Every day we wake up and make innumerable choices, from whether to shower first or eat; whether to get emails done or to meditate. Of course, you develop a pattern after a certain point, but that routine emerges after you determine what is productive and efficient for you, as well as what feels the most comfortable. Our world has changed from having few options to nearly forcing ourselves to make a decision before we even get up. This ongoing fight between the options has practically everyone yelling “pick me”. The persistent attempts to entice us in demonstrating superiority, whether or not they are good for us.

Economics is made up of the same concept, it is sometimes defined as “the study of the problem of choice”. In this fast-paced world, what happens when you fail to make a choice or worse make the wrong one? We’re sometimes perplexed by the array of options: whether to order or go out to buy pizza, staying in or going out for the night and what to dress for school. These choices might seem mundane down the line, but at the time they were made, they might have seemed of some significance to us. After economists started studying this phenomenon, they realized the impact of every single choice we made, they realized reducing the number of choices we made might actually help us. Every choice we make takes a toll on our minds, as a result, our productivity is reduced.

Well-known people like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg wear a similar-looking outfit daily, in the case of Steve Jobs it was the iconic black turtleneck, blue jeans and sneakers while Zuckerberg wears a sombre tee and denim jeans. When asked about the reason for wearing the same outfit every day the answer was usually along the lines of reducing choices to create space and prioritize other important tasks. Most schools also have uniforms that also have a similar effect, though they might not have been intended for this purpose.

Such efforts to declutter and decrease variety options may demonstrate the significance of the toll a choice has on our minds. Sometimes we just go through our day on autopilot, walking in a daze and making choices without considering them, which tells us that these choices can be made without our attention; then why spend our time deliberating about them? Now, this goes without saying quite a few do require due consideration, some of them include lifestyle change, work, big decisions like buying a car or a house, if your job requires you to present yourself in a particular way then what to wear is an important question and any other choice which will help you out in the long run. To save time by cutting down these unnecessary choices could be used for anything that you fancy.

To conclude, our time is of the utmost importance and the need to prioritize is more than ever of the essence in this day and age. To waste time on a choice that doesn’t matter to us is a disservice to no one but ourselves. For a saying as old as time itself goes “time once gone, doesn’t come back” is still true to this day.