Problem Solving vs. Worrying

• For small decisions like if you should go and do the dishes, respond to an email or work out, give myself 30 seconds or less to make a decision.
• For somewhat larger decisions that would  take you days or weeks to think through in general, use a deadline for 30 minutes or for the end of the workday.

• Get a good start, that will set the tone for your day. (read or work-out and then start with the most important task of the day).
• Single-task and take regular breaks. This will help you to keep a sharp focus during your day and to get what’s most important done while also allowing you to rest.
• Minimize your daily input, especially from social media consumption. It will clutter your mind as the day progresses.

Overthinking can become such a habit that you don't even recognize when you're doing it. Practice paying attention.

When you're overthinking past or future events, acknowledge that your thoughts aren't productive. Thinking is only helpful when it leads to positive action.

• We’re not as rational as we think. 
• We’re not prepared. We don’t understand the invariant ideas — the mental models — of how the world really works. 
• We don’t gather the information we need. We make decisions based on our “guts” in complex domains that require serious work to gather all the needed data. 

We live in a society that demands specialization. Being the best means being an expert in something.  A byproduct of this niche focus is that it narrows the ways we think we can apply our knowledge without being called a fraud.

We should apply all the knowledge at our disposal to the problems and challenges we face every day.

Ruminating about things you can’t control drains mental energy quickly, leaving you less energy for what you can control. The more you practice expending your mental energy wisely, the more it will become a habit.

Save your mental energy for productive tasks, such as solving problems or setting goals. 

Exaggerated, negative thoughts, can spiral out of control and influence your behavior if you don’t catch them.

Replace overly negative thoughts with productive and realistic ones. Changing your thoughts requires constant monitoring, but the process can be instrumental in helping you become your best self.

Negative emotions (lack of confidence, toxic energy, fear) can also cause anxiety. The difference between the two is the feeling of being unsafe that comes with anxiety.

When you are anxious, the ability to think clearly is lost, and so is the perspective. Breathing exercises and making space in your mind by slowing down is the first step towards remaining calm in this general state of anxiety.

Start journaling, asking specific questions to bring the main issue in focus, to get organized and gain clarity. Ask yourself these four questions:

1. What feels wrong?
2. How can the problem be defined?
3. What are the fears with regards to making changes?
4. What actions can be taken that would improve the situation?

Our working memory is what allows us to focus on the information we need to get things done at the moment we’re doing them. It is also in limited supply. You can think of it like our brain’s computer memory. Once it’s used up, nothing more can fit in.

When you overanalyze a situation, the repetitive thoughts, anxiety, and self-doubt decrease the amount of working memory you have available to complete challenging tasks, causing your productivity to plummet.

A recent Stanford study suggests that over-thinking not only impedes our ability to perform cognitive tasks but keeps us from reaching our creative potential as well.

• Having a core values list helps you make better decisions. The decisions you make come more quickly and efficiently than they would without it.
• Being unconscious of your core values makes you likely to keep repeating the same mistakes.

The core values that are most valuable to each of us come from our own personal experience, not from being taught.

As you put them into practice you’ll get better at internalizing these values and they’ll express themselves subconsciously with smaller decisions, as well.

You can influence people and circumstances, but you can't force things to go your way:

• To have the most influence, focus on changing your behavior. Be a good role model and set healthy boundaries for yourself.
• When you have concerns about someone else's choices, share your opinion, but only share it once. Don't try to fix people who don't want to be fixed.

Think about what you could do when failure happens.

Usually, the worst-case scenario isn't as tragic as you might envision. Acknowledging that you can handle the worst-case scenario can help you put your energy into more productive exercises.

Before jumping to a conclusion, think about the long-term consequences of your decision.

We may respect those able to fling themselves into a hard problem and make a quick choice with seemingly little thought, but making a meaningful decision needs to be done with care for the long-term effects.

It’s important to be aware of what state of mind you’re in before tackling a hard choice.

Decision fatigue happens when the mental energy required to weigh the tradeoffs of our decision becomes too much for us to handle.