“We think that rational decision-making means exhaustively enumerating our options, weighing each carefully, and then selecting the best. In practice, when the clock — or the ticker — is ticking, few aspects of decision-making, or of thinking more generally, are so important as one: when to stop.”
When making decisions it’s helpful to research your options…as long as you don’t spend too much time doing so.
Brian Christian breaks down the concept of optimal stopping and explains how to know when it’s time to stop researching and start to act.
He examines how the principle of optimal stopping impacts our decisions about everything from who to marry to where to park.
RELATED: Make decisions before you have to.