Question
How do I practice decision speed?
Quick Answer
Identify a decision you're currently sitting on. Write down: (1) your current confidence level as a percentage, (2) what additional information you'd need to reach 90% confidence, (3) how long that information would take to gather, and (4) the cost of delay — what value you lose for each day the.
The most direct way to practice decision speed is through a focused exercise: Identify a decision you're currently sitting on. Write down: (1) your current confidence level as a percentage, (2) what additional information you'd need to reach 90% confidence, (3) how long that information would take to gather, and (4) the cost of delay — what value you lose for each day the decision remains unmade. If the cost of delay exceeds the expected value of the additional information, decide now. Set a timer for fifteen minutes, make the call, and write down what you chose and why.
Common pitfall: Treating all decisions as if they deserve the same deliberation time. You apply heavyweight analysis to reversible, low-stakes choices and then have no cognitive budget left for the genuinely irreversible ones. The signature tell: you spend forty-five minutes choosing a restaurant and forty-five seconds choosing a career move — because the restaurant decision feels more tractable and the career decision feels too big to start.
This practice connects to Phase 23 (Decision Frameworks) — building it as a repeatable habit compounds over time.
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