Indecision is the Bane of Productivity

When in doubt, leave it out

BY Michelle LaBrosse

Imagine you are sitting in your car, wondering, “What shall I do for dinner? Shall I pick up Chinese food to go, meet my friend Sally, or go home and cook dinner myself while watching American Idol?” All of a sudden you’re sitting there, frozen in time, unable to make a decision about what to do for dinner. And this is one of the easier choices in life. 

Don’t be upset. Indecision can happen to anyone and often occurs when you least expect it. The pause that takes place when you are in the midst of making any important (or not so important) decision is like a comma in your life, separating one idea from the next, and one task from another. As anyone who has passed the third grade knows, the comma rule states: “When in doubt, leave it out.” This rule can be applied similarly to life’s frozen moments of indecision. When it doubt, leave that pause out.
Now, I’m not encouraging you to stop making decisions altogether. I’m talking about decisions that take an inordinately long time to process. Some of the reasons we succumb to prolonged indecision are the following.

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