You’re at a restaurant or cafe, and you have a simple task of ordering dinner or a drink. Just for yourself, not for the entire family. But you just stare at the menu for many minutes, considering prices, looking back to what you know about every option on the menu, unable to decide on anything.

And despite all the consideration, you just shrug and get something you’re most familiar with, not willing to risk any disappointment.

A simple dinner order takes minutes; life choices take weeks, months, if not years. You’re never able to decide what you want and what you don’t.

You think a lot, but rarely make it count; you don't make the decisions, and even if you do, it turns out to be wrong. People call you an overthinker, and you have no choice but to agree. This is what psychologists call analysis paralysis, and if you're facing this, read this article till the very end to find out what causes this and what you can do to prevent or minimize it.

Analysis paralysis is when you can’t make any decisions due to overthinking. While there can be many causes for this, the main reasons are often the surplus of information and the gravity of a situation.

You are essentially paralyzed, unable to make the decision—without which life can’t seemingly move forward.

While this happens to most people when it comes to making important life decisions like education, career, marriage, and finances, some others find it happening even when making straightforward day-to-day decisions like ordering dinner, which task to tackle first, what to wear, etc.

This level of overthinking is triggered by many factors, and here are some of them.

Too many options or choices also make decision-making difficult, as considering every option drains our cognitive energy. We tend to make note of our physical energy, but cognitive/mental energy is real and perhaps the most important. This is why, even if you had a pretty normal, stress-free day and don't feel tired in the evening, you find it harder to study or write at night. Your brain is essentially drained by then.

A famous experiment called the Jam Experiment, conducted by psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper(in 2000), supports this idea: researchers set up tasting booths for gourmet jam in a grocery store, and on some days they displayed 24 varieties, and on the other just 6 varieties; the 24-jam table attracted more people, but only 3% of those bought a jam, while the 6-jam table attracted fewer people, yet an astonishing 30% of people purchased a jam!

The same researchers conducted this experiment with chocolate and found that the results were the same. People were more likely to make a choice when the options were fewer. Even if more choices meant potentially better options, the cognitive strain of considering so many options to make decisions was a put-off for most people.

If a decision can result in you failing or losing something, it can be even harder to make it since the stakes are high and emotional.

This is why, at some point, you have to accept that winning and losing are both part of life, and that failure or loss doesn’t mean the end of the world. Not making the decision will also not result in you winning or losing, so at least you would’ve tried by making the decision.

A common reason for fear of loss comes with money-related decisions, when you fear you’ll either lose money or not get the value for it.

If a similar decision has previously resulted in something negative, it can be difficult to deal with a similar decision again. While we should be wary this time around, we shouldn’t let that couple with the fear of failure and paralyze us. Let those mistakes be lessons, not anchors that weigh you down.

I remember myself at a restaurant a year ago, trying to decide between two foods while my friends had already ordered. I wanted the submarine because I always had it and it tasted good, but for the same reason I wanted to try something new. The shawarma was about the same price, but smaller. Instantly, a flurry of questions ran through my mind: Will it be enough? What if it’s not good here? What if it wasn’t worth for the price?

Perfectionism. I liked both foods, but I wanted everything. Size, taste, value for money, guarantee that it would be good.

This was only one such experience where my perfectionism held me against the wall, unable to make a decision.

We have to understand that nothing in this world is perfect and accept the little imperfections that exist to humble us.

Adopt rules like the 60% rule, where you make the decision with about 60% of the information and not wait till it’s 100%. Remember that more information will likely put you off further, and does not even guarantee more success.

Tell yourself that, when you make any decision in the future, especially simple decisions like ordering food or choosing an outfit, you will decide it within x seconds and not waste your cognitive energy considering everything option and beyond.

One popular rule is the “5 second rule” where people decide that they’ll make a decision within 5 seconds, no matter what.

Serious decisions like career and finances may need more time, of course, but you can let the gravity of the situation decide which needs time and doesn’t.

The goal is to not waste time and cognitive energy on little day-to-day decisions, and you'll see that saving energy on these simple things will help lead a more comfortable life.

If the gravity of the decision is what’s putting you off, try to break the problem into smaller tests with lower stakes. For example, if you are unable to decide whether you want to move to a new city, rent a room for a week or two and test the experience.

Analysis paralysis is a condition all of us have to face many times in our lives, with some people more often than others. It can make life tough if you have to face it when making the little day-to-day decisions.

This is why it’s important to understand what the triggers, like information overload, perfectionism, and fear of failure are, and apply strategies like time limits, limiting data collection, and breaking decisions into smaller experiments to control them.