Three ways to become a decision making master

‘You have the same number of hours in a day as Beyonce’

It’s the saying that launched a thousand boujee stationary ranges in your local Paperchase, not to mention a thousand more #inspirational Instagram posts. But let’s look at the facts shall we? Yes, it is true that you do indeed have the same 24 hours in a day as Beyonce. But what you don’t have is someone on hand to take every element of decision making out of your day and deal with it on your behalf. Imagine the hours you’d save if you didn’t have to decide what to wear in a morning or what to eat at lunch. There’s a stylist and a private chef for that. More importantly, the benefits in business of having someone on hand to make those hiring, firing, pitching, quoting and whatever else is on your agenda each day decisions are immeasurable. So, while we aren’t for a minute questioning that Queen B is, well…a queen, we are calling BS on the idea that you could reach the same superhuman status without a whole team of decision makers at your disposal.

Beyonce aside, we’re all desperate for more hours in our day. While we can’t make them magically appear – 24 hours seems to have stuck as the standard – we can look at new ways to get the most out of the time we do have. Our day-to-day is made up of countless decisions, from the miniscule to the massive. Here’s how to make more of them in record speed.

Practice by not sweating the small stuff

If you struggle to make those big business decisions, the chances are you’re indecisive when it comes to more mundane decision-making too. One of the best ways for the chronically indecisive to flex their decision-making muscles into making faster choices is to start with the more inconsequential stuff first. Give yourself 30 seconds to decide which sandwich to have for lunch or what to choose from the menu at dinner. Worst case scenario, you’ll not enjoy the sandwich and won’t choose it again. But the brain training in making snappier decisions when they matter more will be worth one bad meal.

Act on what you’ve got

There’s no denying that those big decisions need to be informed and made with all the details possible at your disposal. But for every one of those in a business week, there are many more that don’t need nearly as much consideration. If you can make an everyday decision with 70% of the information you’d like to have to do so, do it. Having too much data to consider can often cloud your judgement anyway and waiting for that last 30% to create an ideal scenario will only delay you in moving on with your day.

Pretend you’re advising a friend

Have you ever noticed that we’re great at telling our friends what they should do but not so good at taking our own advice? When it comes to making that next tough decision, pretend it’s a friend that is asking for your insight. What would you tell them to do? Even better, catch up with a friend who is nothing at all to do with your business (or even your industry) and ask them for their advice. Chances are it’ll be neutral and with your best interests at heart (you’d hope!)

Still feeling stuck? Give the Helm mentors a shout. There’s nothing we love more than hashing it out with a fresh pair of eyes and a coffee the size of our hopes and dreams.