Perhaps it’s the end of the year, the anticipation of the New Year, distraction or something, but a complaint that frequently crops up in coaching these days is: trouble making decisions.

How you feel about a decision should, no doubt, be recognized. But, at some point, when our emotions start to gum up the decision-making process, we need to revert back to thinking mode. The wide range of emotions cloud the process and extend the time it takes to make a well “thought out” decision.

Damon, an owner of a health food startup, was faced with the dilemma of letting a talented, well-liked, but defiant employee go. He cited several concerns that put him in a state of decision-making paralysis. Once he made a decision, he realized other factors he had forgotten and retracted the decision. The constant flip-flopping made him question his competence as a leader, affected his sleep and added to his distractibility. After a couple weeks of woeful waffling, we took the step of putting the pros and cons on paper.

Not only an aid to working memory (the ability to hold several factors online in your head while you make a decision), writing down the pros and cons helped distance Damon from the emotional upheaval. If you’re on the fence, good ole “putting pen to paper” brings a decision-making process into better focus.

Hampered by distraction? Trouble keeping your focus under stress? CoreCoaching can help. Contact me at Rebecca@MIndfulCommunication.com