The findings are everywhere online: decision making is draining your brain. Chances are you’ve seen a post or two where someone on the Internet is exploring how chronic decision-making has cost us our sanity. However, it’s not just that we are making too many decisions, it’s that we don’t know how to improve our decision making skills.

Just like anything else, decision-making is a skill-set, and a very important one at that. Even as I type this post I have to think of the audience, the context, my own writing style, and the overall plot for what I’m going to write later on. Luckily, our brains are wired for being able to grapple with these types of challenges. One of the interesting aspects about our brains is that they are literally wired and electric. They are growing organs inside our bodies that are responsible for how we acclimate to change, success, love, and fear. This also means that they need to be taken care of, nourished, and that tactics for better decision-making can be learned and implemented.

One of the biggest things that you can do to become a better decision maker is to trust yourself. Learning this skill requires some bravery on your part, but if you are willing to trust that everything will work out you’re on the right track. Of course things don’t always work out in the way that we want them to, but being flexible can help you to find a better silver lining. Bravery is a skill and it must be learned by using those muscles. However, some questions are very easy and require little to no valor on our part. For example, deciding whether to see a movie on Wednesday or Thursday evening shouldn’t be a major source of stress.

These 5 practices will help you to balance out your mind and gain clarity over your mental faculties to help you master your decisions.
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Exercise

Whenever I find myself lacking in the energy department, I always try to get back to a healthy exercise routine. You don’t need to go hurling forty-pound kettle-bells at the wall, or shouldering a four-hundred pound squat rack--but you do need to get your body moving.

One of the greatest tips that I like to practice is a combination of stretching and rapid heart rate first thing in the morning after meditation and before breakfast. Ten minutes before you start your day can have a great impact on getting blood flow to your brain, which improves your mood, and can help you to make quick decisions.
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Reduce Stress by Reducing the Number of Complex Decisions You Need to Make

There’s a reason that your mother probably taught you to get your books and clothes ready for the next day the night before you go to bed. It eliminates decisions which increases output. It’s also the same reason that many writers (myself included) shudder at writing a blog post or book without an effective outline. By having the outline in place the brain can relax. The overall structure (the goal) is already established. The easier part is finishing each of the subdivided tasks. This is also why we, as a culture, praise the well-manicured checklist, and condemn frivolity.

Big time CEO’s suggest attacking the hardest item on your to-do-list first and then it frees up mental capacity to tackle less difficult items.
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Meditation

This is without a doubt one of the best ways to remain calm and relaxed, while providing mental clarity. Decision making can be stressful, and meditation (or silence) is the greatest precipitator to a clear head. When your mental chatter quiets down you begin to understand things that are important and what is no longer of consequence.

Meditating is a great way to listen to your own conscience, and even deal with problems that you have been avoiding. It is also a way to promote peace, compassion, and stillness.When you learn to meditate also learn how to be still and silent. Not moving and not making noise is an amazing new discovery if you’ve never tried it. Especially since our tech-centric world has programmed us to constantly need electronic stimulation.
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Connectivity, Empathy, Compassion for Others

When you want to become more clear about your problems, try to get out of your own way by helping others or focusing on what you can do to brighten someone’s day. Simply having one positive interaction can make you feel a lot better about your day and your to-do list. One of the things that I firmly believe is that you should find something motivational to watch, read, or talk about before going to bed. I always end my nights by being motivated to wake up the next day and do something great.
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Find A Mentor That Knows You

A mentor is important, but it’s even more important that the mentor has known you throughout multiple stages of your life. Sometimes, a mentor can provide calculated advice on what is right, but they won’t always know what is right for you. There is a difference. Since you are a person and not a situation you need someone who will know what will help you and what will move your life in the right direction.

Decision making is one of the greatest powers that we possess. While many fear making decisions, it can be a very empowering feeling. One way to get over your fear of making decisions is to travel somewhere by yourself and make lots of decisions about what you need to do and how you need to go about doing it.

When you don’t have any patterns or routines attached to a specific place it can be a great way to learn about yourself. The biggest thing is to learn that whatever you do will ultimately work out. We aren’t advocating for drinking a gallon of lighter fluid, but the normal, mundane decision making that we freak out over isn’t usually all that big of a deal. Learn to relax, stay calm, and trust that your brain and even more importantly--your heart knows what you’re doing.