A person is capable of making decisions for himself once they reach the right age and when they learn to be independent.
According to Harvard Business Review, research has shown that the typical person makes about 2,000 decisions every waking hour. And the decisions that we make every day can have good or serious consequences.
So read on as CDN Digital compiles five reasons why we make bad decisions, according to reviews and research done by Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and the World Economic Forum. Make sure to learn from these so we can learn to make the right decisions all the time.
Research shows that the performance and effectiveness of our decisions suffer by up to 40 percent when we focus on two cognitive tasks at the same time. | CDN Stock Photo
Multi-tasking
When we set goals for ourselves whether it be personal or for work, we are opted to multi-task to accomplish simple to hard tasks in a day. It’s a reality that we face every day.
But research also shows that our performance and effectiveness of our decisions suffer by up to 40 percent when we focus on two cognitive tasks at the same time.
When you need to make important decisions, carve-out, and commit to several blocks of time during the day to focus deeply on the task at hand.
When making decisions, pay attention to your emotional state and test your self-control. | CDN Stock Photo
Emotions
Getting frustrated, excited, happy, or angry as only a fundamental part of our daily lives. These emotions may have a meaningful role in our lives, these are the same emotions that may hinder our ability to make good decisions.
Be careful when you decide to speak or send a message through email or chat when you’re angry. Heavy emotions often compound a tough situation, because some words don’t come outright.
Pay attention to your emotional state and test your self-control when you need to. Only return to the task at hand when your mind is clearer and calmer.
Poor decision making is affected by functional fixedness which makes you believe that there is no potential for alternative uses. | CDN Stock Photo
Functional Fixedness
This reason is caused by a manner of thinking that something can only be used in a specific way.
Functional fixedness makes you believe that just because that is how it has always been done, there is no potential for alternative uses.
This is an example by the World Economic Forum:
Product A had only ever been sold into the home improvement market since the company began, so the marketing team didn’t spot the opportunity to sell into the gift market, which had been picked up by one of our competitors.
READ MORE: Daily habits that are not good for our well-being
One of the biggest mistakes everyone is making today is thinking that you can succeed on your own. | CDN Stock Photo
Confirmation Bias and Greed
Greed is another thinking that will result in negative outcomes of your decision. It is thinking about “me first” instead of “we’re in this together”.
It is one of the biggest mistakes everyone is making today just by thinking that you can succeed on your own.
Confirmation Bias on the other hand is making up your mind before trying to weigh pieces of evidence first and then making a decision. You basically make up your mind at the start and then go and only get the evidence that fits your pre-existing judgment.
Make better decisions by being patient and gathering enough experience first. | CDN Stock Photo
Inexperience and impatience
We all go through a phase where we lack the needed experience and knowledge at a time that we should have it most. Bad decisions can be the result of what we don’t know and not trying to learn the needed information.
Impatience is the desire to succeed now without delay and trying to take shortcuts to fit our expectations.
To make decisions that work, you should be patient and gather enough experience first because there are no shortcuts to the results that you want to achieve.
Let us know what other reasons contribute to poor decision making in the comments section of this video. /bmjo
