How to Make Decisions Without Overthinking
5 simple ways to stop overcomplicating and choose with more confidence
Five Minutes of Fabulosity 💫
Spend just 5 minutes a day implementing these powerful tips to create real, lasting change without burning out.
TODAY’S TIP: Not every decision deserves all your energy ⚖
This year, we’ve talked about pausing before rushing ahead, building momentum instead of waiting for motivation, creating supportive systems, how small steps lead to lasting change, protecting our energy and peace, prioritizing joy, and rebuilding confidence.
Inevitably, all that growth will start leading somewhere…
Because once you become more honest with yourself, it gets harder to ignore what no longer works. And while that clarity is important, it can also feel exhausting. Suddenly there are choices everywhere, and decisions can begin to feel weighty.
So, this week, I’m sharing five simple strategies for making decisions with less pressure, less spiraling, and a lot more self-trust.
“The first step is the most crucial: deciding to do it.”
— It’s Okay Not to Be Fabulous Every Day, pg. 69
Click HERE to get your own copy of FABULOUS 📚
Action Corner: Decide with Clarity, Not Drama💥
Growth has a funny way of forcing clarity. Once something stops fitting, you can't really un-feel it. And whether you're ready or not, you're going to have to make some choices. These five strategies will help you start choosing more honestly.
1. Figure Out What Kind of Decision This Really Is
A lot of overthinking comes from treating routine options as if they deserve a full investigation. Sometimes we get stuck because we give small decisions big-decision energy.
New research reveals the brain steadily weighs evidence before making a choice, but that process doesn’t always distinguish between a preference, a practical need, and a genuinely life-shaping decision unless we consciously make that distinction.
Tip: Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Match your energy to the importance. If the outcome will not meaningfully affect your values, your peace, or your long-term direction, let it stay small. Not everything needs to be elevated to a major event.
Determine if the decision is flexible and adjust accordingly. It’s okay to reschedule the plan, try the class, switch the product, change the outfit, or tweak the routine. Recognizing that you’re not signing a lifelong contract can really reduce the pressure.
Save your energy for what matters. Deciding what to wear or where to eat deserves less energy than deciding whether to leave your job or end a relationship.
Trick: Label the decision before you dive in—is this a preference, a practical choice, or truly meaningful?
Helpful Resources:
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman — explores why some decisions deserve slow, careful thought while others can be handled more quickly and intuitively.
The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz — explores how too many options can make decisions harder and less satisfying.
Decisive by Chip Heath and Dan Heath — making better decisions by widening your options, and avoiding common thinking traps that make choices feel bigger than they are.
2. Stop Over-Researching
At a certain point, additional research becomes a delaying tactic. Striving for perfection nearly always leads to procrastination, so figure out how much you really need to know, then decide.
Tip: Trust your gut.
Decide in advance how much information you need then stop. That might mean reading three reviews, asking two trusted people, or spending twenty minutes comparing options. A limit will keep research from turning into avoidance.
Notice when you are reading the same thing in different words. If you’re on article number six and not learning anything new, you probably don’t need more information.
Stop collecting inputs when your own voice gets hard to hear. Wise input can help, but too much makes it harder to know what you actually think. Let advice support you, not drown you.
Trick: Don’t listen to inputs from people or resources whose advice you don’t trust.
Helpful Resources:
How to Stop Over-Researching, Make Quicker Decisions, and Love What You Choose by Declutter Your Life — how perfectionism, over-researching, and endless deliberation add to your mental load, with simple ways to make quicker decisions and feel more satisfied with your choices.
What to Do When Over-Researching Becomes a Coping Strategy by Courage to Be Therapy — how over-researching can become a way to manage anxiety, with practical guidance for recognizing the pattern without getting stuck in endless information gathering.
The 5 Whys to Self-Understanding by Psychology Today — using the “5 Whys” method to dig beneath surface reactions, uncover deeper motivations, and better understand what is really driving your thoughts, feelings, and decisions
3. Contain the Decision
A decision without a boundary can expand across your whole day, your week, or longer. It lingers in the background, drains your attention, and makes everything feel heavier. Sometimes the kindest and smartest thing you can do is to establish a decision boundary.
Tip: Learn what works for you—it may or may not be the same as for someone else.
Establish a time limit before you start. Establish start and end times, and if it helps, put the decision deadline on your calendar. Choosing a restaurant does not need a week of consideration, a job shift might.
Practice leaving the decision alone once it’s made. Not every decision needs a sequel. After you’ve thought it through and made your choice, resist the urge to repeatedly revisit it.
If the decision feels too big, break it down into smaller parts. There’s no need to make large or complicated decisions in one fell swoop. Breaking down the options and considering them separately will keep it from feeling bigger than it is.
Trick: For any choice, decide one piece first—the date before the details, the general direction before the full plan, the go/no go before the how.
Helpful Resources:
How to Make Deadlines Work Using Hofstadter’s Law by Scott H. Young — why tasks often take longer than expected, with helpful insight on setting deadlines, and avoiding underestimating time.
Timeboxing: What It Is and How to Use It by Spica — how timeboxing helps you set clear boundaries around tasks and decisions.
Coping With Indecision by Psych Central — an article on why indecision happens, how anxiety and overthinking can keep you stuck, and simple ways to make choices with more clarity and confidence.
4. Minimize the Tiny Choices
Sometimes the problem is not confusion, it’s decision fatigue. When your brain is worn down by an abundance of insignificant options, even simple choices can start to feel absurdly hard. Simplifying helps. Not because you’re incapable, but because an exhausted brain needs to focus on what matters. That, after all, is why Steve Jobs wore a black turtleneck every day.
Tip: Stop making the same recurring decisions.
Create easier defaults for everyday life. Rotate a few reliable outfits, keep standard grocery lists and select a few favorite go-to options for meals.
Batch what you can. Group similar activities to increase efficiency—answer emails in a single session, run all your errands in a single trip.
Reduce how often you switch modes. Avoid bouncing between totally different task types, so your brain can focus fully on what you’re currently engaged in without having to constantly reorient.
Trick: Use an online or paper calendar to schedule routine or repeat tasks, e.g., grocery shop at 8pm on Friday or check email from 12-1 daily.
Helpful Resources:
Tips for Dealing With Decision Fatigue by Kaiser Permanente — strategies for recognizing when too many choices are draining your mental energy.
Overcoming Decision Fatigue by University of California, Riverside Extension — strategies for simplifying decisions, and improving clarity and follow-through.
The Decision Fatigue Recovery Workbook by Riswan Ratta — a structured reset system designed to help reduce cognitive overload and recover mental clarity.
5. Embrace Imperfection
Perfection is the enemy of progress. Growth isn't making the perfect choice; it's making the best choice you can given what you know and where you are. Stop expecting perfection and start trusting in your ability to navigate as you go.
Tip: If something needs to shift later, shift it then.
Make the best choice you can with the information you have. Sometimes ‘good enough’ really is good enough. Don’t be slack or lazy, but if you’ve done your best, then pull the trigger. Otherwise, you’ll never take that next step.
Treat decisions like next steps, not forever answers. You're allowed to take a thoughtful step forward without having your whole future figured out first. So try the class, take the trip, apply for the position, have the conversation, or shift the routine, then see how it feels.
Adjust as you go. Have the follow-up conversation, revise the routine, make a new plan, try again with better information.
Trick: Write down why a choice makes sense for now, then periodically revisit that reasoning to see if it still makes sense.
Helpful Resources:
How to Stop Overthinking Decisions by Therapy in a Nutshell — strategies for reducing overthinking, calming anxiety, and making choices with more clarity and confidence.
“Overcoming Perfectionism: A Doctor’s Guide to Embracing ‘Good Enough’” by Dr. Kim Wagner — strategies like replacing flawless standards with realistic goals and practicing self-compassion.
The Skill of Making Imperfect Decisions by LCLMA — accepting that good decision-making is not about perfection, but about making thoughtful choices, learning as you go, and moving forward without getting stuck.
Final Thoughts
Good decision-making is a skill, and like any skill, it gets stronger the more you practice it. In the end, your own judgment is the best guide you’ve got. Remember to:
Categorize your decision.
Stop over-researching.
Give decisions a limit.
Minimize tiny choices.
Be okay with imperfect.
As you grow, some things will stop fitting and new choices may ask a little more of you. That's not a sign you're lost—it's usually a sign you're getting somewhere real.
Warmly,
Ally
PS: THANK YOU to everyone who purchased a copy of my book recently! Your support means the world to me. I truly hope the people you gifted it to benefit from it for a long time to come.🩵
