Overcoming Analysis Paralysis
Have you ever felt overwhelmed with too many tasks in your personal or work life where you feel you can’t proceed and aren’t sure where to start?
If you have, this is totally normal and I have good news there are few tips to help you overcome being stuck.
Let’s start out by the definition:
“Analysis paralysis or paralysis by analysis is an anti-pattern, the state of over-analyzing (or overthinking) a situation so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome.“
~https://community.uservoice.com/blog/analysis-paralysis-what-it-is-and-how-to-avoid-it/
But WHY do we feel like this?
According to physiologist Barry Schwartz… we have (which he coined this) the “Paradox of Choice” which increased choices help to achieve better results can lead to greater anxiety, indecision, paralysis, and dissatisfaction.
We often collect vast amounts of data hoping it helps us made decisions, but in turn it can paralysis us. Examples of this are:
1. Unnecessarily long project planning phases
2. Long and exhausting info gathering sessions
3. Slow movement between states of the product development
So, how we you overcome this?
- Learn to recognize this behavior — am I stuck, does this feel endless, am I overwhelmed?
- Differentiate big versus small decisions and tasks — then break down large decisions into smaller manageable decisions or tasks
- Tackle big decisions in the morning
- Set time-limits to your decision making
- Add structure to your day - time blocking and planning what you will do with each hour helps since you have mapped out what you will be working on and when
Overall keep in mind the big picture. Don’t forget to take walks if needed and even phone a friend to talk things out.
This concludes outcomes tips and tricks. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions. See you next week!