Study the Art of War

I have had people unironically ask me “how can a guy writing about a battlefield apply to my problem? Go away.”

I promise, if you want a solution to a problem, it is applicable.

I see a lot of useful replies here.

I prefer to answer to 4 simple questions, helps me have a clear idea without overcomplicating:

• What success looks like. Be concrete: “in a year I want X”. If you can’t say it, probably it’s not the right time for the decision.
• The risks. What could go wrong, and how bad would it be? Money, time, people affected.
• The known issues. The problems you can already see today and are choosing to accept.
• The way back. If it goes wrong, how do I undo it, what would it cost, and when will I check? Put a date on it, like “in 3 months I review this”.

The fourth point helps you to determine how “big” the decision is. If it’s easy to reverse, decide fast. If it isn’t, slow down, sleep on it, and talk to someone who has already done it.

I tend to think about all options in their wost case scenario (if everything goes wrong), and then check which of the options at their worst I would regret more, and go for the one with least regret.

Assign heads yes, tails no. Flip a coin, catch it, cover it. Ask yourself if you’re hoping to see heads or tails. Don’t look at the coin flip result. Do what you were hoping for.

I look at all of my options, select 1, and then wait at least 2 days to think through whether it’s the best move. If a stable plan starts coalescing around that option within that time, then it’s a winner. If not, I reconsider the other options, but usually the plan changes the initial options anyway.

This may seem excessive, but due to this extensive planning time, I can usually make good snap decisions when the plan falls through

I’m using this :)

Ugh… .ml…

If its romance related, jerk off. Makes sure you’re thinking with the right head.

If it can wait a day, take a day, sleep on it. Let your brain ponder as a background process.

Don’t overthink, just go with you first gut instinct.

At minimum, I spreadsheet my big decisions. I put in all my known factors: budget, TCO, alternatives, a weighted list of pros and cons (weights according to factors important to me or ability to solve the problem at hand), etc.

For really big decisions, I build a decision tree with dynamic branches. For example, when buying my most recent house, i had inputs for interest rate, points, house inspector rating, cost to move my sailboat to my house, average luminous flux received, etc. Data in these fields adjust other fields like TCO and budget, which then shift the decision tree one way or another.

It’s excessive, but I do it this way to help me avoid missing some big variable.

Sleep on it.

if you want to reply, can we do it here - https://lemmy.ml/post/54977812 - this may help community be active again