Could the PAUSE method help me make better decisions?

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**Joseph Chance** (1:59)
Could the pause method help me make better decisions?
Thanks for asking.
Are you someone who thrives on making decisions at work, or do you prefer to take a backseat and let others have the final say? Decisions can be a source of anxiety, even for those who generally like making them. That's especially true when the sheer quantity of decisions to be made adds up, and you've got a limited amount of time in which to make them. That happens frequently to people working in a high pressure role or environment. And it's down to a phenomenon known as decision fatigue, which we've talked about in the past on Do You Really Know? It's easy to get weighed down in such scenarios, but thankfully there are ways of beating decision fatigue and making effective decisions without getting burned out. One such example is the pause method.

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Who came up with that?

**Joseph Chance** (2:51)
Rebecca Ann is the founder of the Successful Leaders Collective, which describes itself as an exclusive networking and professional development community for high achieving women. She says that decision fatigue is now more common than ever before due to the choices we're constantly presented with. Even something like deciding what to watch on Netflix or what to order in for dinner uses up mental energy, of which we have a finite supply. Anne created the PAUSE method to combat decision fatigue. It's a simple method that consists of five stages. PAUSE, Acknowledge, Understand, Share and Evaluate. Hence the P-A-U-S-E acronym.
Talking to stylist.co.uk for an article about her method, Anne discussed the thinking behind each step. For example, she says that starting out with a PAUSE is important because it allows us to engage in a neutral internal decision-making process, responding calmly with clarity and careful consideration. Where some people might see not having an immediate answer as a sign of weakness, Anne argues it's actually a sign of confidence in your ability to make the right decision. What do the other steps consist of in concrete terms?
Acknowledge refers to recognizing that you may have limits or weaknesses which could affect the decision-making process. According to Anne, again quoted by stylist.co.uk, this is often the most challenging aspect. Indeed, one of the key parts of the method is to distance yourself from your own point of view, to remain as objective as possible. That's reflected in the understand step, which requires you to look at your decision from a number of different perspectives. Likewise, the share step involves consulting team members who may have relevant input to help you reach your decision. The final stage is evaluate, and when you've got there, you want to be thinking about the potential outcomes your decision could have. A lot of the time, some level of risk or obstacle is inevitable, but by anticipating, you'll be best equipped to deal with whatever comes after. If possible, sleep on your decision to allow your thoughts to settle. Bear in mind that while the pause method was specifically designed for work-related queries, you may also consider using it for smaller personal choices too.