Overwhelmed by too many options to choose from? Find out why it happens and 5 ways to deal with it

Last year, I decided to learn web development so I could implement my Business Ideas and expose them to the World.

As an experienced programmer, learning web development should be straightforward—a different set of instructions and concepts but the same core idea.

I was right, but there was something I wasn’t considering:

Web development is the most flexible programming paradigm on Earth.

What does it mean? You have multiple ways to achieve the same result, and it is unclear (at least for a newbie like me) which one is better in each situation.

Instead of making things easier, the number of options overwhelmed me.

I’d heard about the Paradox of Choice before, but had never felt it so clearly.

The Paradox of Choice

Barry Schwartz developed this theory, which he presents in this Ted Talk:

He establishes that having more options doesn’t mean more freedom but, sometimes, precisely the opposite.

Having more options means more time to think about the pros and cons of each one, so a more demanding job to find the best.

It also means that when you make a choice, you feel there should be something better that you overlooked.

So, in the end, having more options causes paralysis, frustration, and unhappiness.

It doesn’t make sense, right? Well, that’s why it’s a paradox. Let’s check some examples.

Examples

Imagine you go to the supermarket. Think about how many shampoo and toothpaste options you have. You don’t even understand the difference, but there should be a reason for one being twice as expensive as the other.

Or when you want to buy a new computer. How many components, brands, capacity, and speed combinations are there? Of course, 1TB HD is better than 512GB, but is the difference worth it? What would I do if I only had the smaller option?

I heard my girlfriend say more than once that she would rather wear a uniform for her job than have to choose among all the clothes she has in her closet every day.

You may have some other points of pain when you face multiple alternatives. But the reasons are always the same:

• Time spent and difficulty in comparison
• The feeling that there could be something better
• The feeling that what you got is not perfect.

Avoiding the suffering

There is no simple way to avoid the stress of deciding among multiple choices, but these strategies helped me:

• Identify irrelevant decisions: These are the ones you don’t care about that much. So be superficial and let them be.
• Set a deadline: You can keep deciding forever (literary). Set a deadline and get the option you are more bent to when the time is over.
• Establish metrics and acceptance criteria: This is reserved for relevant decisions. Define the characteristics that you are interested in and an acceptance criteria. When you find a choice that satisfies it, then you have a winner. It doesn’t matter that there may be better options. You made a deal with yourself and should respect it.
• Perfect doesn’t exist: Accept there is no perfect option. When we have something, we are champions in seeing the benefits of other alternatives and overlook the benefits of what we have. That shouldn’t diminish our choice.
• Breath: When you are overwhelmed in the middle of a decision, recognize it, take a few deep breaths, and continue with a different perspective.

Wrap-up

The Paradox of the Choice is a real thing. Recognize the feelings associated with it and learn to deal with it better.

Using strategies can reduce your stress. Test how you respond better.

Perfection doesn’t exist. Good enough should be enough.

That’s all for today. Thank you for reading.