Are You Making the Best Tradeoffs?

Have you ever tried to squeeze just one more task into an already busy morning, and then found yourself running late, which stressed you out and messed with your concentration, resulting in far more lost time than the original task. How do we avoid this kind of mistake? By realizing that every decision we make involves tradeoffs.  

To put it a different way, we need to count the cost.

Let’s look at the issue from two angles:

• We count the cost by realizing that every decision we make involves tradeoffs.   When we choose to do something, we are choosing not to do something else.
• We count the cost by realizing every decision we make has consequences.

The tricky thing is that the consequences of our decisions are often delayed, so they’re easy to ignore. For example, when I eat something that contains gluten (a donut, let’s say) I don’t immediately feel ill. Two days later, however, the unpleasant symptoms will crop up and I’ll suffer the consequences.

It this example, I have a tradeoff between two things I desire: the brief pleasure of sugary goodness and avoiding a miserable day of gluten symptoms. I can’t have both. Whichever one I chose means sacrificing the other.

As my simple example shows, the challenge with tradeoffs is that we WANT BOTH options.

• I want a donut, AND I want to feel good.
• I want to see how many likes my latest post got AND I want to get to the appointment on time.
• I want more overtime income AND I want to eat dinner with my kids.

Are you making intentional tradeoffs?

Living intentionally means keeping in mind that EVERY choice is a tradeoff and has consequences, whether we are aware of them or not. Therefore, the intentional person makes deliberate tradeoffs instead of simply picking the choice that seems easiest without counting the longer-term cost.

“It is easy to see why it’s so tempting to deny the reality of tradeoffs. After all, by definition, a tradeoff involves two things we want. Do you want more pay or more vacation time? Do you want to finish this next e-mail or be on time for your meeting? Do you want it done faster or better? Obviously, when faced with a choice between two things we want, the preferred answer is yes to both. But as much as we’d like to, we simply cannot have it all.” – Greg McKeown in Essentialism

Some examples of tradeoffs we might face

• Saying yes to a friend’s invitation without checking your schedule might result in double-booking.  (Which means we traded staying in control of our schedule for appearing nice by saying yes.)
• Getting distracted with busywork might result in failing to finish an important project.
• Spending your Saturdays making your yard immaculate to keep up with the neighbors might come at the cost of having fun with your kids.
• Declining an invitation to go out with coworkers may be an intentional tradeoff because you’ve prioritized spending time with your family.
• Choosing not to accept a promotion may be an intentional tradeoff because the offer would mean moving away from family and require too much overtime.

The real issue here is that these tradeoffs add up.

Eating a donut now and then won’t affect you the same as eating one every day. Thus, the more unwise tradeoffs we make, the more it will impact our wellbeing and ability to live out our purpose.

But fortunately, the more wise tradeoffs we make, the more it will impact us positively.

Some hidden costs of ignoring tradeoffs

You will have less time for what brings you joy. Without intentionality, you will allow the “tyranny of the urgent” to distract you into wasting time on dozens of nonessential tasks. This results in less time, energy and attention for the truly important ones.

Cognitive dissonance.  Every choice that dishonors God, bends our values, or distracts us from our calling results in living in discord with our values and true self. This discord will slowly erode our soul and may lead to physical, emotional, or mental symptoms.

No margin. When we try to do it all, we end up with an overbooked schedule with no wiggle room. When things don’t go as planned, or we hit delays, we don’t have the margin to absorb the setback. As a result, we get stressed, and the rest of the day’s plans are screwed.

Relationships suffer. Unfortunately, when we don’t count the cost of our decisions, it’s time for self-care and relationships that is most often sacrificed.

Some questions to help you make better tradeoffs

• How will saying yes to this impact my schedule? My family? My top goals?
• What am I choosing not to do if I make this decision? (what is my tradeoff?)
• If I were to say no to this choice, what would happen? (And is that result something I care about?)
• Am I letting FOMO interfere with what what’s really important?
• Which of these tasks needs to be done first? Which has the more urgent deadline? This is a crucial question for choosing between two important tasks.

Bottom line: We can’t have it all. A wise life means counting the cost and making deliberate tradeoffs in an effort to do what matters most. This means sacrificing some things we want, and some things that seem good so we can focus on the best options that lead to long-term fulfillment of our purpose.

So, instead of viewing tradeoffs as a necessary evil, we should think of them as a powerful tool for selecting the best options and increasing our chances of success and meaning in life.