Is Decision Making Easier at Starbucks than In Your Office?
It’s true… whether electronic or physical, clutter is really a collection of unmade or deferred decisions. Do you have a lot of unmade decisions in your office right now?
I watched the movie “You’ve Got Mail” (again… and not for the first time 
) and was reminded of a little commentary that one of the lead characters, played by Tom Hanks, makes in the movie about people and their struggle to make decisions.
I chuckle because it’s true – you can make decisions about coffee at Starbucks a lot easier than you can make decisions about your information at the office. Here’s what he saysin the movie:
“The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make 6 decisions just to buy a cup of coffee. Short… tall… light… dark…nonfat… So people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing or who on Earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee, but an absolutely defining sense of self. Tall… decaf… cappuccino!”
Right, piece of cake! And you feel good about it! Why can’t it be that easy in your office?
While Tom Hanks makes it funny in the movie, it reflects a serious challenge for many professionals, a lot of my clients and perhaps many of you. Whether it’s a collection of contacts, tasks, files, e-mail, paper, or post-it notes, I help my clients make decisions and when it’s all over, they feel like a million bucks. They feel more certain of what information they have and where it is. They feel lighter and more refreshed and they get that “defining sense of self” Tom Hanks is talking about. And then they’re ready to tackle their next task or project with nothing weighing them down or holding them back.
Why is it so hard to make decisions about information? Mostly because of risk and uncertainty. “What if I need this again?” is the most common question there is. Fear of negative consequences holds almost everyone back from letting something go. When they work with me, that fear goes away because my system for decision making works and I’ll share a part of the process here in today’s article.
Making decisions is really easy when you stop and think, focus on real (not imaginary) consequences, and answer a series of questions about your information.
Answering these questions will alleviate your feelings of risk and uncertainty and when you come up with alternatives ahead of time for how to get information again (in the unlikely event you’ll need it after letting it go) you’ll feel a lot safer making decisions that allow you to simplify what you keep.
Here are the The Top 12 Questions I ask clients when helping them to determine what to keep and what to let go:
- Is this information expired or outdated?
- Has this information been updated or replaced?
- Do you do this process or procedure anymore?
- Do you offer this service or product anymore?
- How long has it been since you looked at this?
- How long has it been since someone else looked for this?
- Will you reference this again?
- Is this information already in your computer?
- Can you get this information on the Internet?
- Can you get this information on your company’s website?
- Is this information necessary to keep for legal, historical or financial reasons?
- How is this information USEFUL to you?
And most importantly…
And in the end, if you find you really do need something for easy reference or something is too hard to replace if it’s gone, then create a safe place to store it – a trusted system – so it’s not adding clutter in your life and on your desk.
This is your chance to make more decisions and start creating a new system if you don’t like or trust the one you have. Make sure anything you keep has an easy-to-use, easy-to-access, and logical location – one where you can find things the same way, every time, and with ease.
Enjoy keeping less and managing less. Make it easy on yourself. Make more decisions faster so you can free your office and free your mind. It’s time to rise above the clutter and make way for new ideas, new progress and new success!
