How to Make Better Decisions When Everything Feels Urgent

Collaborative Post

Most of us make our worst decisions when our brains are in panic mode, and the result generally seems to be that emails stack up, deadlines get messed up, and people are screaming at you for answers they need right now. At that point, every decision you make feels like it could totally make or break the business, and it’s hard to step back at that time, but it’s important to because you need to be calm and collected. With that in mind, keep reading to find out more.

a-person-standing-in-the-middle-of-a-street

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Start By Slowing The Pace

When you’re under pressure, your mind will just go to the shortcuts right away, and you’ll rush, guess, and react, which isn’t ideal when you’re meant to be thinking. So taking a little pause is a good idea because it really can change things, and a short breather, like a walk or a coffee break, for example, can put enough distance between you and the problem for you to come up with some better ideas.

Sort What’s Really Urgent From What Just Feels Urgent

A lot of things only feel like emergencies because someone else wants an answer quickly, but when you break down what’s in front of you, it’s usually only one or two tasks that are actually going to affect the outcome of your day or your project. The rest still need to be done, of course, but they’re not massively important - they can wait until the urgent things are handled properly.

Get Comfortable With Saying Not Yet

The fact is, the best decisions aren’t usually made quickly - they’re made by people who are confident enough to ask for more information so they can make the right choice. It’s that little question that can save you from jumping into commitment or solutions that don’t really work, and the more you ask it, the easier it gets to make the most of your time and energy.

Look At The Bigger Picture

Most rushed decisions come from having tunnel vision - you’re looking at right now, rather than at the future. So expanding your view a bit can stop you from making mistakes and, basically, solving the wrong problem. So perhaps you can sort out your supply chain so that next week's deliveries are all dealt with, but wouldn’t it be better to invest in learning about the importance of supply chain planning so you can make sure there’s never a problem again?

Ask Better Questions

Instead of trying to make the right move immediately, it’s a good idea to ask yourself things like:

What’s driving this decision?
What would happen if you waited?
What would make the decision easier?
Who can make things clearer?

When you ask the right questions, you’ll stop being panicked and stressed, and you’ll get all the information you need to make the right choices.

Final Thoughts

When everything feels urgent, it’s going to feel uncomfortable, but the more you practice, the better you’ll get, so why not take a look at some of the decisions that need to be made in your business and apply some of these ideas - it should work out better for you.

—End of collaborative post—

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