Overthinking almost everything

Donald

Donald

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Near the beach in Delaware
This was in a NYT article by David Epstein.

I often overthink things. Sometimes it's over a choice of a a few items but other times it's just looking at something from every possible angle. Taking everything into consideration. So while I think I may waste some time overthinking a decision among similar products, I don't think it's a waste of time trying to take everything possible into consideration.

Comments?

Here is the abstract:

I am a recovering maximizer. For much of my life, I treated every decision — what meal to order, which Bluetooth speaker to buy, what exercise regimen to embrace — as a search for the very best. In retrospect, I think, the result was rarely a better outcome. What I’m certain of is that I wasted a lot of time agonizing and second-guessing myself afterward. I regularly fell prey to Fredkin’s paradox: The more similar our options, the less choosing between them matters but the harder it is. Thus, we can spend the most energy on the least important decisions.
 
My brain rarely stops. Watching TV, driving, between patients, falling asleep, you name it. There is a constant narrative in my head related to everything from major life choices to absolutely insignificant nonsense. So sure, many would say I overthink everything, but then again, I manage my life really well and rarely find myself blindsided by something I didn't think about prior to it happening.

To be clear, it's not debilitating in anyway, I'm just not very good at vegging out.
 
I don't worry much/ too deeply about purchases.

The exception is housing. Having lost significant monies in housing, and later missing the housing price boon, I apply a lot of overthinking on housing purchases.

Bottom line- most lower cost purchases are easy to recover from. High dollar purchases can provide huge dividends to invest time doing research and analysis.
 
I used to be the same, my OCD was maxed out. Tons of research for mundane stuff, then something happened in my 30s, likely a realization that my kids, my wife and family is what really matters the most, and my OCD subsided significantly.

Now that I’m free from this curse I have realized that oftentimes I wasn’t really getting “the best” products, as I thought I was. I was getting a product others thought was the best and were good at regurgitating the info that enforced this belief.
 
Overthinking! I see you have spent some time in a diner with my wife looking at an 8 page menu, her trying to decide what to order. Usually it ends up with her asking the server girl/kid which of two items is better and then the kid says she’s a vegan and doesn’t eat meat and the process starts all over.
 
I feel your pain, bro. My wife is the most overthinking person on the planet. She cant even decide what to order at a restaurant until she scrutinizes and changes her mind a half dozens times...while I sit there hungry and the server has to wait on her too.

Also, I never again in my life want to enter a furniture store with her again, LOL.
 
John Galt said:
Overthinking! I see you have spent some time in a diner with my wife looking at an 8 page menu, her trying to decide what to order. Usually it ends up with her asking the server girl/kid which of two items is better and then the kid says she’s a vegan and doesn’t eat meat and the process starts all over.
Click to expand...
why I never pick the restaurant - so she knows the menu
 
GON said:
I don't worry much/ too deeply about purchases.

The exception is housing. Having lost significant monies in housing, and later missing the housing price boon, I apply a lot of overthinking on housing purchases.

Bottom line- most lower cost purchases are easy to recover from. High dollar purchases can provide huge dividends to invest time doing research and analysis.
Click to expand...
Minimize transactions. There are always transaction costs.
 
Bailey28 said:
I am a frugalist...I spend my time figuring out how to get what I want for the least amount of money.
Click to expand...
I think people at work must do that with headsets and end up at the Dollar Store. We have so many problems with Zoom calls and people having trouble with their mics. My headset is wired USB and always works. Assuming the microphone has not rotated away from my mouth. The main problem I have with these Zoom calls is they are boring and I doze off. But others probably assume I have a mic 🎤 problem when I don't respond because I dozed off.
 
Donald said:
I think people at work must do that with headsets and end up at the Dollar Store. We have so many problems with Zoom calls and people having trouble with their mics. My headset is wired USB and always works. Assuming the microphone has not rotated away from my mouth. The main problem I have with these Zoom calls is they are boring and I doze off. But others probably assume I have a mic 🎤 problem when I don't respond because I dozed off.
Click to expand...
👀
 
Donald said:
This was in a NYT article by David Epstein.

I often overthink things. Sometimes it's over a choice of a a few items but other times it's just looking at something from every possible angle. Taking everything into consideration. So while I think I may waste some time overthinking a decision among similar products, I don't think it's a waste of time trying to take everything possible into consideration.

Comments?

Here is the abstract:

I am a recovering maximizer. For much of my life, I treated every decision — what meal to order, which Bluetooth speaker to buy, what exercise regimen to embrace — as a search for the very best. In retrospect, I think, the result was rarely a better outcome. What I’m certain of is that I wasted a lot of time agonizing and second-guessing myself afterward. I regularly fell prey to Fredkin’s paradox: The more similar our options, the less choosing between them matters but the harder it is. Thus, we can spend the most energy on the least important decisions.
Click to expand...
I suffer from over thinking but getting better as I get older. Its a product of our govt and corporate America, too many options and choices no one stop shop stores if we find something at a reasonable price we get a thrill seeing if we can find it a few bucks cheaper. After the birth of my 2nd child calculating poor moves poor past money decisions has opened my eyes HUGE. I don't like being a product of what society has created for what has become the lifestyle for many of us Americans.
 
DCDG said:
I suffer from over thinking but getting better as I get older. Its a product of our govt and corporate America, too many options and choices no one stop shop stores if we find something at a reasonable price we get a thrill seeing if we can find it a few bucks cheaper. After the birth of my 2nd child calculating poor moves poor past money decisions has opened my eyes HUGE. I don't like being a product of what society has created for what has become the lifestyle for many of us Americans.
Click to expand...
Learning less is more is how it goes.
 
"Don't let perfection get in the way of good" is a famous line and applies to me at times. Got the trait from my mother.

"Expect perfection. Accept Excellence." is what I settled on. I'll never be a just good enough to work kind of person.

Where I get in trouble is not getting why others don't see things the same way. Details matter.
 
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