Decisions.  Decisions.  Decisions. 

     Spin that drum again, and watch those Bingo ping-pong balls clatter around and crack into each other.  Does your brain feel like that when you’ve got more to decide than you want to decide?  Do you sometimes feel that there’s never enough information on the table to make the kinds of firm, strong decisions that you’d like?

     Henry David Thoreau once said of decision-making that we only ever have limited knowledge.  So, how can we make the most of that?  Next time you’re confronted with information-overload, and need to make a decision that doesn’t send you to a shrink, a prayer-rail, a sorcerer, or a lobotomist, try the following steps:

1. Of course, you knew this was coming, but it works: Take a couple of deep breaths [See “Are You Breathing?” under Magazine Articles tab above]
2. Draw a vertical line down the center of a page and put the decision topic centered at the top; put a + on top of the lefthand column and a – on top of the righthand column.  Itemize in the appropriate column every positive and every negative thing you can think of that will or could result from the decision, remembering that “will” is definite and “could” is not!
3. Next, give each item on each side a #1 (best or most important result or consideration or priority), or #2, or #3 ranking.
4. Go away!  Go get a glass of water (or shot of vodka . . . another decision!), or take a walk around the block, or sleep on it if there’s enough time; then come back and look at your list.  Edit it with your fresh perspective; move things around; re-visit the rankings.
5. Now decide! 

     In personal growth and development groups, participants are often asked to attack difficult decisions with a similar (scale-of-justice weighing) process that involves putting their left hands out, palms up, and saying: “On one hand, I think (or feel). . . ” followed by putting their right hands out, palms up, and saying: “On the other hand, I think (or feel) . . . ” and then assessing not just the words that surface, but the tone of voice used, the body language, and the impression given of imaginary physical weight related to each point. 

     Either way, by sticking an unemotional evaluative process into your decision making, you are forcing yourself to slow down, weigh all the options as you know them (with limited knowledge), and make a decision that’s typically going to be more rational, more logical, more realistic than one made on the spur of the moment.

     Quick and emergency decisions of course rarely afford the opportunity to dissect and evaluate every available consideration.  So, in those events, instincts come more into play.  It is highly unlikely, though, that even an emergency response wouldn’t leave you time for a deep breath or two or three . . .         halalpiar     

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BE A CO-AUTHOR!  ENTER YOUR OWN 7-WORDS OR LESS TACK-ON to the “billboard discipline” story started 17 posts ago. The next 7 words could be yours! 

Go get your friends, family, neighbors and work associates! 

Everything You Always

                                                  

Wanted to Know

                                                                                           

About How to Manage

                                                                                  

Your SELF Under Stress,

                                                                                        

But Were Afraid to Ask.

     I see major seminar companies charging hundreds of dollars for the information presented here for FREE . . .  

     If you or someone you know has a “short fuse” or a tendancy to over-react at home or work, or be disorganized, put things off, be worried or anxious, or constantly feel guilty, do yourself or that other person you care about a favor by connecting to the blog posts found below on this page, and —especially– by clicking in the “Post Archive” section(under “Blogroll”and “Literary Agents”) about half-way down the righthand column (on this page).  

Then check out the following quick reads (from self-learning materials which produced the best results for over 20,000 students in 30 years of college teaching and management training seminars) :

JUGGLING CATS (Sep 21);     VICTIM OR RESCUER (Sep 19);     Dear Boss: Besides that they suck, meetings waste time (Sep 16);     Business Writing & Writer Writing Tip #1001: GETTING ORGANIZED (Sep 13);     PERFECTIONISM . . . (Sep 07);     MORE BUSINESS TO LEARN FROM SPORTS (Sep 06);     Calling All Corporate Types, Entrepreneurs, Homemakers . . . ((Sep 02);     DEALING WITH INDIFFERENCE (Aug 27);     ANGER IN THE WORKPLACE (Aug 26);     Thoughts While Driving . . . (Aug 22);     WATCH YOUR TONGUE . . . (Aug 20);     Surprise! Nobody MAKES you angry . . . (Aug 19);     REAL LEADERS . . . (Aug 15);     MANAGEMENT “THEORY A” (Aug 12);     HAVE YOU TAKEN A REALITY READING LATELY? (Aug 11);     THE POOL RULE (Aug 10);     EFFECTIVE JOURNALING (Aug 05);     DEALING WITH ANGER (Aug 02);     “CHANGE” IS NOT A LEADERSHIP WORD! (Jul 03);     ATTITUDE is the answer . . . (Jun 14);     REALITY THERAPY . . . (Jun 11);     LIFE IS JUST A BOWL OF WORRIES (May 29);     EVERY PROBLEM=AN OPPORTUNITY (May 21);     WHADDAYAWANT? . . . (May 07);     STRATEGIES MUST COME FROM INSIDE (May 02);     LIFE IS GOOD . . . (Apr 29) 

     And most important of all:

See “ARE YOU BREATHING?” under the “Magazine Articles” tab at the top of the homepage.  Happy blog post anthology-skimming!     halalpiar

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Juggling seagulls

                                                                    

doesn’t work too well

                                                    

either,

                                                                                     

and rattlesnakes? 

      When the assignments on your plate seem impossible to deal with, and you’re getting scratched and scowled and screeched at, step out of the batter’s box, take a deep breath, and reassess where you are, where you’re going . . . and what you can do this minute to give yourself a better at-bat. 

     Are you trying to fulfill requests from two different bosses?  Get them together (or at least on the phone), explain the circumstances, and ask them to decide the priorities for you.  When you take that responsibility on your own shoulders, you are setting yourself up for a strikeout!

     A conflict in your time commitments with two different clients or customers?  This is one you have to decide, but you can always explain your situation, ask each for a little patience, and offer each specific target dates/times when you expect to have their needs met or materials ready.

     The conflict is with yourSELF?  That’s the easiest to deal with.  You probably won’t fire yourself, or cut your salary or take a demotion.  If you repremand yourself, do it in the mirror and make it short and sweet so you can get on with the work that needs to get done.  What you really need to do is focus on your prioritizing and delegating skills here.  You need to tackle task one and see it through to completion before even thinking about task two.  If you can delegate the task, do it.  If you can’t delegate the task at hand, examine what else you CAN delegate, and do that! 

     I mean, juggling cats is as impossible as it sounds, but if you don’t deal with it when you need to, you could go one or two worse . . . juggling seagulls doesn’t work very well either, and rattlesnakes?  Forget about it.  Now that you’ve weighed all this, get back up to the plate; concentrate on the ball; and smack the next one out of the park!                halalpiar    

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