12/ Most decisions are reversible. We act like they’re all permanent. In research, we use “strong opinions, loosely held.” Decide. Test. Update. That’s science. That’s also life.
Full breakdown in this week’s Bench to Brain. Link in comments.

11/ Here’s the framework: Small decisions → make a rule, automate. Medium decisions → time limit, decide quickly. Big decisions → minimum info, sleep on it, decide fresh.

10/ Sleep doesn’t just rest you—it consolidates information and surfaces insights. If it’s a big decision, sleep on it. Not as a cliché. As a strategy.

9/ Decision fatigue is real. Studies show that judges are more likely to grant parole in the morning than in the afternoon. Your cognitive resources deplete. Important decisions made at 4 PM are reliably worse than those at 9 AM.

8/ This is why researchers set information limits. “I’ll review 5 papers, not 50.” “I’ll spend 30 minutes on this decision, not 3 hours.” Constraints force clarity.

7/ Research shows that beyond a certain threshold, more information just increases confidence without improving accuracy. You feel more certain. But you’re not actually more right.

6/ Most decisions don’t need more information. They need clearer criteria. Before gathering data, ask: “What would make this a yes? What would make this a no?” Often, the answer becomes obvious.

5/ In life, pre-commitment looks like: setting decision rules before temptation arrives. “I’ll only check email twice a day.” I’ll invest 10% of every paycheck.” Decide the system before you’re in the moment.

4/ Scientists use pre-commitment to prevent this. In research, we pre-register studies—committing to an analysis plan before we see the data. This stops us from cherry-picking results.