Reduce The Pain Of Overthinking With These 4 Easy-To-Use Tactics

_{[Read time: 5 minutes]}

If decisions were based only on logic, choosing would be easy.

Emotion in decision-making is the heavyweight in the ring with lightweights.

The haymaker → overthinking (and…procrastination and sometimes failing to make a choice at all).

To be clear, I’m talking about emotion, not intuition. Although they often get wrapped up together, they are very different. Intuition predicts outcomes based on experience, while emotion reflects your feelings toward the decision itself.

Intuition = helpful

Emotion = taxing

Today, I’ll share how to use distance to reduce the impact of emotion (plus four simple tactics to actually make the decision).

Let’s start with a decision riddled with emotion → cold outreach.

Logically, it works.

Let’s say that for every 100 cold emails, you land 1 client. If you need 10 clients a year to run a successful business, it means you should send 1,000 cold emails.

The problem is cold outreach feels awful and can be draining (even though it works).

• You don’t want to come across as too spammy

• You are afraid of getting rejected

• You could look like a fool

This is one of those scenarios where your head and gut (logic and intuition) are screaming: “Do it, it works!” but every other part of your body is crying inside (thank you…emotion).

Cold outreach is just one example; here are a few more:

• Parting with a long-time supplier → when they no longer fit your business model

• Jumping on the bandwagon of “what’s working" for everyone else → even if it doesn’t align with your brand

• Taking negative customer feedback personally → and wanting to get defensive

• Hesitating to delegate to save time → when you crave control

• Cutting a product or service that isn’t working anymore → but you invested so much into it

Don’t worry; it happens to all of us.

The closer your emotions are to a decision, the more pain you feel when making it (which can prevent you from following through).

Let me explain using a related psychological framework called the 'pain of paying.'

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely studied the discomfort that people experience when they spend money.

He found that people feel less pain when the payment method is less directly associated with money.

The pain of paying explains why it hurts more to pay with cash than with a credit card (and why it’s so easy to pay with casino chips).

The takeaways of the ‘pain of paying’ can be applied to decision-making.

Let’s call it the 'pain of making a decision.'

Add “distance” between emotion and the moment you make the decision.

Decisions have three stages:

• before (thinking and feeling)

• the moment (choosing)

• after (actions and outcomes)

It’s “the moment” that’s key.

If you can put as much space as possible between your emotions and the moment, you can bypass the pain.

Here are four simple tactics you can use to create distance:

…and how you can apply each one.

1 — Schedule an email (or post) to send later

This is good for communication-based decisions.

This is for those hard to send emails.

Maybe you’re giving feedback, negotiating terms…or sending a cold email.

I’ve found it’s easier to press “send later” (set for 27 to 59 minutes). This is just enough time to forget about the email and move on to the next task, but not so long that you remember and start the cycle all over again.

This also works for social media posts when you fear looking foolish.

Bonus tip: if you struggle with this, schedule the schedule for a time when you have a meeting or are away from your desk, making it nearly impossible to stop.

2 — Flip a coin (but don’t really leave it to chance)

This is good for choosing between options.

Heads means you choose option A; tails means option B.

Something interesting happens when the coin is in the air → you often know more certainty which option to choose.

By the time the coin hits the ground, you muster up the confidence.

3 — Make a 'tentative' or ‘default’ selection

This is good for decisions involving physical appearance (like attending a networking event, hosting a live webinar, or agreeing to be on a podcast).

You commit 'in advance' to someone but still give yourself some wiggle room to change the decision, creating an artificial safety net.

“Unless I change my mind by X date, my decision is yes.”

You create distance by adding friction to the process, requiring effort (and possibly looking stupid) to change your mind.

4 — Put money on the line

This is good for bigger decisions.

These are the ones that make sense logically and intuitively, but you just can’t get yourself to move.

• Buy the result: Set the parameters of what you want, but give up control of how it is achieved (e.g., outsource it)

• Hire with a decision coach: Discuss the nuances of the decision, but give the other person the power to make the decision for you based on your discussions (or at least for them to hold you accountable)

This may seem obvious, but so few business owners use this option despite it being the most effective.

Real-examples:

• Dragging your feet on choosing the content for advertising? Hire a copywriter to capture your voice while increasing your sales funnel

• Don’t know how to position your brand (so you do nothing)? Partner with a growth expert to increase brand awareness

• Can’t quite find the time to take it to the next level? Work with a coach to get unstuck

You create distance by paying for the outcome.

Emotion is a beast.

Just give it some space.

If emotion dominates your mind way too much → here’s a simple fix.

Read this 1-minute post to rewire your brain, guaranteed.

Was it worth the 5 minutes?

Then tell me what you think in just one click.

Thank you for taking 5 minutes to read this week’s letter.

I know your time is valuable.

See you next week.

— Peter

P.S. If you’re new here, I’m a former Harvard strategist turned entrepreneur. I help businesses and organizations make the strategic decisions that move the needle. Here are 2 ways I can help you:

1. Want to ditch the overthinking? Apply impact thinking to your business → book a 90-minute strategy session to cut through the noise and unveil the 3 crystal-clear decisions to propel your business forward.

2. Have growing revenue but lagging profits? Turn your business into a profit-printing machine (in just weeks, not years) with simple finance and operating strategies → grab 1 of the 2 remaining spots.