Decision Spiraling & Paralysis
You sit down to make a simple decision...two hours later, you're 37 tabs deep and you still have NO idea what to choose. Sound familiar?
If you have ADHD, this type of research paralysis is common—and exhausting. Here's some reasons why it happens and how you can stop spinning and start deciding.
Why ADHD Brains Get Stuck:
- Attention Regulation: We can’t easily filter information or stop once we’ve started.
- Perfectionism: We want the “best” choice, not just a good one.
- Priority Overload: When everything feels equally important, nothing is. That's when we get paralyzed and can't take action.
How to Get Unstuck:
- Name Your Top Priorities. What really matters for this choice? Narrow it to 1–2 things max.
- Practice “Satisficing.” This is a term that comes from "satisfy" and "suffice". Stop trying to be perfect. Good enough is powerful.
- Limit Your Research. There's different ways to do this: Choose between 3 options. Give yourself 30 minutes. Set a deadline. A podcast guest once described how she she discovered the decision making strategy of limits by accident: she had to race the clock to buy her son shoes before her phone died and made a quick, good enough choice!
- Weigh the Impact. What’s the real consequence if this decision is “just okay”? Often, we can live with it. If not, spend more of your decision making "budget" here. And when you're not using that budget on things like buying olive oil, you'll have a lot more of it to dedicate to important decisions!
- Accept Uncertainty. Even big decisions involve unknowns. Once you do your due diligence, you'll need to make peace with not knowing everything.
This decision making mindset shift will save you time, energy, and stress—so you can save your focus for what really matters to you!
Want more help with making decisions?
Here's how I can help:
Learn more about 1:1 coaching, schedule a free intro call, and discover my group coaching programs here!
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