<p><b>Also known as Fear of Better Options (F.O.B.O.), is the relentless researching of all possible options for fear that you’ll miss out on the “best” one.</b></p><p>Though maximizers tend to make better decisions, they are less satisfied with those decisions than are people who make quicker ones based on less research. </p>

Maximization

<p><b>Your M.F.D. is the minimum outcome you’re willing to accept for a decision.</b></p><p>It’s the outcome you’d be fine with, even if it’s not the absolute best possibility.</p>

Mostly Fine Decision (MFD)

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<p>Ever spent an agonizing amount of time mulling something over? This should help.</p>
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<p>Image </p>
<img src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/06/05/smarter-living/04sl-newsletter2/04sl-newsletter2-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale">
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<figcaption>Credit Credit Choi Jae-Ku/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images </figcaption></figure> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/tim-herrera"><img src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/12/07/multimedia/author-tim-herrera/author-tim-herrera-thumbLarge.png"></a> </div> 
<section><div><em>Welcome to the Smarter Living newsletter. The editor, </em><a href="https://twitter.com/timherrera"><em>Tim Herrera</em></a><em>, emails readers with tips and advice for living a better, more fulfilling life. </em><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/smarter-living?module=inline"><em>Sign up here</em></a><em> to get it in your inbox.</em> <p>One of the simplest, yet most stressful, decisions I deal with on a regular basis is one I'm sure you have worried over, too: What's for dinner?</p>
<p>There have been nights when I've stared at my phone, endlessly scrolling through Seamless in search of the <em>perfect</em> meal, and next thing I know I've wasted half an hour and I'm still hungry and foodless. </p>
<p>Sound familiar? Enter F.O.B.O.: Fear of Better Options. And it's a thing.</p>
<p>Researchers call this phenomenon maximization. It's the relentless researching of all possible options for fear that you'll miss out on the "best" one, leading to <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201506/satisficing-vs-maximizing">indecision, regret and even lower levels of happiness</a>. </p> 
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<p>The problem with maximizing is paradoxical: Though maximizers tend to make better decisions, they are less satisfied with those decisions than are people who make quicker ones based on less research (those people are called satisficers). And the ultimate goal of maximizing is impossible: You'll never be able to examine every possible option before making a decision.</p>
<p>To wit: <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16466422">One study</a> found that maximizer college graduates chose jobs with higher starting salaries than did satisficers, but the maximizers were less satisfied because they felt regret and second-guessed their decisions, fearing there was still a better option out there. </p>
<p>So how do we stop these endless maximization spirals that prevent us from making decisions? </p>
<p>The solution falls somewhere between going full maximizers and becoming too much of a satisficer. Enter the Mostly Fine Decision. (Patent pending.)</p>
<p>Your M.F.D. is the <strong>minimum outcome you're willing to accept for a decision</strong>. It's the outcome you'd be <em>fine</em> with, even if it's not the absolute best possibility.</p>
<p>So let's say you're me, sitting at home and 20 minutes into mindlessly scrolling through Seamless. To break the cycle and find my M.F.D. so I can actually make an order, I need to think about what my criteria are for a decision I'd be fine with: not hungry anymore, didn't spend too much money, ate something I didn't hate.</p> 
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<p>With those criteria in mind, I now have a specific threshold I know I need to hit. Once I've found an option that ticks off all those boxes, I've landed on my M.F.D.</p>
<p>And, just for the record: It was sushi, and it was <em>fine</em>.</p>
<p>What's a decision you just haven't been able to make? Tell me on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/timherrera">@timherrera</a> or email me at <a href="mailto:tim@nytimes.com">tim@nytimes.com</a> and tell me your M.F.D.</p>
<p>Have a great week!</p>
<p>- Tim </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/smarter-living/why-office-friendships-can-feel-so-awkward.html">Why Office Friendships Can Feel So Awkward</a> How to navigate the inherent awkwardness of workplace friendships.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/smarter-living/how-to-clean-your-gross-workout-gear.html">How to Clean Your Gross Workout Gear</a> Sun's out, guns out - just wash your tank after hitting the gym.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/05/smarter-living/how-to-perfect-the-art-of-a-work-uniform.html">Perfecting the Art of a Work Uniform</a> Free yourself from the daily anxiety of standing in front of the closet wondering what to wear.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/books/review/summer-reading.html">73 Books to Read While the Sun Is Out and the Days Are Long</a> Thrillers, romances, cookbooks, the great outdoors: We've got them, and more.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/smarter-living/how-to-deal-with-overly-chatty-group-texts.html">How to Deal With Overly Chatty Group Texts</a> What to do when the gang just won't keep quiet.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/guides/gifts/graduation-gifts">Graduation Gift Ideas</a> Help grads get a head start on their new lives without weighing them down (think a single great skillet instead of a set of pots and pans), or splurge with a keepsake. </p> 
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<div><em>This week I've invited </em><a href="https://twitter.com/lisarab"><em>Lisa Rabasca Roepe</em></a><em>, a writer in Washington, D.C., to tell us all why we should probably tidy up our desk this week.</em> <p>If you're like most people, your desk is littered with papers, tchotchkes and file folders. </p>
<p>But a cluttered desk can undermine our ability to solve a difficult task, according to a study published in the <a href="http://images.transcontinentalmedia.com/LAF/lacom/disorganized_environment.pdf">Journal of Consumer Research</a>. Students working at a tidy desk were willing to spend nearly 7.5 more minutes trying to solve a puzzle compared with students working at a cluttered desk.</p>
<p>"You should only have the things you use every day on your desk," said Donna Smallin, an organizing expert and author of "Clear the Clutter, Find Happiness: One-Minute Tips for Decluttering and Refreshing Your Home and Your Life."</p>
<p>Everything else should be stored somewhere else, she said: a desk drawer for items you use every day, a shelf for reference materials, a cabinet for files and supplies.</p>
<p>The easiest way to tackle that pile of papers in the corner of your desk, according to Ms. Smallin, is to flip it over and start at the bottom, because those papers are outdated and it will be easier to release them.</p>
<p>Not sure whether to keep it? If you don't need it for legal or financial reasons, toss it, Ms. Smallin said. And if you must keep it, scan it. Our friends at Wirecutter - a New York Times company - recommend the <a href="https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-tech-and-apps-for-your-home-office/#printers-scanners-and-fax-services">smartphone app Scanbot</a> for all your scanning needs.</p> 
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<p>Tim Herrera is the founding editor of Smarter Living, where he edits and reports stories about living a better, more fulfilling life. He was previously a reporter and editor at The Washington Post. <a href="https://twitter.com/timherrera">@timherrera</a> * <a href="https://www.facebook.com/heyitstimherrera">Facebook</a> </p> 
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<p>A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A2 of the New York edition with the headline: Here to Help; How to Make Tough Decisions Easier. <a href="http://www.nytreprints.com/">Order Reprints</a> | <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/todayspaper/index.html">Today's Paper</a> | <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY">Subscribe</a> </p>
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Ever spent an agonizing amount of time mulling something over? This should help. Welcome to the Smarter Living newsletter. The editor, Tim Herrera , emails readers with tips and advice for living a better, more fulfilling life. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

How to Make Tough Decisions Easier

Maximization

Mostly Fine Decision (MFD)

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