Making Choices Matter

A classmate of mine, Jenna Behm, stated in her blog:

“I find this sentiment to be extremely true. Everyday, we have thousands of decisions to make, ways to make them, and potential excuses for why we did not.”

Making decisions is an important piece in the analytical process. Decisions that pop up in everyday life do not always seem to have a simple answer. If you are anything like myself, even the decisions that do have simple solutions will frustrate you.

Luckily, decision making is another way that which we are able to practice our analytical skills. Decisions force us to give up one alternative in favor of another. So, we must choose wisely or risk missing out on key benefits that may have been overlooks. We can analyze any decision situation, and Jenna offers different ways we can make efficient decisions.

Sometimes, choosing between two alternatives provides too narrow of a scope. Analyze the situation to see if there is are ways to broaden your range of options. If you do some research, you may discover an alternative that is more beneficial than the two at hand. Widening your options can lead to better decision outcomes.

Decisions sometimes leave us feeling overwhelmed with frustration. These emotions may lead you to make hasty choices that, in the long-run, may have had an alternate outcome. For this reason, it is important that we do not allow these emotions to cloud our focus — making decisions without the bias of emotion reduces the chance of cognitive dissonance about the choice.

I have been making decisions to sharpen my analytical skills by choosing strategic times to complete homework assignments. For example, after experimenting with different times, I decided it was best to complete my homework for MGG 303 each night at 5:30 PM.

My analysis showed this time is optimal for me because I have little around to distract me. This period provides me with plenty of time to complete my assignment, as well as have leisure time later in the night. I believe this has heightened my overall mood to a better level, allowing me to feel less stress.

Decision making skills are important for everyone to have. By being conscious of the decisions I have been making over the past week, I have been able to find error and alter my choices to produce better results.

Reference

Behm, J. (2017, September 27). The Challenge of Decision Making. Decision Making: Explained. Retrieved from https://medium.com/the-challenge-of-decision-making/decision-making-explained-a64983e6aac9.