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  • chapter icon
    Introduction
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    • Life Is Complex
    • Grab Your Tools
    • Productivity
    • Relationships
    • Therapy
    • Body
    • Mind
    • Spirit
    • Why I Am Sharing These Tools
    • How to Use This Book
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    Meta
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    Productivity
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    • 1.1 What If I Had to Decide Now?
    • 1.2 Delay Decisions Until the Optimal ..
    • 1.3 Disconnect
    • 1.4 The Pomodoro Technique
    • 1.5 Mind Mapping
    • 1.6 Agenda Documents
    • 1.7 🏛️ Getting Things Done
    • 1.8 Brainstorming
    • 1.9 Log Your Life
    • 1.10 Default to Openness
    • 1.11 Celebrate Success
    • 1.12 Pause and Ask Why
    • 1.13 Accountability Partners
    • 1.14 If You See a Job, It’s Yours
    • 1.15 Declutter Your Space
    • 1.16 Allow Yourself to Rest
    • 1.17 Atomic Habits
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    Relationships
    expand chapter
    • 2.1 🏛️ Nonviolent Communication
    • 2.2 Prefer Requests over Demands
    • 2.3 Use a Talking Stick
    • 2.4 Post Mortem after Arguments
    • 2.5 Mega Threads
    • 2.6 Active Listening
    • 2.7 Radical Honesty
    • 2.8 When Triggered, Pause
    • 2.9 Forgiveness
    • 2.10 Silence
    • 2.11 Respect Others’ Autonomy When Off..
    • 2.12 Wheel of Consent
    • 2.13 Make and Formalize Agreements
    • 2.14 Personal Operating Manual
    • 2.15 Acknowledge When You’re Triggered
    • 2.16 Talk About What’s Happening Now
    • 2.17 Ethical Nonmonogamy
    • 2.18 Express Your Emotions Numerically
    • 2.19 Empathy
    • 2.20 The Way of the Superior Man
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    Therapy
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    • 3.1 Go to Therapy
    • 3.2 Lead a Purposeful Life
    • 3.3 Gratitude
    • 3.4 Talk to Your Inner Selves
    • 3.5 Feel Your Emotions
    • 3.6 Talk about Therapy inTherapy
    • 3.7 Make the Most of Therapy
    • 3.8 Relationship Therapy
    • 3.9 Coaching
    • 3.10 🏛️ Twelve Rules for Life
    • 3.11 Explore Your Different Identities
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    Body
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    • 4.1 High-Intensity Interval Training (..
    • 4.2 Find Physical Activities You Enjoy
    • 4.3 Hack Your Workout Routine
    • 4.4 Breathe Before Eating
    • 4.5 If You Diet, Do It Sustainably
    • 4.6 Remove Temptations
    • 4.7 Nutritional Supplements
    • 4.8 Monitor Your Body
    • 4.9 Agree to Be Hungry
    • 4.10 Stretching
    • 4.11 Exercise Multiple Times a Week
    • 4.12 Intermittent Fasting
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    Mind
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    • 5.1 Write Book Reviews
    • 5.2 Own Your Echo Chamber
    • 5.3 Be Curious
    • 5.4 Asking “Why”
    • 5.5 Morning Pages
    • 5.6 Physical Memory Tricks
    • 5.7 Follow Up after Meeting New People
    • 5.8 Silent Date
    • 5.9 Find Your Purpose
    • 5.10 Sleep Hygiene
    • 5.11 Face Your Fear
    • 5.12 Short-Circuit Habits
    • 5.13 Allow Yourself to Be Bored
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    Spirit
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    • 6.1 🏛️ Meditation
    • 6.2 Everyday Mindfulness
    • 6.3 Go On a Retreat
    • 6.4 Kōans and Mu
    • 6.5 Find Your Moral Compass
    • 6.6 Anattā(Non-Self)
    • 6.7 Enlightenment Is Always Now
    • 6.8 Beware of Spiritual Ego
    • 6.9 Watch Out for Cults/False Gurus
    • 6.10 Conversations with God
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Print: 1.2 Delay Decisions Until the Optimal Moment
Productivity
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1.2 Delay Decisions Until the Optimal Moment

Hold off on making decisions for as long as it’s useful (but no longer).

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Motivation
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Decisions can be hard to make, often because we do not have enough information on hand. We may need to do research or get input from other people before we feel comfortable making a decision. Alternatively, sometimes the information we need simply doesn’t exist yet or is not yet concrete (for example, next week’s weather). In these instances, it might be best to put off the decision for as long as possible.

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Benefits
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  • You will have more information on which to base your decisions.
  • You can postpone nonurgent decisions to a later time to combat decision fatigue.
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Challenges
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  • Sometimes, not making a decision may weigh on your mind and create stress.
  • Postponing a decision incurs the cost of remembering to make the decision at a later time.
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Application
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Sometimes, we’re faced with decisions that appear urgent but in fact are not—for example, maybe you’re considering making a large purchase or signing a business contract. In these circumstances, you may want to make an immediate decision. Let’s say you’re buying a new sofa. What color do you want? Do you want the sprayed-on protection to prevent staining in the event of a spill? What about the upgraded detail on the feet? If you haven’t considered these possibilities before going to the furniture shop, you may not know what to pick.

In this case, making an instant decision may have negative consequences. For example, will the fabric protection emit toxic gas, which could trigger migraines in you or your spouse for several weeks? Will it make the fabric feel less soft? Do you eat sitting on your sofa regularly enough for this to be a concern? And does anyone ever pay attention to the detail on the furniture legs?

Unless your existing sofa has completely fallen apart, you may not need to make a decision right now. You could go home, think about it, do some research, and ask your friends or family what they think. Maybe, if you wait a month or two, you can passively collect the information you need to make a more informed decision. Passive collection means that you have a subject in the back of your mind—in this example, a new sofa—and set an intention to collect information. You then tune into that frequency, which allows you to pick up on useful information about that subject.

When you tap into the “sofa buying” frequency, you will suddenly catch a casual office conversation about someone buying a new sofa and liking a particular fabric or spot an article about toxic gas emissions you would otherwise have ignored. This kind of passive information collection is cheap—you don’t need to do anything but pay attention—but it can pay off big time by providing you with both more and higher-quality information so you can reach a better decision.


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Chapters and Tools
Add new tool
Home
liat_admin
01/01/1970
00:00
Paragraph: INSERT TITLE
  • chapter icon
    Introduction
    expand chapter
    • Life Is Complex
    • Grab Your Tools
    • Productivity
    • Relationships
    • Therapy
    • Body
    • Mind
    • Spirit
    • Why I Am Sharing These Tools
    • How to Use This Book
  • chapter icon
    Meta
  • chapter icon
    Productivity
    expand chapter
    • 1.1 What If I Had to Decide Now?
    • 1.2 Delay Decisions Until the Optimal ..
    • 1.3 Disconnect
    • 1.4 The Pomodoro Technique
    • 1.5 Mind Mapping
    • 1.6 Agenda Documents
    • 1.7 🏛️ Getting Things Done
    • 1.8 Brainstorming
    • 1.9 Log Your Life
    • 1.10 Default to Openness
    • 1.11 Celebrate Success
    • 1.12 Pause and Ask Why
    • 1.13 Accountability Partners
    • 1.14 If You See a Job, It’s Yours
    • 1.15 Declutter Your Space
    • 1.16 Allow Yourself to Rest
    • 1.17 Atomic Habits
  • chapter icon
    Relationships
    expand chapter
    • 2.1 🏛️ Nonviolent Communication
    • 2.2 Prefer Requests over Demands
    • 2.3 Use a Talking Stick
    • 2.4 Post Mortem after Arguments
    • 2.5 Mega Threads
    • 2.6 Active Listening
    • 2.7 Radical Honesty
    • 2.8 When Triggered, Pause
    • 2.9 Forgiveness
    • 2.10 Silence
    • 2.11 Respect Others’ Autonomy When Off..
    • 2.12 Wheel of Consent
    • 2.13 Make and Formalize Agreements
    • 2.14 Personal Operating Manual
    • 2.15 Acknowledge When You’re Triggered
    • 2.16 Talk About What’s Happening Now
    • 2.17 Ethical Nonmonogamy
    • 2.18 Express Your Emotions Numerically
    • 2.19 Empathy
    • 2.20 The Way of the Superior Man
  • chapter icon
    Therapy
    expand chapter
    • 3.1 Go to Therapy
    • 3.2 Lead a Purposeful Life
    • 3.3 Gratitude
    • 3.4 Talk to Your Inner Selves
    • 3.5 Feel Your Emotions
    • 3.6 Talk about Therapy inTherapy
    • 3.7 Make the Most of Therapy
    • 3.8 Relationship Therapy
    • 3.9 Coaching
    • 3.10 🏛️ Twelve Rules for Life
    • 3.11 Explore Your Different Identities
  • chapter icon
    Body
    expand chapter
    • 4.1 High-Intensity Interval Training (..
    • 4.2 Find Physical Activities You Enjoy
    • 4.3 Hack Your Workout Routine
    • 4.4 Breathe Before Eating
    • 4.5 If You Diet, Do It Sustainably
    • 4.6 Remove Temptations
    • 4.7 Nutritional Supplements
    • 4.8 Monitor Your Body
    • 4.9 Agree to Be Hungry
    • 4.10 Stretching
    • 4.11 Exercise Multiple Times a Week
    • 4.12 Intermittent Fasting
  • chapter icon
    Mind
    expand chapter
    • 5.1 Write Book Reviews
    • 5.2 Own Your Echo Chamber
    • 5.3 Be Curious
    • 5.4 Asking “Why”
    • 5.5 Morning Pages
    • 5.6 Physical Memory Tricks
    • 5.7 Follow Up after Meeting New People
    • 5.8 Silent Date
    • 5.9 Find Your Purpose
    • 5.10 Sleep Hygiene
    • 5.11 Face Your Fear
    • 5.12 Short-Circuit Habits
    • 5.13 Allow Yourself to Be Bored
  • chapter icon
    Spirit
    expand chapter
    • 6.1 🏛️ Meditation
    • 6.2 Everyday Mindfulness
    • 6.3 Go On a Retreat
    • 6.4 Kōans and Mu
    • 6.5 Find Your Moral Compass
    • 6.6 Anattā(Non-Self)
    • 6.7 Enlightenment Is Always Now
    • 6.8 Beware of Spiritual Ego
    • 6.9 Watch Out for Cults/False Gurus
    • 6.10 Conversations with God
  • chapter icon
    other
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