How Analysis Paralysis Kills Our Productivity And Drive

When you’re at your wit’s end because you have too many solutions to a problem

Analysis paralysis refers to a situation in which an individual or group is unable to move forward with a decision as a result of overanalyzing data or overthinking a problem. This can occur when you overthink your choices to the point you feel paralyzed and can’t make a decision. This is common amongst investors when they are executing a trade, consumers when they have too many products to choose from, fresh grads trying to figure out which career pathway or opportunity to pursue, and even entrepreneurs who are figuring out what is their next step to move the needle.

Pitching to many investors and panels gave many people the opportunities to poke many holes in my idea, and talking to various mentors provided me with even more solutions. To be frank, most of their criticisms, feedback, and suggestions were valid since they all came from various backgrounds — but for me to synthesize and figure out what was the most pertinent issue to fix first and how to go about doing it… a complete headache. I was beyond confused.

While usually drawing my whole business model and product roadmap out in a mind map usually helped me to put things into perspective, having one with a thousand branches wasn’t too helpful either. I faced analysis paralysis at its finest, trying to take in as many perspectives as possible when making decisions, only to realize that no one solution would please all.

Today, a simple Google search can give us millions of different answers to our question. We are often overwhelmed with so many possible solutions that while trying to achieve objectively better results, we also face greater anxiety, indecision, loss of motivation and even paralysis — Psychologist…

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