Overwhelmed By Options? Let the Decision Matrix Help

Sometimes even easy decisions are hard when there are too many options.

You’ve probably already heard about this when building sales pages, emails, etc. 

If you offer too many options and have too many links going too many places, people get confused or overwhelmed (or both!). And confused or overwhelmed people are much less likely to make any decision and less likely to buy.

Jam and Science

In 2000, psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper from Columbia and Stanford University studied the effect on choice and decision making.

At a local supermarket, some days the display table would either have 24 different kinds of jams for sampling. Other days it would have only 6. In both cases, all 24 jams were available to try and testers were offered a $1 coupon for purchasing a jar of jam.

While the big display table with 24 jams generated more interest, people only bought jam about 3 percent of the time. 

However, when 6 jams were displayed, people bought jam about 30 percent of the time. (And people were more satisfied with the jam.)

Ten. Times. More. Sales.

(If you’re interested in this, here’s a meta study summarizing and analyzing 99 other studies on choice overload and the four things that impact choice and consumer behavior.)

Not Just Our Customers But Us Also….

While it’s important to have some options when it comes to shopping, too many choices are overwhelming. And this isn’t just about selling things to your customers as an entrepreneur or buying something as a consumer.

This is also true when it comes to making decisions about tasks, family, home, work, and life in general. The decisions start as soon as someone wakes up, sometimes thousands of small decisions every day.

Decision fatigue is real, and especially for moms.

We don’t just make decisions for ourselves, we also have tiny (and sometimes not so tiny) humans requiring our input (whether they want it or not).

I don’t know about you, but there are times sometimes I don’t even know what to do because it seems like there are so many things that need doing so critically that I don’t even know where to start. 

(On the positive side, when that happens I tell myself that no matter which task I pick, I’ll be making progress on *something*. And something is better than nothing. I just hope I won’t regret not doing one of the other tasks that got pushed to the side.)

The Decision Matrix Tool: Only 2 Decisions (At a Time)

One factor in decision fatigue is decision volume. The longer the list, the harder to rank items. In order to compare and rank items, your brain needs to hold it in short-term memory. But when your list gets to be longer than 7-10 items, your short-term memory loses track.

Enter the Decision Matrix.

The benefit of the decision matrix is that you only make a choice between only two things at a time. But by comparing just two things at a time in an orderly way, you not only figure out which one is the most important but you can rank the entire list.

Example Decision Matrix 

Let’s say I’m planning my week and trying to prioritize a few tasks I want to do for my business. Usually decisions that actually get me in front of my people and that generate revenue are going to be the first choice. But what to do if I have six options of things that I feel really need doing?

Sometimes I can look at the six options and just pick what seems to be the most important, then do that.

Sometimes I pick the easiest and quickest option, so that I can get one item checked off my list. Starting a work session with an easy win provides motivation and momentum to keep going.

Or I can pick the hardest option (especially if I have a large window to get into a flow) and make progress on *that*, leaving the little tasks to be picked up at other times.

But when I’m well and truly stuck, that’s where the decision matrix helps. It’s only four steps:

1. Make a list of the tasks I want to do. 
2. Make the same list in the same order across the top of a grid.
3. Go through the list and compare two things at a time.
   1. Do I want to email my list or write a blog post? Well, I know I should email my list but I’ve got this idea I want to get out before I lose my motivation.
   2. Do I want to email my list or work on my course? Easy, email my list.
   3. And down I go in each column until the entire matrix is filled in. 
4. Tally the results. The results will help you prioritize what order to do your tasks in.

So here I am, writing the blog post. (Well, I wrote the first draft, took a break, emailed my list, then came back to edit it and post it.)

Bonus Subconscious Tiebreaker 

Emotions are so important in making decisions, even if we think we’re being completely logical and rational. 

If you have difficulty deciding even between two things, try putting your hand on your chest and say the choice out loud. Be as neutral as you can as you say the choice. Notice how your body feels. How is your breath and your muscles? Do you feel more or less relaxed or tense?

Give yourself a moment (stand up, walk a small circle and sit down again) and repeat. Put your hand on your chest and say the second choice, again, as neutrally as possible. Notice your body again.

Your subconscious mind and feelings will affect the energy you feel in your body. 

You don’t have to decide from this one method but it can definitely be helpful input for your entire decision-making process.