080
<v Speaker 1>can visit her website at Decide and move Forward dot com.

0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:13.679
<v Speaker 1>When people are really dithering about big things, Nell challenges

0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:15.920
<v Speaker 1>them to cut the amount of time they have to

0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:20.120
<v Speaker 1>make the decision. Whether you give yourself a month or

0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:23.520
<v Speaker 1>two weeks, you are still going to have to decide,

0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:27.919
<v Speaker 1>so it is often best too. As her website name suggests,

0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:32.840
<v Speaker 1>Decide and Move Forward. But she notes that this also

0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:38.360
<v Speaker 1>applies to small decisions. If you are chronically indecisive. She suggests,

0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.360
<v Speaker 1>I recommend getting a stack of post it notes and

0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:45.440
<v Speaker 1>on each one writing a decision you've been trying to make.

0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:48.480
<v Speaker 1>What meal to prep for the week, what to wear

0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:51.160
<v Speaker 1>to that friend's wedding, where to go on spring break?

0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:56.840
<v Speaker 1>Then she suggests, set a timer for thirty minutes and

0:01:56.960 --> 0:02:00.480
<v Speaker 1>just go right through the stack and make each decision

0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:06.080
<v Speaker 1>right now. Here's the magic Now notes that you will

0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:09.360
<v Speaker 1>likely see that the decision quality is just as good

0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:13.920
<v Speaker 1>as if you'd agonize over each and every one. But

0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:18.360
<v Speaker 1>the upside is that this process takes a lot less time.

0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:22.959
<v Speaker 1>I really like this idea of a decision spree for

0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.680
<v Speaker 1>a few reasons. One is that it resembles one of

0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:30.400
<v Speaker 1>my favorite time management rules, which is to batch the

0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:34.960
<v Speaker 1>little things. Rather than filling out permission slips and those

0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:38.600
<v Speaker 1>forms for HR and buying birthday presents and giving your

0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:41.919
<v Speaker 1>RSVP for the networking lunch. Whenever you think about these things,

0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.560
<v Speaker 1>you save up all these tasks for a low energy

0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:50.880
<v Speaker 1>time and do them all in one fell swoop. When

0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:54.200
<v Speaker 1>you think about it, many small tasks are in fact

0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:59.320
<v Speaker 1>decisions what to buy for that birthday, how to answer

0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.600
<v Speaker 1>that ridiculous HR question If you are going to that

0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:06.920
<v Speaker 1>networking lunch or not. If you are indecisive, those little

0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:10.440
<v Speaker 1>decisions can hold up getting a lot done. It seems

0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:14.560
<v Speaker 1>hard to decide, and so we put things off. But

0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:18.000
<v Speaker 1>if you give yourself a small window and say that

0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.919
<v Speaker 1>you have to come up with something, you can stop

0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:26.000
<v Speaker 1>yourself from looking at all the universe of options. You

0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:30.000
<v Speaker 1>will wear whatever you have that looks good to the wedding.

0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:34.560
<v Speaker 1>You will buy whatever comes up as Amazon's recommendation for

0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:38.200
<v Speaker 1>eleven year old girls. You will just answer whatever you

0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:41.880
<v Speaker 1>think seems right on that form. Because here's the thing,

0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:47.120
<v Speaker 1>most of these small decisions don't really matter. You can

0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.320
<v Speaker 1>go to the networking lunch or not go. If you go,

0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:52.760
<v Speaker 1>you might have a nice time and meet one or

0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:56.480
<v Speaker 1>two new people. Maybe you will meet someone who wants

0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:58.680
<v Speaker 1>to go into business with you, and the two of

0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:02.240
<v Speaker 1>you come up with a billion dollar idea, but probably not.

0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:05.680
<v Speaker 1>If you don't go, you'll do something else that day,

0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:10.440
<v Speaker 1>and you'll meet other people at other things. No one

0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:13.160
<v Speaker 1>really cares what you wear to that wedding as long

0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:16.479
<v Speaker 1>as you don't make a spectacle of yourself. Once you

0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:20.799
<v Speaker 1>realize that, you see that what you decide really doesn't

0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.960
<v Speaker 1>need to be that big a deal. So you can

0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:27.520
<v Speaker 1>decide quickly based on what seems like a good decision,

0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.720
<v Speaker 1>then you can get on with your life. Much is

0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:36.640
<v Speaker 1>fine either way. There will be some good things that

0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:39.200
<v Speaker 1>happen and some bad things no matter what you choose.

0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:43.159
<v Speaker 1>But if you make all your decisions in a decision spree,

0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:47.400
<v Speaker 1>then you will have time left over for other things

0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:51.680
<v Speaker 1>that are generally more fun than experiencing severe in decision.

0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:56.960
<v Speaker 1>So that sounds like a real wind to me. If

0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.360
<v Speaker 1>you try going on a decision spree, let me know

0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:02.400
<v Speaker 1>how it goes, and be sure to check out Nell

0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:08.960
<v Speaker 1>Wolfhart's decision making tips at decide and move forward dot com.

0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:13.919
<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:23.760
<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.120
<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:29.800
<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:34.239
<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:39.200
<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four then Breakfast p o D.

0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:42.920
<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:46.920
<v Speaker 1>Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com That Before Breakfast is spelled

0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.440
<v Speaker 1>out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I

0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:57.520
<v Speaker 1>look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:02.279
<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the

0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:06.080
<v Speaker 1>iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:14.120
<v Speaker 1>favorite shows. For four