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94 End Procrastination Now!

may require you to apply different values, rules, or procedures.
Some decisions involve resolving conflicts. Others contain oppor-
tunities, but also risks and uncertainties. The options you face can
include tough choices. You may have unwanted trade-offs and
lesser-of-evils choices. You may experience conflict between giving
up a great opportunity that’s out of reach and choosing one that is
attainable, but of lesser value. An ideology or bias can influence
the direction of the decision unfavorably. Knowing yourself, then,
is important in decision making.
How do you improve the quality and timeliness of your deci-
sions when procrastination interferes? In this two-stage process,
you learn to get out of a decision-making procrastination holding
pattern and act to make and execute purposeful and productive
decisions.
To advance this two-stage process, I organized this chapter
into three parts. The first describes factors that are involved in
indecision. The second is about ending decision-making procras-
tination. The third discusses how to make and carry out productive
decisions.

Procrastination, Uncertainty, and Indecision

The Latin word decido is the root of decision. It has two meanings:
to decide, and also to fall off. To avoid a fall, you may decide not to
decide. However, if you’ve adopted the no-failure plan from earlier
in this book, and you emphasize discovery over blame avoidance,
“falling” like an autumn leave is not an option.
In this section, let’s look at uncertainty as a condition for in-
decisiveness. It discusses four ways to overcome decision-making
procrastination, avoid needless pain from sitting on a spiked fence,
and act to secure useful gains.
In ambiguous situations you don’t see the full picture. You are
aware that you face unknowns. You have no guarantee of success
regardless of what you do. When you feel unsure and doubtful,