Making Decisions
How I overcame overthinking my choices.
I recently found myself facing the consequences of a decision that I never meant to make. The idea seemed to come out of nowhere and left me feeling confused, like I had fallen asleep at my desk and was being woken up by an earthquake. I had no idea what could have triggered this random change in thought. All I knew was that this shift of my mental plates activated some dormant area of my mind, and now that section felt like it was about to erupt. For some inexplicable reason, I suddenly knew that I wanted to write.
I didn’t feel like I was jumping in completely blind, I’ve done some writing in the past, but I definitely didn’t feel like I had a clear vision of where I wanted to go. I was used to technical writing assignments in class, and although I’ve started a journaling habit a countless number of times, I’ve failed to keep it going an equal amount. Like many decisions I’ve made in my life, this one was made without much planning or understanding of what I was really setting myself up for. All I knew was that suddenly, for the first time, I felt compelled to write and share my words. I just had no idea what I was going to say.
The first thing I wrote was about my experience running for the first time in months. It felt genuine and I decided to put it out there. I realized shortly after that I needed to do some brainstorming if I wanted to keep it up. I knew writer’s block was a hurdle that I needed to remain aware of so, in an attempt to preemptively tackle this beast, I told myself to write down any ideas I had. I kept a small notebook with me and a note open on my phone dedicated to writing ideas. Whenever a thought floated by, whether I was out for a run, reading a good book, or of course, just about to fall asleep, I was always ready to jot it down.
This strategy worked pretty well. Over the past week, I’ve written down 43 different potential writing prompts. Some of them are just a few words to jog my memory, some are actual paragraphs explaining what was going on in my mind at the time, and a few of them even have little stars next to them because, you know, they’re extra special. So to my surprise, at least at this early stage, my problem wasn’t turning out to be coming up with ideas. I felt pretty great after this and it wasn’t until I found myself intent on starting another piece that I came face to face with my real challenge.
When I finally sat down, prepared to write, I found myself looking at this list of ideas that I was actually pretty excited about, a couple pages worth of things that mattered a good deal to me… and I could not for the life of me decide what I should write about. It was at this point that it occurred to me that the worst thing about writer’s block is the many forms it can take. The issue wasn’t that I couldn’t come up with a topic to write about or that I didn’t feel compelled to write about them. I was just struggling to find which topic I felt I could best put meaning into at that moment. Simply put, I felt overwhelmed.
I wasn’t unfamiliar with this problem, though. I’m the type of person that will pace around a store, weighing the pros and cons of different types of water bottles. This was a different beast, though. It’s one thing to choose between different brands while you’re shopping, but these were my own ideas I was dealing with. I needed to find a way to make sense of the options that I had given myself.
I’m the furthest thing from being an expert on writer’s block that there is, but these issues aren’t exclusive to writers. As human beings, we can easily become overwhelmed by choice. People tend to assume that the more options we have, the better, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes we need limits on what we have to choose from and yes, sometimes even those limits aren’t enough.
It took me a week to finally look past my list and although it felt nearly impossible at times, I got there. No matter how silly I felt looking back on how hard it was, these are common problems that a lot of us deal with at one point or another. So if it helps, here are just a few short tips on how I got past my what I call my decider’s block this time around:
While it wasn’t an end-all solution for me this time, making a list can definitely help. Even though the list I made contributed to my sense of being overwhelmed this time, I know that it will benefit me in the future. I have a list of ideas to write about! That’s great! With a little more work, and maybe some ordering of the topics, I’ll be sitting pretty on a few drafts next time around. Lists can be a great way of not only storing your thoughts and ideas, but also of making sense of them.
A little distraction doesn’t hurt. Everyone is different but I know that personally, if I sit staring at a problem, it will only become more problematic. It can feel uncomfortable to willingly let yourself get distracted. While I enjoy watching a bit of TV or enjoying the weather outdoors, I know I’ll have a nagging little voice in the back of my head telling me I should be getting some sort of work done. It’s okay to ignore that voice every once and a while. It might even lead to you getting more work done in the long run.
Find a way to turn the volume down on your inner voices. That little voice that nags at you to get back to work has a lot of siblings. There can be a lot of voices jockeying for attention, especially when your lucky enough to have your mind filled with some good ideas. It’s important to find a way to turn those voices down so you can think clearly or even just relax. I would recommend trying meditation but if that’s not your speed, maybe just drown them out with some music.
Sometimes you might need to find a third (or in my case, 44th) option. If you find yourself comparing two water bottles for so long that you’re actually starting to feel dehydrated, maybe you should take that as a sign that neither one is the right fit. Step away from the comparison for a while and maybe you’ll realize you just needed to look somewhere else. I never wrote down “making decisions” in my writing list, but here I am writing about just that.
If you’re feeling lost in a sea of choices, maybe the solution is to close your eyes, throw a dart, and stick with where it lands. On the other hand, maybe the solution is to put your list to the side and come up with something completely new. The next time feel stuck trying to make a decision, whether it’s what to write about or what to make for dinner, I encourage you to make a list, just don’t hold yourself to it. If you end up with a list of options that all sound revolting, at least you know what you’re not going to eat that night.
