The early bird gets the worm and makes better decisions

I am not a morning person. I don’t understand people who naturally wake up at 5 am and brightly proclaim, “it’s the best time of the day!”

However, I do schedule my important work in the morning. According to Dr. Amantha Imber, an organizational psychologist, you should make your major decisions prior to 11 am, whenever possible: “Where decisions must be made at later times, taking a break without making any choices at all is recommended because ‘decision fatigue’ is difficult to fix without giving the brain a proper rest. If you know you are going to be making an important decision at say 4 pm, schedule some rest period immediately before that time.”

Having too many choices impacts your decision making. Researchers Eldar Shafir and Donald Redelmeier wrote in an article in The Journal of the American Medical Association that more options, even good ones, can freeze us.

If you don’t have a context for your decisions then they are difficult to make. For personal decisions, ensure they help you move towards the life you want to live. If they are business decisions, make the link between the organization’s strategic direction and each decision. Having a frame within which to makes decisions helps you make consistent, value-added choices.

How to make better decisions:

1. Make major decisions in the morning

2. Take a break before making decisions later in the day

3. Reduce your choices

4. Connect your decisions to the big picture

With this guidance the quality of your decisions will increase!

If you don’t have a life plan to direct your decision making then read "Get Me Off the Treadmill!", my life planning book.

If you need some coaching to help make business decisions contact me at Valerie.MacLeod@HainesCentre.com

I hope you like the bird photo that I took in Australia. www.ValerieMacLeod.com