Study Recommends Sleeping on Complex Decisions

A Dutch study proves what we’ve all suspected:

The study found that people can think unconsciously and that for complex decisions unconscious thought is actually superior. The team argued the problem with conscious thought is that the brain can only focus on a few things at the same time, which can lead to some aspects being given undue importance. Lead researcher Dr Ap Dijksterhuis said: “The take-home message is that when you have to make a decision, the first step should be to get all the information necessary for the decision. “Once you have the information, you have to decide, and this is best done with conscious thought for simple decisions, but left to unconscious thought – to ’sleep on it’ – when the decision is complex.”

When making complex decisions a good night’s sleep is vital. As it turns out “sleep on it” is great advice when it comes to decision making!

Technorati Tags: Management, Sleeping, Decision-making, Psychology

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Tagged as: Decision-Making