Minimizing our Choices: When Less is Best

Photo by: peacefulpat


In Liz Danzico's article,The Line Between Clarity and Chaos, An Interview with Barry Schwartz it is pointed out by Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice, that although having choices is a good thing; having too many choices "goes from being beneficial to being paralyzing." This leads to "information overload" . It will ultimately leave you feeling frazzled, and unable to decide no matter what it is your trying to do. Based on my own experiences I couldn't agree more.

As a busy working mother and University student, I try and not let too many choices interfere or impact negatively with my or my families precious time. However, this is not always the case.

Decisions, Decisions, and More Decisions

Due to an incredible amount of choices in the supermarket, a simple trip to pick up a few articles takes up more of my time than it deserves. Unfortunately, until someone else volunteers to take over this time sucking chore I'm stuck with it.

Just deciding what store to go to can sometimes be mind boggling . Having more stores to choose from doesn't necessarily mean better and sometimes instead of helping it actually makes the task worse.

Self- Awareness

Don't be fooled into thinking the various sales sheets that plug up your entrance ways and mailboxes will help either. What with the large amount of advertised specials and choices of places to shop, it's a wonder how I get up off of my chair and out of the house at all.

Maximizing

As silly as this may sound, at times, I find it difficult deciding where I should go and spend my hard earned money . I'd probably be better off not even looking at the circulars to begin with. Somehow though I just can't resist. What if the one time I don't look, I miss the best sale ever.

Discipline is Key

Finding ways to make our busy lives simpler is a must nowadays. The last thing we want to do to ourselves is create more unnecessary stress. I am working towards limiting and changing the way I think about the many choices out there. As Schwartz explains, "So everyone's kind of swallowed the ideology that more is better than less." By dismissing "the illusion that it's actually possible to find the best, and that it's worth the effort to look for the best," And by keeping in mind that there is no such thing as perfection , I will achieve success .


Narrowing The Choices

There are times when I can zip in and out of the stores with ease. Then there are the other times when I, like many others, can't seem to decide much of anything no matter how hard I try. Although we can't control the amount of choices out there, whether it be food shopping or information hunting on the net we can make a conscious decision to decide and choose for ourselves when enough is enough .