How to Escape the Tyranny of Too Many Choices

We live in a world overflowing with choices. From cereal and cookies to cell-phone plans and streaming services, we’re expected to compare, research and choose again and again. But having more options doesn’t always make life better. Sometimes it just makes us want to run to our rooms and slam the door. Here’s how I’ve learned to escape choice overload and make everyday decisions simpler.

A perfectly orchestrated backyard party took an ugly turn as the bounce house emptied of all 15 little friends, joined by twice as many adults gathered around to watch the 5-year-old birthday girl open a mountain of gifts.

And then, without warning, Emily melted into a puddle of tears.

Her embarrassed parents threatened punishment if she didn’t “stop right now!” which only made things worse. She ran into the house, straight to her room, and slammed the door.

I’m sure a child psychologist could have had a field day with that scene, citing poor parenting skills, hidden anger, deep-seated fear or any number of other possibilities. I saw it as much less complicated.

Emily may have simply had enough. Too many people. Too much noise. Too much excitement. Too many gifts. Too many choices. I know the feeling.

Put me in a supermarket with hundreds of brands of cereal, 47 varieties of pasta sauce and enough yogurt flavors to stock a small dairy farm, and my brain starts to sputter. Ask me to compare cell-phone plans with their different data limits, fees, perks and fine print, and I’m ready to run to my room and slam the door.

When too many options become too much

There is a name for at least part of what’s going on: choice overload. Research suggests that having more options can make choosing harder, particularly when the choices are complicated, difficult to compare or we’re not sure what we want.

And that can happen even when all those choices are supposed to make our lives better.

In his book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, author Barry Schwartz made the case that freedom and individual choice have a downside. As the number of choices increases, he argued, we can eventually become overwhelmed by them. At that point, choice stops feeling liberating and starts feeling like work.

That certainly rings true for me.

Recently, I attempted to count the number of choices in the cookie aisle at my neighborhood supermarket. When I hit triple digits, I stopped. I didn’t need a calculator. I needed a cookie and an exit!

How can I expect to make the “right” choice when there are so many choices competing for my attention?

• MORE: How to Stop Making Bad Decisions That Cost You Money

Why too many choices can make decisions harder

And that’s the real problem: We often assume that more options automatically mean a better outcome. But more options also mean more comparing, more second-guessing and more opportunities to wonder whether we chose wisely.

It’s not just shopping, either.

Think about the number of decisions we make before noon: What should I wear? What should I eat? Which email should I answer first? Should I exercise now or later? Which streaming service has the movie I want? Do I buy this thing now or wait for a better price? Which insurance plan is best? Which phone plan? Which hotel? Which of the 3,000 nearly identical products online?

No wonder “I don’t care. You decide” can sometimes feel like the most luxurious sentence in the English language.

How I reduce choice overload

Fortunately, I’ve discovered ways to escape the tyranny of too many choices.

I let experts narrow the field

I avoid shopping environments where I’m tempted to wander through endless possibilities, preferring warehouse clubs where the buyers have already done some of the narrowing for me. Instead of choosing among dozens of brands of the same product, I may have just one or two reasonable options.

I can deal with that.

I make decisions before I shop

Grocery shopping is much easier when I have a list. Better yet, I build that list around what’s on sale, what I already have at home and what I actually need. I’ve eliminated dozens of decisions before I ever walk through the automatic doors.

This is also why meal planning works so well. The hardest question—“What are we having for dinner?”—gets answered when I still have the energy to think clearly, rather than at 5:30 p.m. when everyone is hungry and the refrigerator looks mysteriously empty.

• MORE: Groceries Got You Groaning? Top Meal Planning and Grocery Apps You Need Today

I research major purchases ahead of time

When I’m buying something expensive or complicated, I don’t want to stand in the store trying to compare 25 options while a salesperson waits. I research in the quiet of my office, narrow the choices to two or three and then make the purchase.

Consumer publications, reputable reviews and comparison tools can help here. The goal isn’t to research everything. It’s to research enough to eliminate the choices that clearly don’t fit.

I create defaults for everyday decisions

This may be my favorite strategy of all. If something doesn’t matter very much, I don’t spend much time deciding.

I can wear a favorite combination of clothes. Order the same coffee. Keep a short list of easy dinners. Have a regular day for grocery shopping. Use a simple packing list for travel. Set automatic payments for predictable bills.

None of this means I’ve stopped making choices. I’m simply saving my decision-making energy for choices that actually deserve it.

And there’s a bonus: fewer unnecessary decisions can mean fewer opportunities to make an expensive mistake.

Simplify choices to save time and money

This matters especially when money is involved. When we’re tired or overwhelmed, it can be tempting to take the easiest option, click “buy now,” accept the default setting or pay for convenience just to be finished with the decision.

That’s why I like the rule: Simplify the small stuff so you have room for the big stuff.

If you’re facing a major financial decision, a complicated purchase or another choice with consequences, don’t make it harder than it needs to be. Give yourself time. Do your homework. Narrow the field. Then decide.

And if you’re standing in the grocery store staring at 137 varieties of cookies, remember: You are allowed to walk away.

As for little Emily, if they’d asked me, I would have suggested moving the mountain of gifts to another location and bringing out just one or two at a time. Or better yet, scaling the party down to just a few friends.

Sometimes even a good thing can become too much of a good thing.

The goal isn’t to have unlimited choices. The goal is to have enough good choices to choose from without losing your mind in the process.

 

Question: What’s one everyday decision you’ve simplified because you were tired of choosing? Share your story in the comments below.

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