To Be, Or Not To Be? It’s a Choice!

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTIONER

Title: The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

Competencies: self development, time management, decision making

Who benefits: individuals with an open mind and a slightly philosophical bent

Consultant Usage: limited use for coaches and time management trainers

What’s it about? A few weeks ago I did a posting about time management.  I am wise enough to know I don’t always use my time wisely.  Being mostly retired I have a very short daily to-do list.  Yet I still have an occasional nagging feeling that I waste more time than I should.

I still love a line from that old business movie “How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life” based on Alan Lakein’s book of the same title.  The line was/is “What is the best use of your time right now?”

With the above paragraphs as a preamble I stumbled across a marvelous book the other day.  It was a serendipitous moment of delight.  I intended to skim the book, but I could not put it down.  Several hours later I had gained some excellent insight into how I consistently get bogged down in agonizing over decisions not worth my time. 

This book proposes we have too many choices in our lives.  We have assumed that having more choices is good and that more choices in life lead to greater satisfaction.  Not so argues the author.  If fact more choices lead us to time wasting, decision paralysis, anxiety, and stress.

I love how he sets up the book, although I think he over does it a little.  He begins with some common, everyday examples.  He goes to a grocery store and counts the choices we have for various everyday items.  How many breakfast cereals we can choose from.  How many shampoos we can select from.  He observes how people stand in an aisle and agonize over which cereal to buy, which shampoo to purchase.

He tells a story on himself about going into a store to buy a pair of jeans and after determining his size, he must chose from about 15 different styles.  But all I wanted was a pair of regular old jean, he says (I paraphrase).

Reminds me of sitting down to watch television.  Endless choices and probably very few worth watching.  But how much wasted time do I spend considering my choices?

The book has far more depth than the opening stories.  In the end it all about our psychological and emotional well being.  And after convincing us (well, me anyway) that being overwhelmed with choice can have a negative effect on our health, he offers 11 suggestions to help us make more manageable the choices in our life, how to simplify our life.  

I don’t know if I have done the book enough credit.  I loved it.  I recommend it with a big smile on my face.  I urge you to read it…but the paradox is, of course, the choice is yours.

Catch you later.

[tags]paradox, choice, decision-making, stress, simplicity, emotional well being, psychological well being, less is more, bill bradley, william bradley,  bradley[/tags]

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.