Then Etsy sent me a promotional email and I opened it. There was a table runner that I liked. Hmmm. I popped over to the site and noticed that the maker had many more to choose from. I started browsing the patterns. I visited the maker's website so that I could see everything available.
So many patterns. Like 700+ patterns in the sub category I was interested in. Yes, sub category. I don't even want to think how many choices were available across their entire catalog.
I favorited the ones I wanted to consider for my final choice. And favorited and favorited. Some I liked, but thought they were too busy. Some I liked the fabric pattern, but there was too much white and I didn't want it to look dirty if someone spilled on it. Although, I suppose I could take it off the table before any holiday meals.
After a while, the number of choices became overwhelming and I shut down all my tabs without buying anything.
There was an article I read that talked about how what kind of decision maker you are impacts how you feel about choices. If you are a locomotive, you make choices quickly and having a lot of options doesn't really bother you. If you are an assessment-oriented, too many choices will paralyze you. Guess which one I am? :-)
When I was younger, I was more locomotive, but snap choices have led to enough regret over the years that I try not to do that anymore. I'm not always successful when I'm having a conversation with someone and they ask me verbally to make a choice, but when it comes to online shopping? Gah! I can't even begin to tell you how many times I ended up buying nothing because I got overwhelmed.
What would be ideal would be landing somewhere between locomotive and assessment. That way I could have the best of both worlds without locking up. I wonder if I could train my brain to be more balanced without regretting quicker choices?
