After way too long with her old laptop, I finally sat down to order my wife a new one for her birthday a few weeks ago.
Also, a throwback to last week’s Fair Play article because this is me using the technology card.
And yes, I did not just get her a business-expensed laptop for her birthday. That was what most people got stuck on when I shared part of this on Facebook. This was just one of several things.
Decision Making
Here’s where this becomes helpful to you: I want to talk about how to make a decision. For me, it’s a series of questions and considerations that I will walk you through.
So before we get to which laptop, we need to start here:
1. Do I NEED this?
This one was easy. Her old laptop was super old: the battery lasted 30 minutes, the fan sounded like it was dying, and every few weeks it would give us the blue screen of death, then reboot and be fine.
She uses the laptop heavily, and we are going out for 8 weeks this summer across the East Coast. (If you want to meet up when we are in town, please let me know!)
2. Do I WANT this?
If you don’t need something, I am totally fine with you wanting it and still getting it. That’s just a different question.
3. Can I afford this? Or at what price can I afford this?
Here, I look at cost and opportunity cost.
It’s not just a laptop—it’s access to power to keep it running, extra software, and the cost of not having the ability to work easily during our trip or future trips.
Sometimes it might be worth getting something you want if you can find it at a specific price. That should be your top consideration.
Or it might be hiring a new person if you can find the right one at a salary you can afford currently.
Now that we got to an easy yes and set a price (under $1000 for the laptop), it becomes which one of these things to buy.
4. What MUST this include?
For the laptop, I set a filter for must-have features:
- Screen under 14 inches (fits in her purse)
- As light as possible
If it’s a vacation, ask: What are you truly trying to do? See new things? Relax? Get active?
If it’s a new hire, ask: What skills do you NEED them to have?
5. What would it be GREAT to have included?
For her laptop:
- Solid state drive for faster boot
- Maximum battery life
For a new hire: having a book of business is nice, but not necessary.
For a new restaurant: maybe a kids menu is great, but you could always do a date night.
6. Ask for Recommendations or Give Brand Recognition
Now that I know my price point and needs and wants, I can be choosy.
- For food, I ask people here.
- For flights, I prioritize airlines I like (JetBlue, Southwest) over ones I don’t (Frontier).
- For legal software, I ask for referrals (or just ask Thayne).
I did not do this for the laptop—I am tech-savvy enough to go without.
7. Of the available filters left, which is the next MOST important?
For me, I went down the filters list on Amazon and added wants until I had a viable number of options.
Think of step 7 like the eye doctor’s “better or worse? 1 or 2?”
- For cars, color might matter here.
- For date night, consider event times to get home on time.
This is where you go from the whole world of possibilities to being able to make a choice.
8. Dive Deep and Use Your Gut
- For a new case management system, narrow it down to 2-3 with free trials.
- For new hires, have 2 people do a working interview.
- For the laptop, I got down to 5 options, then 2 final choices.
If you get stuck, read Paradox of Choice—it’s really helpful.
The first 7 steps get you down to an amount you can actually choose between without going crazy.
For the laptop, it came down to:
- Updated version of her current one
- A brand I hadn’t heard of but with better specs and cheaper
I read reviews from reputable sites, and then considered best and worst-case scenarios from Dan Pink’s Power of Regret.
- Best case: both laptops are great
- Worst case: new brand could cause regret for trying an unknown brand
I ultimately spent more for lower specs to minimize potential future regret.
9. Get Them Both
If you are really stuck between two options:
- Two pairs of shoes
- Two employees
- Two vacations
And you can afford it, get both.
- Shoes will wear out eventually
- Employees can handle different things as you scale
- Vacations can be split by season
Sometimes it’s better to try both and see how it plays out. You might hate one and return it, knowing you have the other.
I hope this helps you the next time you’re stuck on a decision. Did I miss anything? Any tips or tricks to share that might help others?
Next week, I will go through IDEAL LIFE planning: the big picture, breaking it into smaller increments, and eventually day-to-day planning.
Until then, have a wonderful weekend!