Did you know that Americans make an average of 70 choices a day?
Kent Greenfield, author of The Myth of Choice, and Sheena Lyenger, The Art of Choosing, were interviewed yesterday on Fareed Zakaria GPS and their work reveals that when presented with too many choices, our brain becomes overwhelmed and often unable to make a choice. More importantly, when there are too many choices, we resort to tapping into our primitive brain (fight, flight, freeze) and select an option that often provides short-term relief to the discomfort we feel.
What does this mean for us? Making choices is as automatic as brushing our teeth. We are constantly presented option after option from which to choose and our brains work overtime making decisions based on the options presented to us.
If research is correct, less is better, so it would follow that being able to limit your options will result in better decision making. Easier said than done …. but give it a try, your brain will thank you!
