More choice = less peace
Hey everyone, do you think having more choice to decide from helps you to find the perfect match and be satisfied?
Because whenever I have more choices to decide from, I get frustrated because I have to evaluate all the products to decide which one I want, and later think if this was the right choice.
According to Schwartz, when faced with numerous options, we tend to experience decision paralysis and find it increasingly difficult to make a choice. In other words, having more choices can actually hinder our decision-making process and lead to less satisfaction. This is known as “decision paralysis.”
In his experiment, he set up a stall in the mall selling Jam, at day one he had 40+ flavors of jam to choice from and at day two he had around 4 flavors of jam to choice from, on which day do you think he sold most jams?
The answer is Day Two, when he had less flavors, customer needed to choice between just 4 flavors, but when customers were given more flavors to choice from, they got confused and couldn’t decide so they end up not buying any.
For example, if the four flavors are mango, banana, orange, pineapple. And you don’t like the thought of having banana and pineapple in jam, you eliminate those options. If you like sweet jams, then you also eliminate orange and you are left with mango. But if there was also jam flavored apple, you might get confused between apple and mango. And even if you choose mango and it taste good, you might feel unsatisfied for not knowing if apple flavor jam is better.
Having too many option is also a reason we procrastinate, because having to choice from multiple work makes us anxious and we postpone it until the deadline comes.
You can create a four-column evaluation process to help you choose between tasks. Divide your work into the following four categories:
- Important and urgent
- Important and not urgent
- Not important and urgent
- Not important and not urgent
I won’t recommend to use the evaluation process for every decision you make, because there are numerous small decision you need to make in daily life. I recommend you using this evaluation process for most important decision which have long term serious consequences in your life.
So in the end, I think more choice = less mental peace. When there are important decisions to make with multiple choices, use evaluation process.
Thank you for your time,
Aryan Zaveri