This week’s theme is about Analysis Paralysis.

We’ve all been there — we’re given a project or decision and we have no idea how to move forward with ease and confidence. We might feel stuck in the weeds, overwhelmed, and unsure of what direction to take. Can you think of something in your life that makes you feel like this?

Analysis Paralysis can manifest in actions like avoidance, over-planning, delaying decision-making, or making our projects more complex than they need to be.

Read on to learn more about how to bust through this challenging thought pattern and mental state.

Know Your Paralyzers

We’re going to start this week off with HOW this happens. 

Co-founder and CEO of Opre Kate O’Neil says: “When I explore the root cause and have a hard conversation with myself about doubt in myself or others, the answers come faster.” 

Which of the following do you identify with when it comes to what might cause your Analysis Paralysis?

1. Perfectionism or Fear of Failure

2. Limiting Beliefs

3. People Pleasing

4. Anxiety

Start by assessing where your paralysis might be coming from and from there, you can tackle the root cause before you tackle the problem at hand. 

It may help to journal or talk aloud to yourself about your mindset and from there, you’ll free up your mind to think of how to reset your mindset and approach the problem. 

Remember that we are never going to be perfect, please everyone, or have the best solution. 

4 Questions You Can Ask Yourself About Your Root Cause:

🫢 Perfectionism or Fear of Failure: Can I agree to learn as I go, even from mistakes if they occur along the way?

🧠 Limiting Beliefs: What beliefs do I have about myself that might be holding me back? What are some positive ways I see myself?

💑 People Pleasing: Remind yourself that your needs are important too, and ask yourself: what boundaries might be helpful?

😰 Anxiety: What can I invest in outside of work to ground myself?

Get Time on Your Side

We talked about what might lead to Analysis Paralysis, and now we’re going to talk about getting time on our side to break through the overwhelm.

Product leadership coach and CEO of PMDojo Bosky Mukherjee recommends timeboxing so you can’t delay making a decision. 

To practice this, try putting time to actually make the decision on your calendar — no more than an hour if you can.

Founder and CEO of Sidebar, Lexy Franklin uses the “time-traveling” hack — think “If I do X and I look forward to predict the next 3 months, would this decision actually make an impact?”

We can’t really predict the future, but we can do our best by using what we know to envision what could happen, and how it may move the needle (or not!).

4 Time-Related Challenges to Break Through Analysis Paralysis:

🚪 Two-Way Door Decisions: If something is a “two-way” vs “one-way” door decision, it can be easily reversed if it doesn't work out as planned. This can help you make or test a decision out without being 100% sure.

⏰ Timeboxing: Set up to an hour aside for you to make a decision or take action.

🔮 Time-traveling: If you can’t make a decision, think about what it would be like 3 months from now if you made a decision, and if it doesn’t seem like it will impact much — think of the more impactful decision you can make.

☀️ Timing: It might be easier to work on bigger items in the mornings than later in the day, depending on your personal rhythms. Schedule decision-making & problem-solving accordingly.

Trust Your Gut (and Data, Too)

This week, we’re learning about how to move through “Analysis Paralysis” to make great decisions and progress.

Product leader Brandon Wan says you need 3 things to do this:

1. Data,

2. A Gut Feeling, and

3. Alignment

When it comes to collecting data, limit how much data you’ll consume so you don’t stay in “Analysis Paralysis-Mode.” Try limiting yourself to just looking at 5 pieces of information or articles before you make a decision.

Your gut is based on patterns your brain has picked up on, which can trigger certain feelings or physical sensations when we encounter something that matches those patterns. When we listen to our gut, we are trusting our intuition and past experiences to guide decisions. Our gut feelings can be one part of the equation when breaking through Analysis Paralysis. 

Aligning to your objectives, goals, values, or teammates are key to taking the right course of action. Check in with yourself or others to make sure your decision is aligned with whatever is most important to you, or your team. 

Three Questions to Ask Yourself:

🔢 Data: What key insights are reliable or relevant for helping me to take action?

🧑‍💻 Gut: What does my intuition tell me about this decision? To counter this follow-up with: How much experience do I have in similar situations to this? Do I have any cognitive biases at play?

🥅 Alignment: How does this decision support the goal I’m working toward, and will it move me closer to the ideal outcomes?

Seek Support

Let's talk about how to make decision-making easier on ourselves. 

It can be helpful to talk through your Analysis Paralysis with someone else who has a different perspective. Ask a friend or colleague who makes decisions thoughtfully for advice, or to be a thought partner. 

You can also try reaching out to an expert or potential mentor for advice. It never hurts to expand your network, and most people like to help others out when they’re asked directly. Being specific about your request is an easy way to start a conversation with someone.

Simply sharing your thoughts with someone else for feedback, or even just hearing yourself explain the situation can help you take action. If you’re on a team, bringing your teammates into the decision-making process will build trust, too.

Reminder from yesterday: don’t overload on advice — we’re getting inputs to move forward toward outcomes, not to stay in a cycle of paralysis. 

3 Ways to Make Decision-Making Easier:

🦜 Ask a friend or colleague to listen to you share your options or thinking. You can get their input, have them repeat it back to you, or see how it sounds when you talk it over.

🧑‍🏫 Reach out to an expert to ask for advice! Be direct in your request and see it as an opportunity to learn and expand your network, too.

🤝 Involve your team in the decision making process to build trust and improve collaboration

Lastly, Break it Down

We’ve been addressing Analysis Paralysis this week by using data, our goals, our gut, and our networks.

But ultimately, we have to act to move past our Analysis Paralysis. 

You already know how much we love asking you to “Zoom in” at focused space so you can achieve your goals or make progress each day. Today is about taking that first step and breaking things down so they get done!

If you find you’re struggling to take a first step, sit down and try to break bigger steps down into more bite-sized, doable tasks. Start really tiny, like "opening a relevant email" or "opening a document."

Try to identify small steps that guarantee quick wins early on to get momentum going. If you need help with this, consider joining focused space so we can help.

Getting clarity on what you’re doing, and how to approach it, will help you break through your Analysis Paralysis. Good luck, and let us know how we can help!

See you around some of the sessions this week!

— Bec, focused space host