你有选择空难症吗

A day is made up of hundreds of small decisions. I’ll wear this； I’ll buy this； I’ll have this for lunch； I’ll go here at 3’oclock； I’ll respond to this e-mail； I’ll delete this one.

一天是由上百个小的决定组成的。我会穿这个；我要买这个；我午餐要吃这个；3点钟我要来这里；我要回复这封电子邮件；我要删除这个。

For some people， none of these is a big deal. For others， however， making decisions （big and little ones） isn’t easy. They agonize over1 what to do， vacillating2 back and forth， and second-guessing themselves even after the decision has been made.

对于一些人来说，这些都不是什么大问题。然而，对于其他人来说，做决定（无论是大的还是小的）都不怎么容易。他们会在该怎么做上摇摆不定，甚至在已经作出决定后思考再三。

Emily was in the diner with her husband. After several minutes of reading the menu， she said， “Um， let’s see. I don’t know what to order. Maybe I’ll have the burger... no， wait， the pasta seems good. Or， maybe the soup and salad. Don， what are you ordering？ OK， that sounds good. I’ll have that， too.”

艾米丽和她的丈夫在餐馆就餐。在看了几分钟的菜单后，她说：“嗯，我看看。我不知道该点些什么。也许可以点汉堡包……不，等等，意大利面似乎也很好。呃，或者汤和沙拉也不错。唐恩，你想订什么？好吧，听起来不错，我也来份一样的。”

Don gets annoyed. He doesn’t understand why she finds the simplest decisions so difficult. Just decide， he tells her. And stick with it. To short-circuit3 her indecisiveness4， he sometimes makes decisions for the two of them. Emily does not find this helpful. Indeed， she gets annoyed with him for being so controlling. “But we’d never decide anything if I left it up to you，” he retorts.

唐恩生气了。他不明白为什么她只是做个最简单的选择会如此困难。他告诉她，只要决定，并且坚持就行了。为了减少她的犹豫不决，他有时会替两人做决定。艾米丽并没有觉得这样有用。事实上，她对唐恩管得这么多感到恼怒。“但如果我等你下决定，那我们任何事也定不下来。”唐恩则反驳道。

Good decision-making is a skill that comes easily to some people， not so easily to others. Choices are confusing. Choices can make you anxious. They can cost you peace of mind， even after you’ve made the decision. Have you ever spent hours in your head trying to“undo” the choice you made？ “Oh my gosh， I wish I hadn’t done that！”

做出好的选择对某些人来说是一种很简单的技巧，而对于其他一些人来说则不是那么容易。选择是混乱的。选择会让人感到焦虑。即使你已经做出了决定，它们也会打乱你内心的平静。你有没有花几小时时间试图在你的脑海里“撤消”你所做的选择？“哦，我的天啊，我真希望我没那么做！”

But it’s not just the number of options that gives us difficulty in making decisions—it’s the amount of information each option has that trips us up， too. Because we are presented with so much information， the overload of options and data leads us to falsely believe that， even a fairly easy task， has great significance than it really does.

但是，让我们产生选择困难的并不仅仅是因为选择的数量太多——每种选择所带给我们的信息也占部分原因。由于我们面临着如此之多的信息，过量的选择和数据让我们错误地高估了一件相当容易的任务的重要性。

What we may regret most， is the extra time spent analyzing and comparing each and every bit of information， which can lead to frustration.

可能让我们最后悔的，是浪费在分析和比较每个信息上的那些时间，它会让我们沮丧。

If you would like to improve your decision making， here are five strategies that might help you do just that.

如果你想提高你的决断力，下面有五个策略，可能会对你有所帮助。

1. Accept that you can’t have it all.

Decisions force us to close the door on other possibilities. You can’t order every delicious dish on the menu. And there will be paths not taken， careers not chosen， experiences not encountered.

Fantasize all you like， but you’ll never really know. Let the past be. Live in the present where what you do today will make a difference.

1. 接受这样一个事实：你不可能拥有的一切。

决定迫使我们关闭其他可能性的大门。你不可能点到菜单上每一道美味的菜。你总会有没有走过的路，没有选择过的职业，没有经历过的经验。

你脑补着所有你喜欢的事情，但永远不会真正地了解到它们。让过去的就那样过去。活在当下，你今天所做的才会让一切变得不同。

2. More thinking is not always better thinking.

It’s often good to think through your decisions. But don’t overdo it. Many good decisions can be made based on intuition5.

2. 思虑过多并不总是好的。

对你的决定深思熟虑通常都是好事。但是不要做得过头了。许多好的决定同样可以基于直觉。

3. Don’t defer decisions endlessly.

Yes， sometimes， you want to put off making a decision. Perhaps you need more information. Maybe you wish to discuss with your friends， or wait for a less stressful time. Just don’t wait so long that the decision is made for you by someone else （“You didn’t take care of it so I did it my way”）， by the passage of time （“Sorry， the application deadline was last week”） or by your being so upset with your own indecisiveness that you make an impulsive6 decision （“Oh， what the heck， I’ll just sign it”）.

3. 不要没完没了地推迟决定。

是的，有时你想推迟作出决定。也许你需要更多的信息。也许你想和你的好友讨论看看，或等到时间不那么紧张的时候再考虑。但不要等太久，一直等到由别人为你决定（“既然你不关心这个，那么我就按我的方式来”），或者等到由时间本身来决定（“对不起，报名截止日期是上周”），又或者等到你对你自己的犹豫不决感到沮丧而做出冲动的决定（“哦，见鬼，我马上就签字”）。

4. Trust your intuition.

Intuition is an impression. It can also be an important source of information. Do not ignore it. But don’t confuse intuition with impulsiveness. Impulsiveness is the urge to do something to meet an emotional need of the moment that often （though not always） leads you down a path you’ll regret.

4. 相信你的直觉。

直觉是一种印象。它也可以是一个重要的信息来源。不要忽视它。但不要把直觉和冲动混为一谈。冲动是因为一时的渴望做些事情来满足情感需要，通常（但并不总是）会让你选择一种你会后悔的方式。

5. Some decisions don’t work out as expected； this doesn’t mean that you did anything wrong.

No， no， no. You did not make a stupid decision. It’s just that sometimes the unexpected happens. You’re understandably disappointed. Just don’t be hard on yourself or blame yourself for what happened.

5. 有一些决定不可能像预期的那样实现；但这并不意味着你做错了什么。

不，不，不，你没有做出愚蠢的决定。只是有时候一些意想不到的事情发生了。你失望了，这是可以理解的。不要对自己过于苛刻或因所发生的事责怪自己。