Here are my promised tips on what to do to avoid CO (CHOICE OVERLOAD):
1. Choose before you go.
Narrow your choices before you get in the DS (DANGEROUS SITUATION). Now, the DS will vary for each of us. My DS is exposure to sweets (candy stores, bakeries, Cheesecake Factory, food festivals, all-you-can-eat buffets...it's a wonder I can leave the house!) Your DS may be shoe sales or hardware stores or car lots or electronics stores. You know what your DS is. The more you like something, the more likely you are to get drawn into CO.
Let's work through this. If I had decided I would allow myself to buy five candy bars and picked the flavors or the chocolate makers in advance, I would have been okay. I usually do a good job with this - I know what car I want before I get on the lot. I know what computer I want before I go to the store. There's no CO because I've already made my choice.
2. Learn from your past poor choices.
We tend to repeat the same mistakes. We choose the same type of person to have relationships with - even though that type of person has broken our hearts before. We buy clothing because it is on sale but we never wear it. My favorite example of this involves my brother. (Big sisters remember everything.) My father, brother and I were at a restaurant and the waiter had brought out the dessert tray. My brother and I both chose a dessert. After taking a bite, my brother realized he didn't like his. My Dad calls to the waiter, "Bring back the dessert tray!" The waiter does so. And my brother picks the EXACT SAME DESSERT. A family legend was created.
3. Set a deadline for your decision.
At some point the Law of Diminishing Returns kicks in. How many hours can I devote to examining the chocolate bars in A Southern Season? How many vehicles do you need to test drive before you buy one? People can spend HOURS scouring the Internet for a better deal on something, but is it really worth three hours of time to save $15? If CO has kicked in, set a deadline for deciding. Give yourself two more websites or 15 more minutes - save yourself from CO!!
4. You don't need it all and you don't need it now.
I love that commercial where the guy goes to the electronics store to get a new TV, and you hear the song lyrics "I want it all and I want it now!" The guy has the kid-in-a-candy-store look. That was me in A Southern Season. That's me when I'm standing before the dessert section of an all-you-can-eat buffet. That's you in your DS! When you start hearing that song, slap yourself, HARD. Chances are pretty good that you don't NEED any of it, and you sure as hell don't need it all now.
5. Think about the outcome you want.
When I find myself contemplating buying a certain piece of clothing, I'll stop and think about my real life. Not the fantasy life where I go to lots of hip events wearing gorgeous, sexy clothes. The real life that's spent at the gym or giving a speech or sitting around in sweats. It's like throwing cold water over your CO. You might be fantasizing about that cute sports car, but if you have three kids, it ain't happening. Take the choices that won't really work off the table.
6. Don't get drawn into choices that don't matter.
I ordered office supplies online the other day. I got some paper clips. I wound up thinking about paper clip sizes and colors and finishes. It doesn't matter! I should have slapped myself.
Tomorrow we go back to Lake Champlain Chocolates!! I want it all.......
Showing posts with label choice overload. Show all posts
Showing posts with label choice overload. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
My Brain on Chocolate
Due to my inability to control myself with Lake Champlain's Organic Milk Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt, I have to cut back tonight. That's what I get for writing an entry about eating chocolate and not getting fat. Now I have to walk my own talk. What the hell was I thinking?
Luckily I have a great episode to share with you that illustrates how the crazy human brain works (or, in this case, maybe doesn't work). You may have read about the scientific studies done on the impact of too many choices on the human brain. The study usually cited involves the sale of jams (or jellies - I really don't know what the difference is and let's not even talk about preserves or marmalade). Barry Schwartz, in his book The Paradox of Choice, covers this idea like, well, like jelly on white bread. (Bwah, ha, ha!)
Here's how it works - imagine you are at some fancy, schmancy food fair and there is a table selling fancy, schmancy jams (or whatever the hell it is). One table has six different types of jam; one has 24 different types. Which table sells more jam? (No, this is not the SAT).
The one with 6! 30% of people buy there, only 3% buy at the table with 24!! 27% more people buy at the table with fewer choices! This is huge!! Schwartz refers to this section of his book as "Why Choice is Demotivating."
Bah! you may be thinking. Those food fair people are obviously plebs who don't appreciate fruit embalming artistry when they see it! More is always better! America is built on this idea - why else do we have hundreds of types of EVERYTHING? Seriously, think of all the brands of everything from breakfast cereal to toilet paper. Even paper clips come in different sizes, colors, coatings - good grief!
Sure, you feel that way until it happens to you. You celebrate, rejoice, revel in choice until you experience CHOICE OVERLOAD (CO) and your brain literally freaks out. This happened to me, dear readers, AND IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!
I was worshipping in A Southern Season http://www.southernseason.com/, aka Mecca for foodies. This place is gigantic and has huge sections for tea, coffee, wine, a bakery, a deli, an aisle solely devoted to hot sauces - you get the picture. Just about anything you might want from anywhere in the world that is food related is here. My favorite section is the candy section. Now don't be thinkin' these are some puny sections. A Southern Season has a candy section that is easily the size of three or four typical candy shops. They have a wall of jelly bellies, a full service chocolate counter, aisle and aisle and aisle of cookies, caramels, gummies, chocolates, marzipan - it's like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory - but no Ooompa Loompas, and, uh, no factory. Whatever - it's cool!!!!
I was doing okay - my basket was packed, but I was still sharp. Lots of choices, but no overload. I was buying; I was happy; life was good. Hell, life was GREAT! Then I hit the chocolate bar display.
Bars were displayed up to the ceiling - there were thousands of them. Every brand and flavor I had ever heard of and many I hadn't. We're not talking grocery check-out aisle candy bars - we're talking gourmet candy bars from all over the world. All kinds of flavors and shapes and sizes and colors. Milk, dark, white - in all their variations and percentages. That's when it happened. That's when I went into CHOICE OVERLOAD.
My eye balls bugged, I moved from one end of this fantastic display to the other, picking up bars and putting them down. My heart was racing, I was babbling to my friend Carole Walker - "I can't decide there are so many - what to get - I already have so many at home - but I want to try these - look at this - who would have thought of this - but oh - this sounds great" - all the while pacing like a wild animal up and down the aisle. I don't know if choice was demotivating me - it was more like over motivating me. I was totally overloaded. If I was a cartoon character, smoke would have been coming out of my ears. And you know what the caption would read?
Overmotivated by Chocolate
What to do about CO or in this case, OC? Stay tuned!!
Luckily I have a great episode to share with you that illustrates how the crazy human brain works (or, in this case, maybe doesn't work). You may have read about the scientific studies done on the impact of too many choices on the human brain. The study usually cited involves the sale of jams (or jellies - I really don't know what the difference is and let's not even talk about preserves or marmalade). Barry Schwartz, in his book The Paradox of Choice, covers this idea like, well, like jelly on white bread. (Bwah, ha, ha!)
Here's how it works - imagine you are at some fancy, schmancy food fair and there is a table selling fancy, schmancy jams (or whatever the hell it is). One table has six different types of jam; one has 24 different types. Which table sells more jam? (No, this is not the SAT).
The one with 6! 30% of people buy there, only 3% buy at the table with 24!! 27% more people buy at the table with fewer choices! This is huge!! Schwartz refers to this section of his book as "Why Choice is Demotivating."
Bah! you may be thinking. Those food fair people are obviously plebs who don't appreciate fruit embalming artistry when they see it! More is always better! America is built on this idea - why else do we have hundreds of types of EVERYTHING? Seriously, think of all the brands of everything from breakfast cereal to toilet paper. Even paper clips come in different sizes, colors, coatings - good grief!
Sure, you feel that way until it happens to you. You celebrate, rejoice, revel in choice until you experience CHOICE OVERLOAD (CO) and your brain literally freaks out. This happened to me, dear readers, AND IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!
I was worshipping in A Southern Season http://www.southernseason.com/, aka Mecca for foodies. This place is gigantic and has huge sections for tea, coffee, wine, a bakery, a deli, an aisle solely devoted to hot sauces - you get the picture. Just about anything you might want from anywhere in the world that is food related is here. My favorite section is the candy section. Now don't be thinkin' these are some puny sections. A Southern Season has a candy section that is easily the size of three or four typical candy shops. They have a wall of jelly bellies, a full service chocolate counter, aisle and aisle and aisle of cookies, caramels, gummies, chocolates, marzipan - it's like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory - but no Ooompa Loompas, and, uh, no factory. Whatever - it's cool!!!!
I was doing okay - my basket was packed, but I was still sharp. Lots of choices, but no overload. I was buying; I was happy; life was good. Hell, life was GREAT! Then I hit the chocolate bar display.
Bars were displayed up to the ceiling - there were thousands of them. Every brand and flavor I had ever heard of and many I hadn't. We're not talking grocery check-out aisle candy bars - we're talking gourmet candy bars from all over the world. All kinds of flavors and shapes and sizes and colors. Milk, dark, white - in all their variations and percentages. That's when it happened. That's when I went into CHOICE OVERLOAD.
My eye balls bugged, I moved from one end of this fantastic display to the other, picking up bars and putting them down. My heart was racing, I was babbling to my friend Carole Walker - "I can't decide there are so many - what to get - I already have so many at home - but I want to try these - look at this - who would have thought of this - but oh - this sounds great" - all the while pacing like a wild animal up and down the aisle. I don't know if choice was demotivating me - it was more like over motivating me. I was totally overloaded. If I was a cartoon character, smoke would have been coming out of my ears. And you know what the caption would read?
Overmotivated by Chocolate
What to do about CO or in this case, OC? Stay tuned!!
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