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Useful Heuristics for Decision Making
We make thousands of daily decisions: what to wear, what to eat, what to work on, how to interact with colleagues, how to sign off on emails, etc. While I can’t help you with any important decisions, I can share a few heuristics to help with some of the more low-risk ones (and heck, maybe you will find some of these helpful for big decisions too).
By the way, I didn’t come up with these — for more excellent heuristics, check out Madeleine Dore’s book I didn’t do the thing today.
If you don’t know if it will make you happy, ask if it will expand or diminish your life
My preferred heuristic for impulse purchases as I’m torn between spending money for items I don’t need and envisioning a future where I have the item and I’m using it. Instead of asking myself if it will make me happy, I think about whether it expands or diminishes my life. And I’m all for expanding my life.
If you have two good options, imagine a future day
Sometimes, the power of regret (also the name of a great book by Daniel Pink) helps you find the path forward. Do you want to go to the party or stay at home to read? If…
