Podcast 132: Decision controls

Posted on November 27, 2019 by Claire

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This is podcast 132 and it’s about decision controls. This episode is sponsored by Clean Email, the answer to email inbox overload. I’ve written about ways to clear out that clutter, but you can save time by using the Clean Email app. You can set up custom Auto Clean filters to archive, delete or move emails as soon as they arrive so you never have to spend time manually managing them. Sound good? You can use my special link to sign up for Clean Email here with a 30% discount: https://clean.email/clutter

So what the heck are decision controls, you may ask? I happened upon this phrase hearing about Dr. Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, a British fire fighter who’s also a doctor of behavioral neuroscience. She wanted to know if decisions made by fire fighters in the heat of the moment (yeah, I couldn’t resist) were as well informed as they could be, in order to be effective and also safe.

Here’s a quotation from her: “I found 80 per cent of all industrial accidents – including the fire service – are caused by human error. Not inadequate policy or bad procedures, but someone making the wrong choice, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. In high-stress environments, we also found ‘situational awareness’ was limited; commanders were operating very much in the here and now rather than anticipating what may happen next.”

Okay, so you’re not a firefighter. This applies to anyone. It applies to any time you’re in a high stress situation. It also applies whenever you’re in a situation where because of boredom, inattention, overwhelm or impatience, you make a decision NOT based on analyzing the situation to come up with the right decision.

Sabrina and her colleagues came up with a list of questions to ask in these situations. The first one is: Why are we doing this? This meaning the solution we’re about to implement. Instead of stopping yourself and saying, wait a sec, is my gut feeling or habitual reaction the right answer, you back up further and ask why you’ve chosen that course of action.

This is important because the first question, is my gut feeling right, is a yes or no answer and in a pinch you may just want to say yes and get on with it. But if the question requires that you explain why your solution is appropriate, that forces you to come up with actual reasons, rather than relying on past experience or your gut. Gut reactions give you valuable information, but they should be confirmed with other evidence. I think this is similar to the phenomenon I mentioned last time, that talking to yourself forces you to string together a coherent argument, not simply spin in your head.

The next question the study came up with is “what do we think will happen?” This question also takes you out of the moment a bit so you can visualize what the result of your action will be. We can get caught up in taking an action, like throwing a bucket of water onto a fire, without thinking any farther than the water hitting the fire. But what happens right after that? Will one bucket make a difference? Is it a fire that will even be affected by water? What else might occur as a result, that might change the whole situation, or even backfire?

Both these questions bring you back to the here and now. Instead of being tempted to do what you did last time, you are encouraged to be more analytical about this particular situation, right now, that may well have significant differences from previous ones.

What you want to develop is that situational awareness I mentioned, which just means knowing what’s going on around you. From a non-fire fighter’s perspective, this can mean taking a look around you and registering that there are dishes to put away, paperwork to take back to your desk and old newspapers to throw out.

It could mean looking at your calendar and to do list and seeing that you have a meeting in two hours, several errands that need to be done and you need to take time to do your arm exercises if you ever want to recover from that injury. You could just leap into action (often a perfectly viable idea) or you could pretend you’re a fire fighter and run through those questions, adding on a third which is: am I confident this is the best practicable solution?

Clearly, when you’re in a burning building you aren’t going to get out a list and a pencil and go through each question. The idea is to internalize them so that they become an easily available decision-making tool. In the study I mentioned, the decision controls were shown to increase situational awareness without slowing down decision making.

The big takeaway here is to stop or at least slow down enough to take in what’s actually going on right now without being tuned out or distracted or overwhelmed. It takes practice, but it’s worth it.

What you can do now: Practice for that next volatile situation by using the questions in a more mundane context. Let yourself take time to analyze what’s happening and see how that changes your decision making.

Decisions Move the World

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Claire

I write a lot about decision making. So much of clutter and other stuff that's in your way is the result of not making decisions about it. The pile of needed decisions keeps growing till you just get overwhelmed by it and then the simplest decision seems strenuous. That naturally induces procrastination.

Why decide? Here's why:

When you don't decide, others do it for you. Are they going to pick the choice you want? Uh-uh.
The longer you wait to decide, the more likely your desired option(s) will expire or otherwise go away
When you avoid deciding to keep your options open, you still don't have that thing you want. You just have the option to have it. Would you rather have the daydream or the real thing?
When you boldly make decisions, you stir up positive energy. You take action. You move. You pull it off.

Decision making is a skill you can learn. I'm almost ready to publish my new info program about decision making and habit building, where I teach you both those vital skills. So, stay tuned, or drop me a line in the comments. What can I help you with today?

Diving board from vauvau's photostream.

Storage Units: Good or Evil?

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Claire

My general rule about storage units is this: avoid them at all costs! People rent them and forget ’em and they often turn out to be filled with junk.

Let’s look at why you really might need a storage unit.

There’s a short list of reasons that are acceptable.

You are temporarily living in a place that’s too small for your possessions
Your temporary living situation will be so short that it doesn’t make sense to move all your stuff in
You’ve inherited a large quantity of stuff that will take time to sort through
Your home needs repairs due to flood or fire

Notice that all these reasons are valid only because the storage is temporary. There’s no good reason to keep things permanently in storage.

Just as you shouldn’t live beyond your means financially, you shouldn’t live beyond your space means either.

I read this quotation from a storage industry executive: “People turn basements into home theaters or turn garages into family rooms and they need space for storage.” I call that living beyond your space means.

Of course, it’s much more common to fill up the garage with stuff so there’s no room for the car and to fill up the basement too so there’s no room for a workshop or pool table. People also fill up their spare rooms so they aren’t so spare anymore.

Okay, on to bad reasons to have a storage unit:

You moved in a hurry and just boxed stuff up and ditched it there
You’ve moved a number of times and keep adding to the mystery box collection
You inherited stuff 20 years ago and never got around to deciding whether you even like it
The stuff that’s in there is not worth a fraction of what it costs to rent the unit
You’re storing things for your children to have when they grow up and your kids are babies now
Keeping stuff you’re going to sell on eBay someday
Saving clothes you’ll fit into someday
Hanging on to an exercise machine you’ll use someday

All these reasons involve unmade decisions or hanging onto stuff for future situations that may never come to pass.

They also involve spending money; a lot of it if you keep paying rent year after year.

The year is still young! Make 2012 the year you make those decisions and start living in the present.

Idea > Decision > Action

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Claire

For many people, it’s easier and more fun to think up new ideas than to take action on the ones they already thought of. Buckling down and focusing on one idea and making it happen can make them antsy.

Sometimes the project you take on is very large and there are so many things to address that you’re tempted to start them all at once. When it comes to organizing, this can get you into trouble.

The process is this: have an idea, make a decision, take the action.

For example, the idea could be “organize the bottom shelf,” the decision is “only have notebooks, pads and file folders there,” and the action is getting those items into the spot and finding other homes for anything that doesn’t fit those categories.

Here’s what happens when you leave off the action part.

My client, Annie,* is a big picture kind of gal. She’s very good with coming up with ideas and making decisions. The action part, not so much. She’d rather move on to the top shelf, or the counter above the shelves, or the table on the other side of the room.

She had numerous shopping bags with things sorted into them. Some of them were marked, some not. There were also piles and collections of items on which decisions had been made. This is definitely progress, but it’s not enough.

We needed to spend some time moving the physical stuff around.

For Annie, this was the tedious, low priority part. But not doing it was impeding our progress. It was like having puzzle pieces all over the floor and knowing exactly where each one went, but not assembling them into a completed picture.

Is this a sticking point for you? Look around and see if you’ve collected some piles of decisions that need a nudge to get to the next step. If taking the action seems dreary and monotonous, approach it like washing the dishes. It’s a chore that needs doing and you don’t really need to like it.

The good news is that you’ll stir up some good energy by moving things along. You’ll also see some inspiring progress when you see the results of all that decision making!

* Not her real name. In fact, whenever I write about my clients, I’m usually combining events and compositing people.

Studies Show That Buying Stuff Is Good For You!

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Claire

So often we pit decluttering and being green against frivolous spending and self indulgence; virtuous against irresponsible; conserving against wasteful. It can get to the point where you can feel guilty about buying anything you don’t absolutely need!

To the rescue comes a study from Harvard B School showing that in the long run, people don’t regret having spent a lot of money on pleasure. The key is the time frame. When people felt they would regret a purchase the next day, they didn’t make it. When they felt they might regret that purchase several years down the line, they made it.

Another key idea for me is that the buyer really wanted the luxury item in question. It was clear to them that they would enjoy it and savor it. This is quite different from buying something because you want the experience of buying it, or because it’s a status symbol, or just because everyone else is buying it.

I’m all in favor of having experiences and stuff that make you happy. Just check in with yourself about why you want something. And use the research; ask yourself if tomorrow you’ll regret forking out for that ruby-encrusted watch or if in five years you’ll still feel surge of happiness every time you see it on your wrist.

Do you have something you spent a fortune on that you regret now? Or that you’re completely content with?

Chanel J12 watch from bbaunach’s photostream

Should I Save or Should It Go?

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Claire

People who are collectors love to tell me that things they've held onto for years and years have actually come in handy, so it was worthwhile to keep it. There's often a note of triumph in their voices when they come to the story's punchline, "and I had one!" They assume that I'm against keeping things and they want to head off any suggestions I might have for downsizing.

Sometimes, the story is that they decided to get rid of a bunch of stuff that hadn't been used in decades and "the very next day" they needed one of those things. They reluctantly decide it's a big mistake to get rid of anything at all, although they would like to have less clutter. What to do?

I heard a story like the latter one recently and it occurred to me that the storyteller was asking the wrong questions to determine what to keep and what not to keep. He asked himself if he'd used the item in question in the past few years and the answer was no. So, out it went.

But if he had asked, "what will I do if I need this next week and I don't have it?" he would've gotten more helpful answers. Could he borrow one, rent one or buy a new one? Could he farm out the item on long term loan to a friend with the proviso that he could borrow it back as needed? Could he make do somehow with items he did keep? And how would those options feel? If none were acceptable, keeping the item would be the best answer.

The idea is to look into the future ("what will I do?") and not the past ("I haven't used this in years") to make your decision. The future is where you're going to use it (or not).

[White elephant courtesy of Lenny Montana's photostream]

Decision Making: Brain vs. Gut

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Claire

Yesterday I wrote about the value of writing it all down when
you’re trying to figure out what to do first. This technique works for other
kinds of decision making too. If you have a big decision to make that you can give
a yes or no answer to, you can make a list of the pros and cons. Examples are: Should
I take this job? Should I buy that particular car? Should I move?

The interesting thing about this method is that even if your
pro list is much longer than your con list, you may realize that your answer is
no anyway. This is typically true when the entries on your pro list are things
like, “it’s a great opportunity,” “I would learn a lot” and “it would make
(fill in the blank) happy.”

When you stare at that long list of positive reasons to do
something, you ought to feel like you’ve been given the green light. It should
make you happy! If you feel dread or misery or even just lack of enthusiasm, it
doesn’t matter how long that list is, you know your answer is no.

A Blackberry is Just a Tool

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Claire

Having information is not the same as knowing what to do with it. Sometimes more is just … more. Will a Blackberry make you better at your job? Are you sure about that?

In an interview with CIO Insight magazine, David Allen said, "If you are unproductive to begin with, technology will add something else you are unproductive about." Having great tools is wonderful, but they don’t automatically bestow the skills needed to use them. It’s easy to have the illusion of productivity when you are constantly pushing information around.

Go ahead and get the Blackberry if you want it. If you also want to be more productive, you’ll need to

be clear on what you’re trying to accomplish
make decisions
take action on those decisions
follow up on the actions of others
stay on track

Electronic devices such as Blackberrys are great for aiding you in those tasks (so is a pen and some paper). It’s you, however, who supplies the brain power.

Less Information = Fewer Decisions to Make

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Claire

I’ve written many times about decision making (here and on my previous blog, which I wrote between March and October of 2006) and how to make it easier and less time consuming. Today I discovered a new way, which is just having fewer decisions to make.

I wrote the other day about Timothy Ferriss’s “low information diet.” Another of his posts is about a man who followed the Bible literally for a year and found, among other things, that life was easier because decision making was simpler.

His decisions were now all based on what the Bible said (a minimal information diet). If the Bible said yes, he said yes. If the Bible said no, he said no. You don’t have to simplify quite so far, but you can see how it works. The less input you have, the fewer variables there are.

This works best if you realize up front that you will never have all the information you need to make the “perfect” decision anyway. Your access will be limited by time or other logistics. So, why not limit information yourself, with criteria you choose?

I’ve noticed that people get far too involved in collecting information, ostensibly for the purpose of making decisions, but actually because they get hooked on it. Sort of like following link after link on the Internet. It’s hard not to fall down that information rabbit hole.

Try thinking of it as a real diet. For a real diet to be successful, you have to focus on what you’re eating and the exercises you’re doing. If you focus on what you can’t eat, you’re more likely to fail. When the diet is over, the chocolate cake will still be there. Same with information. You’re really not going to miss anything important (see point #3).

Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Claire

Two years ago, Jenny’s life turned upside down. “The Universe,” she says, “picked me up and spun me around.” She landed in Detroit with her computer and a few bags of clothes.

Nothing else.

At first, she missed her books and her photo albums, but none of the other stuff. Not a thing. That came as a big surprise.

Not only didn’t she miss her houseful of possessions, she actually felt good that it was gone. Relieved. Liberated. So she decided not to get bogged down in crap in the future. Now, she can pack a bag and go somewhere, tomorrow. Possessions will never weigh down her life again.

Having less stuff means having freedom.

We get attached to stuff. Jenny’s previous life was relatively prosperous. She had crafts supplies and baking equipment and lots of other things she rarely used. The intention of someday using them kept her tied to them.

“Purging gets easier the more you do it,” Jenny says. “As you give stuff away, you’ll start to feel freer and want to do it more. And your place will look better! When I did my purge, in every cubby, in every closet, there was just shit. Shit I hadn’t seen in years.

“The aha! is how much psychic space things take up.

“I don’t judge my self worth based on the stuff I have, so I didn’t expect to react strongly to getting rid of those things. I certainly didn’t expect the feeling of liberation.”

Me: Now that you have all this physical and psychic room, what has come into your life?

“What hasn’t? It’s opened up so much. When I look back, it seems like I was helpless with all the things that happened, but on the other hand I took charge of my life in a way I hadn’t before. I freed up space for new possibilities and the new possibilities just keep coming.

“Once you realize you can do something like this, you realize that not only are you okay, but you feel a lot better. It opens your mind to a lot of possibilities. Maybe other assumptions you have are wrong too. It was a very strengthening kind of experience.”

Me: How do you resist the lure of the new and shiny?

“There’s nothing to resist. The realization that I felt better having less stuff was so strong for me that it wouldn’t make any sense to start acquiring stuff again.

“In fact, there’s tension and hesitation when I think about bringing something new into my life. I don’t think that collecting junk is anyone’s goal. There’s an unconscious grabbing, buying and keeping.

“Having things is a false comfort. It’s a lie.”

Me: How can people get this kind of freedom without jettisoning all their belongings and moving 500 miles away?

“I encourage people to push their comfort zones and get rid of a lot more than they think they can. You think you’re going to miss it but actually you feel very free and light. It’s counter intuitive.

“I don’t think I would have discovered this if I hadn’t been put into a situation as I did. You don’t have to get rid of everything, but purge just a little more than you thought you could.

“Have the intention of freeing up space for yourself.”

~~~~~

The lovely and talented Jenny B Bones runs an empire dedicated to changing the world through words. Because she pared down and simplified her life, she’s got a laser focus on doing what she loves and what she can help others with. Read her spicy, witty blog here.

In case you were wondering, I help people with purges large and small. Too much stuff in your home, on your desk, or in your head? Click here to find out how much better it can be.