Have you ever found yourself struggling to make a decision? We have all been there, despite whether you have a decisive personality or not. I am relatively quick at making decisions and I am glad for that, but I do have a weakness in decisiveness - ordering at a restaurant (I just experienced that today). For whatever reason, I find myself pondering the menu trying to find out what I am going to order and asking others for what they want to order to help me decide. This is why often I decide to get the same thing at certain restaurants so I don’t have to worry about what I am going to order. This is an example of saving time by making a decision.
A lot of time can be saved by making a decision, especially in the case of a minor decision. Please note that major decisions should take some time to make and should be thoroughly planned out and discussed with others that you can trust for helpful feedback. Even major decisions consist of many smaller decisions. The quicker you make the smaller decisions, the quicker you can make the larger decisions and the more time, energy, and in some cases money you can save. Below are five reasons you should make decisions quicker and how they save you time.
- Satisfaction - People gain satisfaction and relief when something is checked of their list
- Relief - Getting something of your mind will bring you relief
- Momentum - Making a decision can begin a momentum for making more important decisions
- Build a Skill - Making decisions more efficiently can help you in the long run and in situations where quicker decisions are useful
- The Opportunity for Change - You may not know the outcome of the decision but at least you know if you do make the decision, there is a chance for the desired outcome that you wouldn’t have if you didn’t make it.
With that being said, there is also the time saved from having to further think about the decision that has to be made. Of course, this only applies to decisions that you can make. There are plenty of decisions that are made outside of our control, such as decisions made by your boss, decisions made a friend or family member, or the government, etc. Many decisions are outside of our control which is good to do the exact opposite - completely ignore any decisions we have absolute no control over. It is possible to waste time not making your own decisions and also waste time worrying about decisions you can’t make!