How to Optimize Your Default Decisions

The trick to making a good decision is thinking things through piece by piece. You gain several benefits by breaking your decision process down into distinct stages.

a) identify the decision - b) gather relevant information - c) consider the alternatives - d) analyzing the evidence - e) choose your own path -f) prepare your action plan - g) measure your success/failure time by time.

Here are a few strategies I have found useful when trying to design for default in my life:

Simplicity -?It is hard to focus on the signal when you’re constantly surrounded by noise. It is more difficult to eat healthy when your kitchen is filled with junk food. It is more difficult to focus on reading a blog post when you have 10 tabs open in your browser. It is more difficult to accomplish your most important task when you fall into?multitasking. When in doubt, eliminate options.

Visual Cues.?In the supermarket, placing items on shelves at eye level makes them more visual and more likely to be purchased.

Opt-Out vs. Opt-In.?There is a famous organ donation study?that revealed how multiple European countries skyrocketed their organ donation rates: they required citizens to opt-out of donating rather than opt-in to donating. You can do something similar in your life by opting your future self into better habits ahead of time. For example, you could schedule your yoga session for next week while you are feeling motivated today. When your workout rolls around, you have to justify opting-out rather than motivating yourself to opt-in.

Designing for default comes down to a very simple premise: shift your environment so that the good behaviors are easier and the bad behaviors are harder.

Designed For You vs. Designed By You

Default choices are not inherently bad, but the entire world was not designed with your goals in mind. In fact, many companies have goals that directly compete with yours (a food company may want you to buy their bag of chips, while you want to lose weight). For this reason, you should be wary of accepting every default as if it is supposed to be the optimal choice. I have found more success by living a life that I design rather than accepting the standard one that has been handed to me. Question everything. You need to alter, tweak, and shift your environment until it matches what you want out of life. Yes, the world around you shapes your habits and choices, but there is something important to realize: someone had to shape that world in the first place. Now, that someone can be you.

I appreciate you reading my article, Pl stay connected and do share your views and practices you use for optimizing your daily decisions.

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