Smart Ways to Cut Back on Decision Making

I’m sure most of you have your go-to outfits for when you have an important presentation to give or a special dinner to attend.  But what about some other go-to must haves that will make your life easier and more efficient?

Go-to Meeting Spots

I was reading an article in Fast Company magazine where they had a productivity tip from Christina Wallace, the founding director of the American Museum of Natural History’s Bridge Up: STEM Initiative. She encourage readers to have a go-to list of meeting spots in the neighborhoods they frequent most.

I was thrilled to see this, because I do the exact same thing! It’s really important to have a list like this as it saves you so much time.  When someone asks you to a work lunch or to grab coffee — go to your list and suggest a meet up spot.  That way you don’t have to worry about the quality of the restaurant or coffee shop and you’ll know how to get there quickly.  I’d even ask some of your colleagues or friends for their go-to spots so you can start making your own list.

Go-to Meeting Times

I also do the same thing to make arranging meetings easier.  I only do conference calls at 11am or 3pm.  That’s it.  Yes, sometimes I’m more flexible and will break my rule.  But for the most part those are the two times I keep available for conference calls.  And if they are booked up on a certain day – then I just offer the person another date.  I do this so I can keep the rest of my schedule open to do other tasks.  And this way I’m able to batch these tasks into these two time slots and be more efficient with my time.

Streamline Your Replies

I have a bunch of “canned” messages for responses I often send to people.  For example, if people ask about my book Listful Thinking — I have a prewritten response that I can copy and paste and send off to them.  This cuts down on the time I need to spend answering frequently-asked questions.

How do you cut down on your decision making?