Decision Paralysis? Why Analytical Thinkers Get Stuck
You would think that if you’re a smart, analytical, intellectual person, it would be easy to make decisions. Your brain is capable of using all of the best tools - analysis, pros / cons lists, and color-coded spreadsheets that make you smile.
Yet it’s often at the point of having to make a big decision that my clients come to me. They feel stuck around what to do, despite having brains that typically work really well for them. They’ve made all of the pros / cons list, thought about the decision from every angle they can think of, and yet they don’t feel like they’ve moved the needle at all.
And that’s exhausting.
Why Analysis Alone Isn't Enough
This happens because while analysis is an amazing tool, it’s ONE tool, and it’s not designed for solving every problem.
It’s kind of like trying to use a hammer for every home maintenance issue - it’s great if you have to put a nail in the wall to hang a picture, but you’re likely to cause more problems for yourself if you use it to fix a leaky pipe.
It can also be used at the wrong time. Analysis works best when you have plenty of data points to work with, and yet intellectual folks try to use it at every moment, often when they only have one data point that they’re going on.
The Missing Piece: Your Feelings
The biggest piece that’s often missing for analytical folks when trying to make a decision is their feelings.
Feelings get a bad reputation - they’re often looked at as fleeting, unreliable, and inconsequential. And yet they’re actually crucial for decision making.
Your feelings are your data points - they give you valuable information about your experiences. And when you can learn how to sit with them and listen to what they’re telling you, they can help you to use analysis in a way that feels much easier and more natural.
Sitting with your feelings can often feel really uncomfortable and foreign at first, just like learning any new skill can. But the more you do it, the easier it gets.
5 Steps to Work Through Decision Paralysis
If you’re struggling with making a decision, here are the steps that you can take:
If you haven’t done it already, write out all of the thoughts that are coming up for you around the decision.
Writing things out helps the brain to process information differently than if we’re just spinning it over in your head, so take the time to actually write it out.
Write down what feelings are coming up for you.
The biggest trap people fall into with this step is that they think they’re writing out their feelings, but they’re actually still writing out thoughts. Feelings are typically one word - sad, angry, disappointed, confused, elated, overstimulated, frustrated, etc. If you’re struggling with this, use an emotion wheel to help you figure out what feelings resonate most with your experience.
And notice what feelings are coming up on both sides of the decision. For example, if you’re thinking about taking another job, note what feelings come up when you think about taking the new job, and what feelings come up when you think about staying in your current job.
Notice what’s coming up in your body.
Our bodies will often give us a lot of information to work with, but if we’re not used to paying attention to them, then that information is lost. Many people are used to actively ignoring their body (e.g., you forget to eat, drink water, go to the bathroom, etc.), which can make this particularly challenging. However, the more you sit with your body and listen to it, the easier it gets to listen to what it has to say.
Repeat these steps over multiple points of time, keeping analysis out of it for now.
Try to just notice the thoughts, feelings, and body sensations coming up for you at each point in time.
After you’ve done this for a while, then you can bring analysis into the picture.
When you look over your thoughts, feelings, and body sensations from your different check-in points, are they relatively similar, or did they change significantly? If they did change, in what way did they change? Is the change, or lack of change, pointing you in any particular direction?
If this feels hard to do, that’s normal and okay. Most analytical folks are used to only using their thoughts to make decisions, so noticing and allowing room for feelings and the body can feel challenging. It can take time and practice for this process to feel more natural.
When You Need More Support
Sometimes you can take all of these steps, and the answer is still murky and unclear, which can be for a number of reasons. There might be deeper feelings that need to be explored, old patterns getting in the way, or maybe not enough data points to work with.
In that case, working with a therapist can help you to sort out where the stuck points are and help you move forward in the decision making process. If that’s you, then don’t hesitate to reach out and schedule a consultation - I’m happy to help you figure out your next steps forward.
Hi, I’m Amanda. I’m a psychologist in Bloomington, Indiana providing counseling and therapy services to analytical professionals who are questioning their life choices. Please reach out if you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment.
