We used to live near a Mega Sainsburys - one of those supermarkets with everything you never knew you wanted, or needed.
One day it snowed, big drifts, no deliveries could get through for days.
The shelves began to empty.
People were losing their minds, how could they cope without their favourite pasta.
But for the first time ever I quite enjoyed shopping. Because there was not much choice. I found a shelf with things on it and got creative with how we could use it. It was so much less stress.
We think choice is a good thing.
We are privileged to have choice.
But really, it’s taking up too much time, and adding not much to our lives.
What to wear on a morning - we’d have time back if we just had one outfit (well these days maybe we do!).
What to watch on TV - well just 3 channels so either that, or do something else (how many times have you taken longer to select what to watch than actually watch something!).
What to do for work. Yes we have choice. Sometimes too many choices. And it overwhelms us and we take familiar routes to reduce choice overload. But is that the right path?
So is choice making us miss out on opportunity? Is it dimming our creativity? Is it actually holding us in place, because too much choice is too much!
Finding ways to reduce our choices can be a good thing.
I read an article in Business Week that there is a trend growing for start ups who help you reduce choice - for example you get a stylist consultation and every quarter you are a box of new clothes based on your preferences, and send you send back what you don’t want, an app that pushes out 2 films a week pre chosen for you, a membership that sends you ingredients for meals for the week. All taking advantage of this acknowledgement that actually what we really want is less choice.
Maybe a good snow day is a bit extreme, but there are other ways you can start to reduce your selection energy consumption.
What do you really need, what do you have energy for, what is making you light up when you think about it. Simple questions might help the start deselection process.
You might love the wander round shops browsing but never have time for it - so what can you automate to create space elsewhere?
And on that note I’m off to make a cup of coffee. I’ve started to use Pact. They send out a fair trade pack of coffee every month. I don’t need to choose anything but I still get to taste interesting coffee. Perfect.
eleanor
Do you have too much Choice?
I've finally tested positive so my choices of where to go and what to do right now have been severely reduced. But it matches what my body needs right now which seems to be sleep. In a few days time however I think I will be starting to climb the walls. My hubby (who was struck first) has been referring to it as 5* prison!