the Weekly Framework: on getting out of (decision) debt
hello, friends đź’–
How many decisions do you have hanging over your head right now?
Think about how often you see an email and think “oh, I’ll come back to that later.” Or how often you put down a book that you’re not sure you’re ever going to pick up again. Do you have clothes you don’t wear that still take up space in your closet because you haven’t decided to donate or toss them? Clutter that you don’t know where to put or what to do with? How many tabs do you have open that you’ve been meaning to get back to later?
Personally, I think I need to ban the word “later” from my vocabulary, because y’all, later never comes.
I recently listened to a podcast that described all of these yet-to-be-made decisions as decision debt. Just like financial debt, decision debt can pile up fast. We’re constantly running into new choices we need to make, but we’re weighed down by all the choices we’ve already deferred.
Sometimes we legitimately need more information before we can make a decision, but speaking for myself, I think I’ve just fallen into the habit of putting off choices. Maybe I think I’m “leaving my options open,” but in reality, that doesn’t feel like freedom.
Let’s get into this week’s questions:
Reflecting on last week: How did last week go? Did you make even incremental progress on a big project? Did you notice how any of your tiny actions were, in fact, adding up?
Preparing for this week: What’s coming up for you this week, and what can you do now to set yourself up for success?
Clearing existing decision debt: What decisions have you been putting off? See if you can set aside time this week to start paying off this debt by making some decisions. This might look like clearing out your email inbox, tossing some clutter, or RSVPing to a bunch of unanswered invitations. Do what you can and see if you don’t feel lighter afterward 🪶
Avoiding new decision debt: Ask yourself—gently, please—how you accumulated this backlog of unmade decisions. Are you opening your email when you don’t have time to do anything about it, so you put off all the decisions lurking there? Are you trying to “optimize” your decisions and make the best choice instead of accepting a good-enough choice? Are you—like me—just in the habit of saying “oh I’ll circle back to that later”? Whatever the root cause, see if you can make more decisions in the moment this week so you stop accumulating more decision debt.
Taking care of yourself: Is there an aspect of self-care that you’ve been putting off because you “haven’t decided” what to do about it? Maybe you need to make a doctor’s appointment or find a therapist, but you haven’t set aside the time you need to look through your options and make a choice. Can you jump in and make just one of those decisions this week?
Have a decisive week, friends đź’–
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