Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 1675 answers
Applying artificial urgency to genuinely irreversible decisions that deserve deliberation. Time pressure is a tool for the 90% of decisions that are reversible and low-stakes. Using it on one-way doors — selling a house, accepting a job in another country, shutting down a product line — produces.
Setting deadlines for decisions prevents analysis paralysis.
Define good defaults so that the do-nothing option is acceptable.
Define good defaults so that the do-nothing option is acceptable.
Define good defaults so that the do-nothing option is acceptable.
Define good defaults so that the do-nothing option is acceptable.
Define good defaults so that the do-nothing option is acceptable.
Identify one recurring decision in your work or life where you regularly make the same choice. Write down: (1) the current default — what happens if you do nothing, (2) the choice you actually want to make most of the time, and (3) how you could restructure the environment so that your preferred.
Designing defaults that serve your current preferences but never revisiting them. Defaults calcify. A default you set six months ago may no longer match your priorities, and because the entire point of defaults is that they operate without conscious attention, outdated defaults silently steer you.
Define good defaults so that the do-nothing option is acceptable.
Every choice to do X is a choice not to do Y — consider what you give up.
Every choice to do X is a choice not to do Y — consider what you give up.
Every choice to do X is a choice not to do Y — consider what you give up.
Every choice to do X is a choice not to do Y — consider what you give up.
Every choice to do X is a choice not to do Y — consider what you give up.
Pick one commitment you made this week — a meeting you accepted, a project you started, a purchase you made. Write down three specific things that time or money could have gone toward instead. Now honestly assess: did you consider any of those alternatives before committing? If not, you've just.
Treating opportunity cost as a reason to never commit to anything. Analysis paralysis is not opportunity cost thinking — it's the failure mode of opportunity cost thinking. The goal is not to agonize over every alternative. It's to build the reflex of asking 'what am I giving up?' before the.
Every choice to do X is a choice not to do Y — consider what you give up.
Know which decisions you must make yourself and which can be delegated.
Know which decisions you must make yourself and which can be delegated.
Know which decisions you must make yourself and which can be delegated.
Know which decisions you must make yourself and which can be delegated.
Know which decisions you must make yourself and which can be delegated.
Know which decisions you must make yourself and which can be delegated.