Craphacks and the paradox of choice
Posted by Michael | Filed under Choice, Craphack
On the looooong drive to work this morning I was contemplating ways to filter out the craphacks” or the lifehacks that make grand promises of greater efficiency and productivity, but in the end are (sometimes exceedingly complex) practices that add yet another layer of management into our already complicated lives.
Unfortunately, this process of filtering isn’t easy. I contend that, in part, we are asking ourselves the wrong question. Most of us begin our search for simplicity by asking ourselves “Which lifehacks are right for me?” and quickly find ourselves drowning in the flood that quickly ensues.
Enter Barry Schwartz’s idea of “the paradox of choice
While growing up, I was troubled by the question of what I wanted to do with my life. Along the way, my Parents told me that it’s often easier to decide what I DON”T want to do, and in so doing, to narrow the field of options to something more manageable. This process also requires a deep understanding about myself, something that I am still figuring out.
In turn, couldn’t this same practice apply to filtering truly useful lifehacks from the sea of craphacks? What simple techniques and questions can we ask ourselves to systematically narrow the field of lifehack options based on what we know about ourselves?
