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Ask HN: What are your fav/goto decision making hacks/heuristics?

by ottaborra on 6/6/25, 7:50 AM with 11 comments

I'm always curious to know other folks' heuristics for better decision making whether it be "ask questions after action" or top-10 ways this will fail list and throw out the last 5. It helps to understand people in general and general forecasting of decisions

  • by treetalker on 6/6/25, 6:45 PM

    Some of my favorite heuristics / decision algorithms:

    - I see flowers at the store. Should I buy some for my $specialPerson ? Yes.

    - What will happen if I make this same choice 1,000 days (or more) in a row?

    - What I do now is what I always do. (This has two senses. First, it reminds me that I'm primed to act in a certain way now because I have been consistent in doing the same thing in the past — so it helps me remember that I'm a creature of habit, but I can also choose something else, which will take more effort because it's not a habit yet. And second, it reminds me of the foregoing in that making a certain choice now will make it easier to make the same choice later, and will build a habit too. In other words, every choice is part of the habit-building process, and I should strive to live consistently.)

  • by swah on 6/6/25, 12:57 PM

    Be aware if some decision is reversible - and if so, go carelessly.

    For example: should I go to gyms in the morning or afternoon? Why spend 30 minutes thinking about that, you can just change next week and see what works. I get into these mental traps.

    Similarly, many times implementing both options (software) is cheap and you can just test instead of mentally elaborating on what would be better... once its done, its obvious. Also goes for undoing changes with git.

  • by kratom_sandwich on 6/6/25, 9:21 AM

    - When in doubt, save money / do the cheaper thing (mostly for consumption, vacation planning)

    - Say yes (for activities with friends / colleagues; cf. "The Yes Man" with Jim Carrey)

  • by chistev on 6/6/25, 10:58 AM

    "When faced with 2 choices, simply toss a coin. It works not because it settles the question for you. But because in that brief moment when the coin is in the air YOU SUDDENLY KNOW WHAT YOUR HOPING FOR."

  • by MultifokalHirn on 6/6/25, 8:27 AM

    Gut feeling + risk assessment

  • by swah on 6/6/25, 12:58 PM

    "Once there, I never regretted going to the gym."