Pick the right time.

If you’ve ever found yourself standing in front of the fridge in a daze at the end of a hard workday, you already know that timing matters when it comes to decision-making. Jackson recommends structuring your day so you can make bigger decisions early on, when you naturally have more mental bandwidth. “As the brain runs out of reserves and resources, we drop down into lower-functioning brain networks,” Jackson explains. “That means functioning in the moment and having a hard time thinking and planning ahead.” If you can, start your day with the items that need your full decision-making power instead of tackling the easy tasks first and working up to the more taxing ones.

Brains aren’t meant for multitasking, even though our society celebrates it. Focusingonsomethinginpeace —  whether that’s reading a contemplative book, listening to a meditative podcast, journaling, taking a walk or talking to a friend — can help your brain focus on the decision at hand. Jackson also likes what she calls “going breathless,” or doing a few jumping jacks or lunges or another heartpumping exercise to refresh and refocus. Finally, writing it out can help get your brain out of that stress loop big changes can lock you into. “Our brains will rehearse and repeat,” Jackson says. “Especially when we’re stressed, we get stuck in a negative feedback loop.” Writing helps get the stress out of your head and signals to your brain that it can stop ruminating. Writing down a list of pros and cons also helps some people. That said, economist Russ Roberts, author of Wild Problems (read our interview with Roberts on page 52), cautions that the technique isn’t particularly helpful for decisions that have difficult-topredict results, such as getting married and having kids: Leave the pros and cons for issues that have less at stake. If you do use a pro/con list, remember to include big-picture considerations like meaning, purpose and how the decision will affect how you see yourself.

STEP

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As both Roberts and Jackson point out, you can’t predict how things will actually turn out, so don’t stress over making the perfect decision. “Inevitably the best path is one you can’t plan in advance — you have to learn as you go along,” Roberts advises.