Database of Common Decisions (180 Entries)

Common decisions are choices that an individual is likely to face over the course of their life. This includes everything from major life decisions such as choosing a profession to everyday decisions such as deciding to brush your teeth.

All (187)

Life (43)

Daily (33)

Family (18)

School (23)

Career (41)

Social (36)

Accepting Invitations	Accepting a Friend Request
Accepting a Job Offer	Adopting a Family Pet
Applying For Scholarships	Applying For a Job
Applying to a College	Asking Coworkers to Go For Lunch
Asking For Advice	Asking For a Work Transfer
Asking Someone Out	Assigning Chores and Responsibilities
Attending Events	Attending a Lecture
Beginning a Relationship	Building Relationships
Buying a Family Car	Buying a Home
Buying a Product	Buying a Stock
Canceling a Service	Career Changes
Changing Schools	Choosing Elective Courses
Choosing a Major In College	Choosing a Restaurant
Choosing a School	Closing a Business
Committing to Work Assignments	Completing Some Work
Completing a Task	Complimenting Someone
Congratulating Someone For Something	Contacting People
Criticizing Someone	Criticizing a Colleague
Crossing the Street	Daydreaming In Class
Deciding Where to Sit in a Class	Deciding to Apologize
Deciding to Be Social and Approachable	Deciding to Forgive
Deciding to Try to Become Friends With Someone	Divorce or Separation
Doing Chores	Ending a Relationship
Exercising	Family Outings
Family Rules	Getting In Shape
Getting Married	Giving Gifts
Going Into the Office	Going Out For Coffee
Going to College	Going to a Party
Graduate Degrees	Home Renovation Decisions
Improving Study Habits	Initiating Conversations In the Office
Introducing Friends to Each Other	Investment Decisions
Joining Academic Competitions	Joining Clubs
Joining Community Events	Joining Extracurricular Activities
Joining Potentially Social Activities Such as Fitness Classes	Joining School Events
Joining Sports Teams	Joining Work Events
Learning a Language	Learning a New Skill
Lending Someone a Book	Lifestyle Choices
Listening to Music	Living Abroad
Major Family Purchases	Major Personal Purchases
Making Plans For the Future	Meal Choices
Meal Planning	Mealtime Rules Such as No Phones
Messaging Someone	Moving
Naming a Pet	Neglecting a Responsibility
Offering to Help a Neighbor	Organizing Meetings
Organizing Trips With Friends	Overcoming a Fear
Parenting Decisions	Participating in Industry Events
Participating in Team Building Events	Paying Attention In Class
Paying Attention While Driving	Paying Off a Debt
Picking a Project Topic	Pitching An Idea
Planning Outings	Planning a Birthday Party
Planning a Movie Night	Planning a Study Schedule
Playing a Game	Posting Something Online
Practicing a Skill	Prioritizing Adventure
Prioritizing Comfort, Convenience and Safety	Prioritizing Family
Prioritizing Freedom	Prioritizing Health
Prioritizing Responsibility	Prioritizing Social Status
Prioritizing Values and Ethics	Prioritizing Work
Protesting Something	Pursuing Additional Education While Working
Pursuing An Interest	Pursuing Lifelong Learning
Pursuing Profession Certification	Pursuing a Career
Pushing Into a Project	Quitting a Job
Quitting a School	Reading
Recognizing a Failure	Recommending Something to Someone
Rejecting Work Assignments	Researching a Topic at Depth
Responding to Messages	Running For Public Office
Running For Student Government	Salary Negotiation Decisions
Saving Money	Saying Something
Saying Yes/No to a Request	Screen Time Limits
Seeking Help From a Parent or Teacher	Seeking Networking Opportunities
Self-Studying	Setting a Goal
Sharing Content Online	Sharing Personal Posts Online
Sharing a Personal Story	Skipping Class
Small Acts of Kindness	Solving a Big Problem
Speaking Up In Meetings	Spending Time With Someone
Sponsoring a Project	Starting a Business
Starting a Conversation	Starting a Hobby
Starting a Hobby Group	Starting a Music Band
Starting a Side Hustle	Studying For a Test
Taking Initiative	Taking Time to Think
Taking Training	Taking a Bath
Taking a Break	Taking a Part-time Job
Taking a Risk	Taking a Sabbatical
Taking on New Responsibilities	Taking on Public Speaking Opportunities
Taking on an Action Item	Telling a Joke
Thanking Someone	Thinking About Something
Throwing a Party	Traveling
Trying to Overcome An Obstacle	Vacation Plans
Volunteering	Volunteering For Committees
Voting Decisions	Waking Time
Wasting Time	Way of Life
Way of Thinking	Working From Home
Working Hard	Working Hard For a Bonus or Commission
Working Hard For a Promotion	Working Late
Working on Weekends

Life Decisions

Decisions that are likely to influence the entire course of your life. This includes decisions that society lays out for us such as what college to apply for. Life decisions can also be internal to yourself such as a decision to set some life priorities or principles.

People often feel that life decisions have to be made as a big decision upfront and may overthink them. In fact, many life decisions can be made incrementally. You are also free to change your mind about your life direction at any time. For example, an individual who decides not to retire but rather starts a new career at 60 that ends up lasting 40 years.

Daily Decisions

Sources have claimed that adults make 33,000 to 35,000 decisions a day (Hoomans, 2015). This seems highly unlikely as if you have 16 waking hours in a day, that's only 57,600 seconds such that 35,000 decisions would be more than a decision every 2 seconds. Nevertheless, the number of decisions we make is certainly very high and has increased in the modern world due to factors such as expansive product selection and digital environments such as social media and video games that prompt us for constant decisions.

Family Decisions

Family decisions are primarily made by adults in a family with children participating more and more as they get older. This is perhaps good experience in the process of group decision making and how to influence others. In many cases, family decisions can be simplified by taking on roles and responsibilities or by taking turns. For example, taking turns choosing the restaurant when you go out.

Academic Decisions

Decisions regarding your academic career and participation in school life. This includes life decisions such as choosing to apply to a college and everyday decisions such as choosing a distraction over studying.

Career Decisions

Career decisions include personal decisions such as accepting a job offer and decisions at work itself such as taking on an action item.

Social Decisions

Decisions related to other people such as choosing to greet a neighbor in the morning even if they don't seem particularly friendly. These decisions add up over time and end up shaping your relationships with others and your sense of connectedness to your community.

Next read: Common Problems

Database of Common Decisions (180 Entries)

Life Decisions

Daily Decisions

Family Decisions

Academic Decisions

Career Decisions

Social Decisions

References

Decision Examples

Personal Decisions

Decision Making Examples

Individual Choices

Decision Making

Preference Definition

Working Backwards

Politics Examples

Assumptions Examples

Uncertainty Principle

Sunk Costs Examples

Decision Goals

Risk Decision

Common Sense

Patterns

Pareto Analysis

Group Polarization

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