Small Bites – Planned Decision Making Reduces Frustration (and Increases Happiness!)
Small Bites – Planned Decision Making Reduces Frustration (and Increases Happiness!)
Authored by Coach Abby Sadauckas
Small Bites are short, informational articles with practical ideas about stress reduction, improved communication, and farm and family well-being. They are written by coaches from UMaine Extension’s Farm Coaching team. Farm Coaches are available at no cost to work remotely with farmers and farm teams.
Planned Decision Making
In my last Small Bite (about avoiding distractions), I referenced this article in Fast Company about the impact of getting distracted. The article introduced me to the idea of self-distracting and it also highlighted a behavior I simply thought of as a pet peeve. I, like many of you, make many decisions with my partner. This means we need to have fairly frequent conversations to check-in, follow-up, and ensure we actually made a decision.
One of my least favorite things is when I’m in the middle of something and it seems to be an opportune time to have such a conversation. Reading this article made me realize, that’s because I know how difficult it will be to get back on task!
With this knowledge, I’m better able to plan for decision-making on a weekly basis and identify good times (for us it’s lunch) when we can ask the following; What decisions are hanging out? Which do I need to be involved in (or not)? How involved does my partner want to be in a particular decision, or can I just move ahead with their blessing? Asking these questions has streamlined our farm meetings, clarified our roles, and made me much happier!
Need help in figuring out a weekly schedule so you can find ease in decision making? The Farm Coaching team can help!