There was a musician I coached who said in order to really attain his goals he needed to move to Los Angeles. But he couldn’t leave quite yet because of his young children in school, and his wife had a very good job that wouldn’t allow him to move.
So he was continually, day after day, making himself crazy because he was always thinking, “Gosh, I should go to LA, and work in the studios, and do things down there, but – should I stay here, or should I go?” Every day he was stressed out!
So I asked him, “Are you going to go this week?”
“Well no, probably not.”
“Do you think you’re even going to move down there this month?”
“Well, no. I really doubt it.”
I then asked him, “Could you just decide to put this decision aside for 30 days? Would you do that? Could you make the decision, to not have to decide for perhaps even 90 days?
He paused, I could see him contemplating his options. Then he said, “Well sure, I guess I could do that.”
So I emphatically said, “So do it!”
“Okay—I’m going to set this aside temporarily. I’m not even going to think about it for 90 days. And when 90 days comes up, then I’ll revisit my decision, and see if it’s time to go then or not. And, if it’s an appropriate time, I’ll begin to take action. And if it’s still not time, then maybe I’ll just set it aside again for another 90 days.” When he made that decision, to set it aside and decide later—he instantly felt relief!
He did this decision making process multiple times over the course of the next year. Then finally, the opportunity arose, and he did move. And it worked out the way he had hoped. But before he moved, he got rid of a ton of stress by deciding not to decide until a better time.
Sometimes making a decision right on the spot is important. Sometimes deciding not to decide, and picking a time later to decide, is to your benefit. Either one works. Take time to do both.
Avoid those seven major time wasters: dealing with the telephone, drop-in visitors, meetings that use your time up, dealing with unexpected crises or emergencies, socializing with others, emailing and texting, and indecision or poor decision making. Find ways to avoid these and you will gain immense amounts of time.