How To Improve Your Decision Making Anxiety? Making decisions is a part of everyday living – from the biggest to the smallest, our choices are put to the test constantly:
What do I wear? What shall I dress my child in? Should I apply for that job? What to have for lunch, dinner? Should I take an umbrella to work, it might rain, Should I buy this? Will I wait in this traffic or take the next turn-off for quicker way to work?
Hmmm should I? Should’nt I?
According to studies, humans make about 35,000 decisions a day. What?!
Decision making can appear endless and can leave you weary from it, when it gets to the end of the week, a simple question of – what do you want to do this weekend? is too much to take! Can’t someone else decide!
I never really minded making decisions, I quite enjoyed deciding. But after having a child, everything is a decision, that I find myself worn out very easily!
Why Do We Get Anxious About Making Decisions
We want to make the “right” decisions in order to please everyone and avoid facing disappointment and failure.
But how do you know you’re making the ‘right’ decision? This leads to a habit of overthinking which can make you loose sight of the bigger picture, as you’re focusing on getting it right rather than failing.
So overthinking feeds decision-making anxiety – for fear of making the wrong decision causes the decision maker to freeze, unable to proceed with an action.
The science behind decision making
Our best reasoning and decision-making comes from the prefrontal cortex. However if we are showing anxiety, it affects our limbic system (where behavioural and emotional responses come from). The prefrontal cortex and limbic system can become mixed and with a heightened and frightened response.
Scientists call it an “amygdala hijack” aka “Flight or Flight”
Anxiety Can Progress
Be careful – by overthinking with decision making you are encouraging your brain to think this way.
Every decision gains momentum and size the longer you think on it, building up and putting more importance on the small things.
How To Improve Your Decision Making Anxiety
Take time and breathe. If you are struggling to make a decision, give yourself a minute – take a deep breath, if someone is waiting for you to answer, ask if you can get back to them. Be on your own if you need to and relax your mind.
Pros & cons – If this is a big decision – moving house, moving country, changing job, having kids…You may need time to process this. Take time to write down a pros and cons list, including your feelings on the subject.
Stick to your decision. Once you make the decision, stick to it. This will be difficult to keep focused on one path, for a number of reasons under the fear of making the wrong decision, but at the end of the day a decision must be made and the brain power to go over and over this is not helpful to you or your poor brain.
Let it go. It does not have to be the “right” decision, we can’t control everything. Make the best decision with the time and information you have and let it go.
But what if you end up making the wrong decision?
What’s the worst that could happen? What is the wrong decision anyway? Wouldn’t life be boring if we said and did all the ‘right’ things.
Learning and growing as a person comes from ‘failure’, and on most occasions, fun unexpected things can arise from the unplanned.
Be kind to yourself.
Your turn
Have you suffered from over-thinking, causing decision making anxiety? How have you coped?
If you enjoyed this, have a look at my previous posts such as Become More Self Assured & Stop Waiting For Acceptance
Leave a comment below and let me know.
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