Thoughtful young woman
Psyche
14.08.2025 Gabriele Strasser 678

Making good decisions easier: How to make it work!

Do you often find it difficult to make a decision? Do you endlessly weigh things up and end up putting off making a decision? We present effective methods to strengthen your decision-making skills.

That's what it's all about:

 

Why do we often find it so difficult to make a decision?

Deciding means choosing between possibilities and making one option a reality while excluding others. This is often difficult as we have to say goodbye to alternatives.

In a complex and uncertain world, the criteria for decisions are often unclear. This can lead to us preferring not to make a decision at all for fear of making mistakes.

Why is it problematic if we can't decide?

Decisions are important to enable progress. If we do not make a decision, nothing happens and we "starve", as in the parable of Buridan's donkey: it could not decide between two haystacks and eventually starved to death.

The paradox of choice in today's society, where there are more options than ever, makes decision-making even more difficult. Too many choices can lead to excessive demands and ultimately to a decision being made too late or not at all.

What characterizes people with a high level of decision-making competence?

People with a high level of decision-making competence make decisions even when information is unclear and ambiguous or when they have to reckon with unpleasant consequences of the decision. As soon as the decision has been made, they do not hesitate or procrastinate, but put their plan into action. They stand behind their decision and do not regret it, even if problems arise. 

Head and gut decide

Good access to your own feelings often helps you to make decisions more quickly. Decision options are then evaluated according to emotional impressions and do not require a long mental process. However, emotion-oriented decision-making does not always lead to better results. 

Are you facing an important decision and wondering whether you should listen to your gut or your head?

First ask yourself: What type of person am I? Do I need figures, data, facts, analyses?

Or do you listen to your gut, and when something feels right, you just decide?

No matter which tendency you see in yourself, it often depends on the right mix of both.

3 tips on how to harmonize your head and stomach

1. set yourself an appointment

This is particularly important for those with a head on their shoulders: set yourself a deadline by which you have to make a decision. Otherwise you can get lost in the details, especially when there is a lot of data and facts available.

2. meditate

Make your decisions mindfully: take a moment, breathe, listen to yourself and feel which decision is right for you.

3. decide

After you have listened to your gut and your head, make up your mind: delaying or not deciding is useless. A conscious yes or no is the only right way.

4 steps to good decisions: The WRAP process

Before you start the WRAP process, first think about what decision you are currently facing and record it on paper, for example.

Step 1: W (widen your options) - Expand your options

It is usually easier for us to think within a narrow decision-making corridor. However, solutions to a problem often lie outside existing pathways.

Therefore, in this step, look beyond the immediate and obvious options and creatively overcome apparent boundaries. The alternatives can be crazy and unrealistic - at this point it is not yet a question of evaluation and realization. 

Step 2: R (reality-test your assumptions) - Check your assumptions in reality

In this step, you check your assumptions and prejudices that are influencing the decision. We all work with assumptions, but they can also lead us astray. It is therefore important to critically scrutinize your own beliefs and look for clues that could contradict your own assumptions. 

Write down which assumptions you think are important for your decision, for example about other people, facts or contexts.

There is no right or wrong or good or bad here. The important thing is that you write everything down as comprehensively as possible.

Step 3: A (attain distance before deciding) - Gain distance before deciding

Now is the time to take a step back and gain some emotional distance. This enables you to recognize the situation more clearly and completely. H

It is helpful to either imagine what you would advise a friend in the same situation or what the consequences of the decision would be in the short, medium and long term.

Step 4: Prepare to be wrong

Decisions are not always correct, as developments can be unpredictable or conditions can change.

Preparing for the fact that a decision could be wrong has two advantages:

  • It lowers expectations and therefore disappointment. You can consider what would be the worst thing that could happen and re-evaluate your options or better bear the burden of a wrong decision.
  • It allows you to stay flexible by being prepared to adapt plans or have a plan B ready - even if it's not perfect.

Write this down and feel inside yourself: How does it feel? Do you come to a new assessment of the short, medium and long-term consequences or do you feel that your assessment has been confirmed? Does this reflection lead you to a new aspect that you need to reconsider? Or do you now see more clearly how you want to decide?

Taking a realistic look at your options and the possibility of being wrong gives you the courage to make a decision - and not to regret it. 

zero Burnout among employees: What managers need to know

Man on a tightrope in the mountain
13.10.2021 Sabrina Ludwig 32425

Burnout among employees: What managers need to know!

When a team colleague returns to work after a burnout, colleagues and managers almost always ask themselves with some concern: How should we deal with him or her? Will he or she be back at work? Carola Kleinschmidt is a trainer and expert on burnout and knows how managers can manage this balancing act.

Psychologist and Managing Director of Oberbergkliniken. For many years, she established concepts for mental health in the workplace in companies. Kentgens gives many educational talks and workshops in companies of all sizes, and wherever she goes, she always encounters the same uncertainty: "How do I as a colleague or boss deal with the person coming back from illness?

This is a question that concerns a lot of people," explains Kentgens. "The questioners in another department have often seen someone come back to the office but only stay at work for a few hours and then go home again. And they asked themselves: Is he allowed to do that because he was ill? Will that always be the case now?".

Reintegration after burnout: in stages from four to eight weeks

"There is usually a misunderstanding here," explains psychologist Kentgens. Bosses and colleagues often don't know that those returning to work are doing a phased reintegration . During this time, they are still officially on sick leave and the health insurance companies pay the wage costs.

As a rule, a gradual reintegration takes four to eight weeks. This period gives returnees the opportunity to gradually acclimatize to everyday working life and their activities again - without too much pressure. "During this time, special arrangements apply that are underpinned by medical or therapeutic advice. There is an agreed step-by-step plan, which is ideally agreed between the returnee, the person receiving treatment, the manager, the HR department, the works council and the company doctor," explains Kentgens. This means that it is quite possible that only a few hours of work per day have been agreed initially or that other special regulations apply to the employee during this time. Ideally, the employee's resilience will increase continuously.

How to deal with a colleague?

Of course, colleagues who don't know this quickly see someone from the outside who is only able to cope with little stress. And it is not uncommon for this initial image of the returnee to become established. A vicious circle can begin: You don't trust the employee to do much - and thus deprive them of the chance to fully reintegrate into day-to-day business.

"We therefore advise managers to communicate the employee's current status within the company to the team. Temporary special arrangements that have been negotiated with the person concerned, such as no business trips or reduced customer contact, should also be communicated so that the team is aware."

Such agreements can still apply between managers and employees even after gradual reintegration. Even then, it is best to communicate this to everyone. This transparency makes it much easier to reintegrate the returnee into the team and prevents rumors, false consideration and gossip.

After the burnout: no false consideration

Once reintegration is complete, which is usually the case after four to eight weeks, the employee is healthy again and can be fully deployed in the company.

"After reintegration and when any special arrangements have expired, the employee is considered fully resilient again," explains Kentgens. From the psychologist's point of view, this is the right thing to do, as there is a risk, especially after a mental health crisis, that the person will remain in a certain protective posture - or be pushed into the corner of "he's no longer resilient" by those around him out of false consideration."

Such developments are counterproductive for health and, above all, for recovery," explains Kentgens. The aim of reintegration is therefore for the employee to be able to return to their old job with the usual stresses and strains. Ideally, after successful treatment, the employee's attitude, resilience and resistance to stress will have improved - including the ability to say "no" from time to time.

"The biggest concern of those affected is that they will be looked at the wrong way when they return to the company."

If the employee notices before returning to work or during the reintegration process that they no longer want to carry out certain activities that were previously part of their duties, then it is not up to the manager or team to automatically take them off their hands. Rather, it is up to the employee to change their tasks and workload, explains Kentgens. This means that they can negotiate their tasks with their manager and also at HR department level in order to make the work suitable for them.

Talks as part of the reintegration process can also be the place for such adjustments. For example, some burnout sufferers want to reduce their working hours or look after fewer customers than before, and in some cases also want to move to other positions with less responsibility. "This clear appeal to the personal responsibility and clarity of those formerly affected may sound rigid," says Kentgens. But she knows from the everyday experience of therapists who work with burnout sufferers: "The biggest concern of those affected is that they will be looked at the wrong way for months after returning to the company, that they are no longer trusted to do anything and that this is precisely why they will not be able to perform again". Clarity in the reintegration process counteracts this discrimination and is therefore beneficial - for everyone involved.

 

About Carola Kleinschmidt:

Carola Kleinschmidt is a graduate biologist, journalist and certified trainer (additional training in communication psychology, Schulz-von-Thun Institute/University of Hamburg).

She has been working on the topic of "health and the world of work" for 15 years. Stern magazine described her non-fiction book "Bevor der Job krank macht" (Before the job makes you ill) as "one of the best books on the subject of burnout". It has sold over 25,000 copies. Follow-up books: "Das hält keiner bis zur Rente durch" (2014), "Burnout - und dann?" (2016). Carola Kleinschmidt gives lectures and workshops in organizations and companies on the topic of "Good Work & Mental Health". www.carolakleinschmidt.de

 

 

 

Literature tip: "Burnout - and then?" (2016)

Every year, millions of people get back to life after a burnout. They all ask themselves: How will my life go on? Should I expect relapses? What and how much do I need to change in my life?

Carola Kleinschmidt has accompanied many sufferers over the years. She describes what life is like after the crisis, what difficulties arise in the new everyday life and what characterizes the people who leave the spiral of exhaustion behind them for good. Short interviews with experts place the individual experiences in a broader picture and explain which strategies are most suitable. The result is a comprehensive picture of how to find your way back to a positive attitude to life after a burnout and ensure that it stays that way.