Unlock Instant Clarity: The Secret to Saving Hours of Overthinking

Hi Trailblazers! 🚀

Today, let's start with a short (hopefully not boring!) but important story. It will help illustrate a lesson that I'm sure you'll find helpful and can relate to. And if not, well done to you!

For a while, I've been thinking about exploring project management tools, both for work and personal projects. I've always been a big fan of simple Apple Notes. I know, it's not really a project management tool but just simple notes. But hear me out. It's easy to use, syncs across devices (sorry non-Apple users!), and is accessible everywhere. But I admit, it's not enough. After all, comparing Apple Notes to project management tools doesn't really make sense.

But that's not all! I've also been using Google Workspace, which I think is amazing with all its apps but it lacks what I was looking for. So, I've been exploring some alternatives. For some time, I've been thinking, searching and even playing with Notion. Maybe it's laziness but setting everything up from scratch discouraged me. I know you can use templates but still, you need to tailor it to your needs and build it up. So I discarded that idea.

Which brings me to my point. If you try to Google "the best project management tools," you get countless options and most likely, like me, you get overwhelmed. There are so many to choose from. That's when my issue begins. I started researching them all, feeling like Walter White (not because of that! but as a scientist...). I kept asking Uncle Google, best friend ChatGPT, checking Reddit... and to sum it up, I got even more overwhelmed without making a decision. Okay, it wasn't that bad. At least, I narrowed it down to three picks.

Now, which one out of those three? I began reading comparisons. I'm not going to lie, I was biased towards one. I think it was because I liked their online presence - beautiful visuals, friendly communication, quality content... That's what works for a digital marketer! Here comes the first issue: "confirmation bias." Whether you know what it means or not, trust me, you've experienced that. Perhaps even without knowing it.

"Confirmation bias, a phrase coined by English psychologist Peter Wason, is the tendency of people to favor information that confirms or strengthens their beliefs or values and is difficult to dislodge once affirmed." (Wikipedia)

Despite comparisons, I had already made up my mind, wasting more time and finally signed up! But then I got curious. What if the second one was better? Hmm, maybe I should give it a try. Signed up again and explored. Didn't like it. Tried both, so why not try the third one too, right? Same story. And guess what? Although I liked the design of the first one, it seemed a bit too complex. While I'm happy to learn, I believe in the power of simplicity. So I didn't like it. The second one was overly simple and not well designed. The third one? Simple, slightly weaker design but it did the job. And that was my pick. The one that was my least favourite at first.

But Tommen, why bore us with this? That's when the moral of the story comes in! Besides making you aware of confirmation bias for future decisions, this illustrates another issue. Sometimes, we spend so much time thinking, researching, planning and preparing to make the best decision. When, on the contrary, if we simply tried it, put our hands on it and experienced it, we would know straight away. I could have saved hours of researching and deciding if I had simply signed up and tried. It would have taken just a few minutes and that's what matters most anyway. It doesn't really matter what others' experiences are if I don't like it, right? The tool needs to be the right one for you.

• Firstly, did you know about confirmation bias?

• If so, when did you experience it and how did it affect your decision?

• Secondly, are you the type of person like me when trying something new?

• If so, share an example with me and what your experience was like!

Reply with any thoughts, feedback or ideas, and I promise to reply. See you next week! 🚀

Keep trailblazing,
Tommen