Make a Decision
Make a decision
Make a Decision. If you are sorting through a pile of stuff, notice if you are making decisions on each item. So often, I work with people who put things aside to “decide later”. That is just putting off the inevitable. There is a saying “clutter is just unmade decisions”. Although it may be hard to do, force yourself to make those decisions now.
In the book Simplify Your Workday by Barbara Hemphill and Pamela Quinn Gibbard, they say, “If in Doubt, Decide. Indecision is nearly always the worst mistake you can make. When tempted to postpone a decision, ask yourself: what will I know tomorrow that I don’t know today? If the answer is nothing, just make the best decision you can and move ahead.”
When decluttering, although it may be hard to do, force yourself to make those decisions now. Click To Tweet
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Indecision is one of the things that slows down our work. When clients ask me how long it will take to organize a space my answer is always that it depends on how long it takes you (the client) to make decisions. I love that you point out that you probably will not have any more information than you have now – so go ahead and decide.
Yes, indecision can be one of the biggest things that slows down the process. In the end, it is really up to the client to make the choice.
Sorting a pile of stuff seems simple enough, but that pile can be ‘laced’ with tricky items. Depending on the situation, I sometimes encourage my clients to make the easy (no-brainer) decisions first and set aside (temporarily) the more time-intensive decisions. That way, we can establish a letting-go rhythm. Once they are in a good groove and have worked through the ‘easy’ pile, we circle back to the pieces that need more thought. From there, we ask questions and tease out the object’s fate. Often, what would have been challenging at the onset becomes easier to let go because they are in the releasing mode.
That’s a great system you have to let clients warm up to the harder choices by gaining confidence with the ‘easy’ tasks.
I’ve been known to create a “decide later” pile, but it’s super important to have a plan and commitment to actually deal with it.
Yes – there’s nothing wrong with deciding that later is a better option for some decisions as long as you do it later.
I love that idea of asking what we might know in the future that we don’t know now. In some cases I might have a bit of helpful information, but in most cases not. Periodically what I will know is how someone else feels about an object or a subject, so in those cases, it is helpful for me to wait until I can check with him or her. But if the tactic is just delaying having to make a decision, that’s going to be a fail. Might as well decide and move on. I’ve always found Barbara’s perspective on indecision to be so powerful (and empowering!).
It’s all about why you might be delaying it. I agree with you that sometimes you need to wait for more information to come in, but often times we are simply delaying for delaying sake and it never makes it easier in the end.
I agree – Indecision is nearly always the worst mistake you can make. I also like to say if you touch it, make a decision.
I like that saying.
You’re so right about the dangerous sway of indecision. People can’t decide because of fear of making the wrong decision, and putting off making a definitive choice merely kicks the can down the road, keeping you locked in with the clutter. I love the point — what WILL we (or can we) know later that we don’t know now? Sometimes, a client only has a few sticky “undecidables” but other times, item after item is, “I can’t decide, so I’ll put it over here and think about it later.” that’s when I know it’s time to switch tactics, subvert kinesthetic sympathy (and take the possessions out of their hands), and focus on the goals and how keeping or letting go of something will help or hinder those goals. (Sara Skillen has this nifty saying, asking clients if the item serves/helps them be their best selves. Powerful stuff.)
Great system and yes it’s nice that you can use that as a guide to switch tactics when you need it.