Social Gathering Survey Results – Making Decisions Pt 2

Question 1: How do you know you’re struggling to make decisions?

I haven’t been able to maintain my home because of the clutter that I can’t make decisions on.

Question 2: Which practical things make decision making difficult for you?

• I try to eat the elephant instead of breaking it down into manageable bite-size pieces
• No real deadline for having to make a decision – even if I give myself a self-imposed deadline

Question 3: Which mental things make decision making difficult for you?

1^st place: Fear

Question 4: In the past, on average how long would you spend in one go trying to make decisions before you gave up?

1^st place: 5 – 15 minutes

Question 5: In n the past, on average how long would you spend in one go trying to make decisions before you gave up?

If I wasn’t sure what to do with something I would put it back in another pile of clutter until I came across it again later

Question 5: Which of the top tips are you going to TRY as you start/continue to make decisions about the things in your clutter?

Make sure I use 7 action focused choices when making a decision so I reduce the emotional response and make a more reasoned decision

What are the signs we’re struggling with decision making?

There are many, but here are a few of the most common ones.

1. We procrastinate to avoid the stress of making potentially uncomfortable decisions.
2. We focus on researching and planning rather than taking a risk and making a decision.
3. We leave decisions to other people so we can blame them if it turns out to be the wrong decision.
4. We wait for others to push us into making a decision so we can blame them if we decide later that it was the wrong decision.
5. We Self-Handicap by intentionally doing something to sabotage the outcome so we can use it as excuse to explain any possible failure on things outside our control.
6. We feel stressed about even the thought of having to make a decision.
7. We focus on the future not the present. We’re always thinking about the ‘what if’ rather than focusing on the decision in front of us.
8. We don’t sleep well because our brain is constantly thinking about the options, choices, pros and cons, worst case scenarios etc.
9. We consciously or sub-consciously self sabotage our time by saying we don’t have enough to make a decision.
10. The stress of the thought of having to make decisions may affect our physical or mental health.
11. Not making decisions about our clutter can cause conflict in our relationships.
12. We know we’re not living our life to the full.
13. We’d rather spend time looking for the ‘magic wand’ that will make the decisions for us rather than take responsibility ourselves.
14. We justify keeping everything in our clutter.
15. We’d rather spend money as a result of our clutter than make a decision e.g.
    – self storage
    – paying insurance, heating, lighting, rent/mortgage on space we can’t use
    – allowing our homes to deterioriate and loose value
    – trademen charging more because of the clutter
    – delaying moving home because of the clutter