--- title: What 5 Counterintuitive Things Can Help You Make Better Choices? description: In most areas of life, settling produces more happiness canonical: https://time.com/3419415/5-counterintuitive-things/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-23T04:01:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T07:55:20.621Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 5 Counterintuitive Ways to Make Better Choices og:description: In most areas of life, settling produces more happiness og:url: https://time.com/3419415/5-counterintuitive-things/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74cf2cbf050f0203/6986a4aee8524b7adf604d36/111900626.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5120 og:image:height: 2880 og:image:alt: 111900626 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Counterintuitive Ways to Make Better Choices twitter:description: In most areas of life, settling produces more happiness twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74cf2cbf050f0203/6986a4aee8524b7adf604d36/111900626.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What 5 Counterintuitive Things Can Help You Make Better Choices? > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Sep 23, 2014 4:01 AM UTC  hands holding wooden letters spelling words hands holding wooden letters spelling words John Rensten—Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Sep 23, 2014 4:01 AM UTC You love having lots of choices. But having more choices isn’t always a good thing — ever see so many good options that you end up picking… nothing? Barry Schwartz has spent a great deal of time researching this issue and in his excellent book [The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060005696/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0060005696&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) he explains how we can make ourselves happier and more fulfilled by _reducing_ choice. What are the 5 steps? 1. **We would be better off if we embraced certain voluntary constraints on our freedom of choice, instead of rebelling against them.** 2. **We would be better off seeking what was “good enough” instead of seeking the best (have you ever heard a parent say “I want only the ‘good enough’ for my kids”?)** 3. **We would be better off if we lowered our expectations about the results of decisions.** 4. **We would be better off if the decisions we made were nonreversible** 5. **We would be better off if we paid less attention to what others around us were doing.** So what do these mean? 1) We love choices. Research shows people [prefer freedom and autonomy over money](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/06/what-makes-us-happier-money-or-autonomy/). But **too much choice overwhelms us, leads to second guessing and makes us unhappy. But we** [**rarely admit that**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/10/is-having-more-choices-always-a-good-thing/)**.** Having too many choices is stressful. Constraints help. 2) A maximizer is someone who researches, comparison shops and works hard to make sure they get the absolute very best. A [satisficer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satisficer) is someone who is happy with _good enough_. Which is the better strategy? Maximizing may [give better _objective_ results — but makes us unhappier in the end](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/12/does-second-guessing-improve-our-decisions-or/). **In most areas of life,** [**settling produces more happiness**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/08/is-it-better-to-settle/)**.** 3) Keeping your expectations under control is smart thinking. [Optimism is good](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/10/optimists-vs-pessimists-right/), but keep an even keel. Schwartz explains: Via [The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060005696/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0060005696&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- 4) We often want to leave our options open but that makes us prone to second guessing. We forget how powerful our ability to rationalize after the fact is and we fear regret. However, **research shows when decisions are not reversible we adapt to them quicker, move on faster and** [**are happier with our lives**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/11/is-leaving-your-options-open-the-path-to-happ/)**.** 5) Comparing yourself to others can seriously reduce your happiness. Schwartz explains: Via [The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060005696/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0060005696&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- Lastly, something Schwartz mentions in [the book](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060005696/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0060005696&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) really made me stop and think. He quotes [_Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W0K3N2/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000W0K3N2&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) saying: --- > “” --- Being aware of that — all the time — is incredibly stressful. Paralyzing. Doesn’t sound like a prescription for happiness to me. **Join over 100,000 readers.** Get a free weekly update via email [here](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD). Related posts: [Here are the things that are proven to make you happier](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/08/here-are-the-things-that-are-proven-to-make-y/) [Does creativity require freedom or constraints?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/08/does-creativity-require-freedom-or-constraint/) [What’s the main thing we can learn from Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/06/whats-the-main-thing-we-can-learn-from-harvar/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3419415/5-counterintuitive-things/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3419415/5-counterintuitive-things/"},"headline":"What 5 Counterintuitive Things Can Help You Make Better Choices?","datePublished":"2014-09-23T04:01:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T07:55:20.621Z","description":"In most areas of life, settling produces more happiness","url":"https://time.com/3419415/5-counterintuitive-things/","keywords":["Psychology","advice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74cf2cbf050f0203/6986a4aee8524b7adf604d36/111900626.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74cf2cbf050f0203/6986a4aee8524b7adf604d36/111900626.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"111900626","caption":"111900626","creditText":"John Rensten—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3419415/5-counterintuitive-things/","name":"What 5 Counterintuitive Things Can Help You Make Better Choices?"}}]}] ```