How to make decisions when in a crisis

With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting us, people are making decisions — often quickly — on everything from whether to cancel meetings to how to best protect their family and colleagues.

COVID-19 brought not only the virus but also a real threat to our way of living and a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety. Combined these factors are affecting our behavior and the decisions we make. They lead us to make short-sighted decisions.

So how does one make good decisions in the face of these psychological factors? 

The best way is to slow down. 

Though threat, anxiety, and panic make you want to act right now to avoid a threat, but remember most of the actions you are likely to take will not be prudent.

Slow down and use deliberative reasoning with data.

Take the time to read and digest it before making important personal and business decisions. Do not act in reaction to a headline or a tweet.

Fast judgments are generally biased toward action so you need to slow down to be sure that quick reactions are actually warranted.

Though quick actions may reduce some of your anxiety in the short run, they are likely to create more problems than they solve.

Via