"Analysis Paralysis" Is Why You Can't Decide What's For Dinner

One of the most annoying things about everyday life isn’t meetings, bad weather, or even emails. It’s the constant decision-making. The morning starts with a list of choices, including what to have for breakfast and what to wear to work, and then it quickly spirals out of control from there.

Later in the day, you have to decide which projects to complete, choose what’s for dinner, land on something to watch on Netflix — the list goes on. All of these options can lead to a situation called “analysis paralysis,” which is a phrase that’s been trending on TikTok. It’s the perfect way to describe the overwhelming feeling that often hits when you need to make a decision.

In a viral video, TikTok creator and board-certified psychiatrist Sasha Hamdani, MD, aka @thepsychdoctormd, described it as a breakdown of executive function or the ability to complete tasks. Analysis paralysis can set in when your brain gets over-stimulated or overwhelmed, she said, and it often gets worse when you’re worried about making the wrong decision.

It’s something that often impacts people with ADHD and OCD, but it can happen to anyone dealing with anxiety, fatigue, burnout, and stress. In Hamdani’s comments section one person wrote, “I struggle with this so much at work” while another said, “I wish I knew about this sooner instead of thinking I was ‘lazy’ for years.” Sound familiar? Here’s what to know.

What Is Analysis Paralysis?

Analysis paralysis is essentially a form of overthinking, but instead of simply weighing pros and cons you get stuck and end up doing nothing. Also called choice paralysis, it can impact your ability to make big decisions, like where to move, which job to take, or which car to buy, but it can also occur during small, everyday decision-making, like when you need to figure out what’s for dinner.

“It happens when our brains are overwhelmed and stressed,” says Anindita Bhaumik, LISCW, MSW, CCTP, the clinical director at Boston Evening Therapy Associates. “Whether from anxiety around a big life decision or due to the build-up of all the little choices we have to make every day, analysis paralysis can prevent us from assessing a choice or situation and moving forward.”

This feeling is especially common today due to the sheer amount of options in every category. When it comes to dinner, you likely have a dozen food delivery apps on your phone, a fridge full of ingredients, two delis on the corner, and thousands of recipes pinned to a Pinterest board.

While it seems great, in theory, to have so many choices, it can actually cause your brain to go into shutdown mode, says Lina Jan, a psychologist and certified life coach. “Most people are trying to juggle more things than is healthy,” she tells Bustle, and when that happens all day long your fight-or-flight or stress response gets triggered.

What Does It Feel Like?

According to Jan, the stress of making a decision can cause your attention span and energy levels to shrink down to nothing, making it even more difficult to make a final call.

The resulting frustration and overwhelm can dig you deeper into a frozen or “paralyzed” state. At that point you might rely on others, like a friend or partner, to help you decide. Or you might do nothing at all.

“Making a decision one way or another kind of implicitly means that we lose the option that we don’t choose,” says Jan. “So there’s also a sort of a ‘loss’ involved in making a decision one way or another.”

The fear of missing out — and the desire to make the right choice — often causes the situation to feel even more intense. Cut to you opening and closing the fridge 100 times before finally eating dinner at midnight.

How To Deal With Analysis Paralysis

While it might not seem like the biggest deal to be indecisive, analysis paralysis can become a vicious cycle. “On the surface, it makes life difficult because it involves anxiety, discomfort, fear, frustration, and overwhelm,” says Jan. And that can be draining on its own.

On a deeper level, analysis paralysis can hold you back in your career or prevent you from reaching goals, and over time it can even take away your ability to trust yourself. To get out of a rut, it helps to find a few workarounds.

Limit Your Choices

On TikTok, Hamdani recommended limiting your choices as much as possible. Instead of looking at 20 different dinner ideas, try boiling it down to three or four. Analysis paralysis is always worse when you have a sea of options before you.

Set A Deadline

To speed up the process, give yourself a deadline, like 15 minutes or three days, to make your choice, then make it and move on. Hamdani noted that your brain is likely to work better under the pressure of a deadline.

Reflect In A Quiet Place

When your brain is over-stimulated it’s tough to come to conclusions and figure out what’s best for you. That’s why Hamdani recommended reflecting in a peaceful place so you can think more clearly. It might also help to recognize that there may not be a “right” answer.

Take A Breather

If you can’t step away as you waffle between a few options, try taking a deep breath. According to Bhaumik, it’ll help ease feelings of stress and panic and get you out of fight-or-flight. “Box breathing, doing a body scan, or repeating a calming mantra are good places to start,” she says.

Talk To A Therapist

If analysis paralysis impacts you every day, Bhaumik suggests addressing the root cause of the problem, whether it’s ADHD, anxiety, stress, etc. A therapist can help you pinpoint the reason why you overthink or get stuck, and then help you get unstuck. Get that out of the way, and you should have a much easier time navigating your day.

Sources:

Lina Jan, psychologist, certified life coach

Anindita Bhaumik, LISCW, MSW, CCTP, clinical director at Boston Evening Therapy Associates