Analysis Paralysis… How to Really Get Yourself Out of the Slump
“Comfort Zones are where people go to die.”
I love quotes just as much as the next person, only that they never seem to stick around for the long haul. Especially with the way I shuffle and reshuffle my thoughts. My mind is more or less like a landmine.
In as much as I write most of the articles on the Formplus blog, in terms of articles with a more personal flow, I couldn’t think of anything!
At first, I attributed it to the fact that my writing style may have changed a lot since I have had to become a little bit more technical and prescriptive in terms of content. Heck, I loved/love writing about Yoga and babies on my personal blog, but I think writing about data collection requires a little bit more seriousness.
It wasn’t until I read an article on the Imposter Syndrome and Analysis Paralysis that I was able to put an actual finger on the cause of my “fear”. Fear is in quotes because it’s not like I don’t write at all or that people don’t read my articles, it’s just that you don’t know the face behind them.
Anyway, when I tried to link myself to the term Analysis Paralysis for the first time, I sort of brushed it off… I told myself, “I’m a doer not a thinker!!!”. It wasn’t until I actually did some actual analysis that I admitted to myself that I was existing in that state of extended paralysis by over analysis.
If you are like I was about 5 weeks ago, then you would not have really heard or read about the term Analysis Paralysis and if you have, well…
Analysis paralysis has been defined as the state of ‘over-thinking’ about a decision or stalling about making a decision until you get to the point that you realise that nothing has been done.
Here’s how you know you are facing analysis paralysis:
- When you get easily overwhelmed by available options
- When you make a simple decision look quite complex.
- When you feel compelled to make the “perfect” choice, thereby putting off decisions until you have done “enough research”
- When you have this intense fear of making a mistake or doing the wrong thing, and in the end not doing anything
Sadly, I check all these boxes and it was not until it was pointed out to me that I knew that I had to do something about it. For example, because I thought the subject “Analyis Paralysis” was not interesting enough, I started writing three totally different articles while writing this one:
- Permanent Beta
- Neuroplasticity and brain rewiring (Please don’t ask how I got there)
- Switching up your writing style.
This then led me to share some of the tips I read that sort of helped me get out of that state of constantly over analysing things.
How to Defeat Analysis Paralysis
Take a Step Back
Obviously Paralysis by Analysis sets in when you overthink things, a lot, and so that has to be the first thing you tackle. You need to give the “thinking” part of your brain, that is the prefrontal cortex, a break.
Now, this area of the brain is largely responsible for logical thinking and using willpower to overcome impulses and when you take a “brain break” you allow it to improve neural connections which inadvertently leads to better decisions.
Examples of activities that relax the prefrontal cortex include taking long walks, reading books, swimming, brain games etc. In the end you will discover that for you to produce really great results, giving your brain some time and room to catch up with you i.e breathing space, will go a long way.
Set Actionable Deadlines
When you set a deadline, you are basically letting your brain know that it needs to come back to the thought and finish that task. Doing this declutters your mind and allows you focus your energy on other pressing tasks.
For example, if you have to clear out a room for an expected guest, be sure to set a personal deadline so you don’t find yourself in a frenzy when the date is near.
Side Note: You can check out this list of 40 Chrome Extensions for tools to help set actionable deadlines.
For me, I didn’t just set deadlines, I implemented consequences for missing my deadlines. When I didn’t put up a post in time, I didn’t take my usual gelato when I went out with friends, I settled for a drink. No one told me the next time that I needed to finish my work before the deadline.
Aim for “Moderate” not “Perfect”
Now, we’re not talking about major decisions like “Who do I marry?” or “What’s the right career path for me?”. No, those require as much perfection as possible. For decisions that are not as serious, your goal should involve picking a “moderate” choice in a fair amount of time, and then move on to other things.
You might think this is reckless and unprofessional but I have to disappoint some perfectionists at this point.
Every option has its pros and cons and it has been discovered that the perfect choice is almost never available right there for every decision, it has to be hunted down or created. This means that the process of selecting the “perfect choice” is quite costly and frankly time-consuming.
For this, you can try the 80/20 rule, i.e. 80% of the effects in a situation come from 20% of the causes. This means it would take about 20% effort to achieve 80% of the gain of a decision. But if you were to nail down the 20% remainder to achieve a perfect 100% outcome, you will need to invest a huge amount of effort.
This means you need to really differentiate between big and small decisions and also learn to be satisfied at “moderate” and not just when it’s “perfect”.
To Be Accountable or Not?
This is the dilemma I face every time I have a big decision to make. On one hand, there is the urge to share my goals so that I can be ‘accountable’ to someone other than myself. On the other hand, there is the science-backed reason why sharing your goals doesn’t necessarily help you achieve them.
I followed the two schools of thoughts and what I can tell you is, not sharing ALL of your goals/plans helps you achieve your goals, to an extent. For example, I wanted to complete this article and knowing that I have a habit of overanalysing everything, I told someone I was working on an article (to be accountable) but I was quite vague about the content.
In the end, the article is ready (although later than I expected) and I believe sharing some aspect of it helped. I didn’t want to seem like a failure so I made sure I completed it.
Anonymous feedback also helps, while working on a project, you can set up a feedback system so that you can hear receive feedback and improve before completing the project.
Try Out a Productivity Method
There are dozens of productivity method; there is the Pomodoro Technique, Eisenhower Matrix Productivity method, Zen To Done, Flowtime Technique, and so many more.
You might have even tried out one or all of them and yet, you find that you’re still stuck in that place where your goals are still left unchecked. I’ll say you need to find one method and stick to it.
For me, the Pomodoro Technique works perfectly for me, although it took some getting used to, but that is what I use till date.
There, those are some of my actionable tips to getting rid of Analysis Paralysis. I’m still a work in progress and so I know there is always room for improvement.
Until I get to the point where I can hold a concert on how perfect I am, you can find me on Quora and Twitter. Heads up: My Quora account is dedicated to answering questions on why I’m such a terrible customer and then some data collection methods.
