‘To Be Or Not To Be,’ ‘To Do Or Not To Do,’ ‘To Go Or Not To Go,’ ‘To Leave Or Not To Leave.’ There are times when you simply cannot decide what to do. This rather annoying state of indecisiveness eventually disturbs your inner peace and lands you in thorough discomposure that gives you many sleepless hours, anxiety, and heavily compromised self-confidence.
Indecisiveness, though, has always been part and parcel of human nature, and Eenie-Meenie-Miney-Mo-ing through it may not always be the wisest way out.
Inconclusiveness only leads to unnecessary delays in decision-making, which never works out if the situation demands prompt actions.
So, the question is what to do when you don’t know what to do?
If you find yourself trapped in a situation where you have the slightest clue about what to do, take a deep breath, sit back and consider these solutions right away.
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Survey the situation
Think deeply and determine what you are trying to achieve out of the situation. Remember, it is always the end that determines the means.
Say, for example, you are seriously undecided about attending a close friend’s wedding where your ex is also invited. Here, the awkwardness of running into your ex is your primary cause of indecisiveness.
But at the same time, your friend needs you to be by her side on her special day. So, what do you do?
Start by asking yourself, ‘what is more important,’ a relationship that has passed its expiry date or a friend who is counting on you?
It is obviously the latter because, in this situation, your decision needs to be more selfless than otherwise. By attending the event, you will do your duties as a good friend while passing on a message to your ex that you are absolutely unaffected by his / her presence.
Pro Tip: Always bring yourself to a state of mental calm before surveying situations. You can relax and meditate or sit quietly in your comfort zone for a while before you begin to think.
Seek guidance from someone you trust
Life-changing decisions like those surrounding relationships and careers are always callous to make. You may have surveyed the situation, and you may have done the If-Then-Else math, but something seems seriously amiss.
You may run out of confidence worrying about the What-ifs in the situation. What if ending the relationship lands me in depression? What if I never grow out of him and miss him every day? What if I start detesting the new career path after walking halfway through it? The list goes on.
In this situation, you should seek guidance from someone you trust; someone who may have walked through similar situations before; someone who is experienced, non-judgmental, and unbiased enough to offer helpful advice.
Trust Your Instincts
Real analytical thinking has maintained its throne as the primary ingredient in any kind of decision-making process. However, several pieces of research carried out in the past few decades have concluded that overthinking can, in fact, lead to making very unsuitable choices than otherwise.
If you feel your mind is clogged with a flood of factual data that your brain has been trying to process for days together in order to make a relevant decision, try going with your gut instincts instead.
The power of the human subconscious, which is often overlooked these days, has solid scientific backing. It is basically your in-born ability to subconsciously scan a certain situation and determine if it is meant to succeed or fail.
Thus, your gut instincts can bring you out of your indecisiveness rather without encountering mental fatigue.
If your gut instinct says ‘Yes,’ you may benefit by going ahead with a plan. If your gut instinct says ‘No,’ staying away from that situation may be your best solution.
Sleep over it
When your mind is fogged, your body craves rest, and your entire being is on the verge of burnout, there is no way you can decide what to do when you don’t know what to do.
The simplest solution to this disheartening state of affairs is to shut everything down for a while and sleep.
Sleep is Nature’s best healer. Deep, sound REM sleep is known for improving overall brain activity, especially memory improvement and retention and processing of new information for better decision making.
Therefore, a night of restful sleep may be all you need to get yourself out of nagging indecisiveness.
The Bottom Line
Be it sleep, instinct, survey, or guidance, how soon you get out of your state of perplexity depends upon when you start acting upon it.
More often than not, it is the fear of adverse consequences that inhibits you from getting started with the process in the first place.
Keep your inhibitions aside and start acting on the situation, and the rest will undoubtedly fall in place.
Also read: How To Stop Worrying About Things You Can’t Control