Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Too Many Choices
Is there such a thing as too many choices? Anyone who has ever seen a child’s eyes glaze over in a toy store when faced with the directive to pick one, knows that there is. As I was once again stymied by my uncharacteristically backlogged photo album situation, I realized that the digital camera was holding me back because it was offering me too many options. Delete or save? Print or don’t print? Print 2×3, 4×6 or 5×7? Sepia tone anyone? Back in the good old days I didn’t have so many options. I took the pictures, dropped them off, picked them up, pitched the bad ones and put the rest in the album. Finito. I realized that my paralysis was a result of the very multitude of options that are supposed to make digital cameras so great. So, to get beyond my inertia, I decided to limit my options. Everything 4×6. Everything color. It made me think about what other things might be simplified by removing some of our choices. Fewer clothes could make getting dressed easier in the morning. I often think that people who are consistently able to eat very healthfully have just made a decision to eliminate certain things from their diets, whether it be refined sugar or meat, and that decision simplifies their choices. It reminds me too of the advice I have given some of you about filing systems: sometimes the choice itself is arbitrary the key is to stick with it.
We are so fortunate to have so many choices as New Yorkers we pride ourselves on living in a place where we can have any type of food imaginable delivered to our homes within minutes, so it goes against our instincts to limit our options. Yet sometimes freedom is freedom from decision-making. So in the next few months, keep this in mind: in what areas can you limit your choices in a way that that will simplify your life and leave you feeling less overwhelmed rather than deprived?
Tip: For pieces of paper you want to keep posted on the fridge, like emergency or frequently used numbers, use magnetic frames to keep them neat and easily found.