Every day, we make hundreds of little decisions based on biased information that has the potential to impact our performance. To make good choices, companies must make regular assessments, avoid decision-making fatigues, manage and calculate the risks involved. According to trauma-informed therapist Michelle Paradise, we receive around 74 GB of information every day, and getting overwhelmed is natural.

Michelle says, there are ways to be aware of our actions and decisions that also improve our muscle memory. For example, less circular thinking like doing a certain action and decision over and over again, can create bad habits around it and limit beliefs like worrying, and ruminating, which can be unproductive for us.

 

Need all your wellness solutions in one place? A whole new world awaits just a click away.

 

Why Avoid Decision-Making Errors?

From a cognitive science perspective, more than half of decision-making errors happen due to logical fallacies like over-generalisation, less communication, limiting beliefs, circular thinking, and excessive comparisons. According to a 2020 study published in the National Library of Medicine, unconsciously processed information can influence decision-making. The verbal stimulus and levels of neuroticism show statistically significant impacts in measuring the effect of behaviour on the unconscious decision-making process. Decision-making can lead to performing tasks in an unconscious mindset.

 

Related story: 11 Ways To Train Your Brain To Focus Better

 

This results in unproductive and harmful consequences. Learning how to create boundaries, being more conscious about your information sources, and communicating compassionately with those around you can assist in avoiding decision-making errors. Including fewer mistakes in our decision-making process will help in avoiding errors.

 

Mistakes To Avoid During Decision-Making

1. Confirmation Bias

If you already have an opinion about anything before even trying to find it out, you're likely to exaggerate evidence that validates that opinion. The easiest way to cope with this is to be aware of the confirmation trap and consider what types of facts you would expect to find, as well as to support any alternate results.

 

Related story: 10 Ways To Improve Memory

 

2. Escalating To Conclusions

Before making a hasty decision, we should assess whether the matter is genuinely urgent. We tend to rush into things and reach conclusions before we are ready to act. Rapid assumptions and conclusions can lead to unavoidable risks. For example, high stake decisions like big bets, pricing stocks, and time-sensitive projects are a few areas where we tend to escalate to conclusions while making decisions.

 

Related story: Why We Procrastinate (And How To Stop)

 

3. Attribution Bias

Attribution bias, often known as the ‘fundamental attribution error’ occurs when we excuse our faults while blaming others for the same. For example, you're travelling down the highway when another vehicle cuts in front of you in an unpredictable, haphazard manner.

Biased interpretation - Based on the other driver's poor driving, you may draw certain conclusions about their character. Perhaps you consider them to be impolite, arrogant, or pushy.

Reality - What you don't know is that the motorist is rushing to the emergency room after a catastrophic collision. They're driving erratically because they've been injured.

To combat this bias, we should offer others the opportunity to explain themselves before passing judgement on their actions. Consider giving the other person the benefit of the doubt until you have more information that is vital to your decision-making process.

 

4. Going With The Flow

Doing what everyone else does is simpler, and it may save us from shame but won’t take us to any unique result. We tend to follow the herd, even if it is heading for a cliff. The problem with imitation and not thinking before replicating the exact decision is that we eliminate the opportunity of discovering smarter and unique alternatives to what is trendy. This can kill your creativity during making your decision.

 

Related Story: 11 Ways To Train Your Brain To Focus Better

 

Keeping these frequent decision-making blunders in mind can assist you in achieving distinctive and fruitful results. Make sure to incorporate them into your next decision!

 

Need all your wellness solutions in one place? A whole new world awaits just a click away.