How to Train Yourself to Not Always Be a Maximizer

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Are you a maximizer—in other words, do you pursue optimal choices? How can you experience the benefits of this mindset while escaping the costs? I'll offer you concrete strategies, but first, let's consider a question from a research study to help you better understand your tendency.

Test Yourself

Imagine you are at a car dealership and you have found a car that you really want at the right price, except that it is not in your ideal color. Getting the ideal color requires waiting a month for it to come into this dealership, or driving a long distance to another dealership and renegotiating your deal.

Of the following, which behavior are you most likely to do? Which behavior are you least likely to do?

• A. You buy the car anyway because you need to buy a car soon.
• B. You wait until the color that you want becomes available.
• C. You go to more dealers to see if they have the color that you want.

If you chose Option A as the option you're least likely to do, you're probably a maximizer.

The Benefits and Drawbacks

Being a maximizer has upsides and downsides. It may improve decisions in some circumstances. It can be a fun form of self-expression; since most people are satisficers, maximizing can feel like a mark of uniqueness. It can also be an enjoyable pursuit, especially if you focus on the joy and challenge of the process rather than trying to guarantee an outcome. However, it can also increase decision-making stress, lead to greater regret and rumination, and increase opportunity cost.

Training yourself to sometimes satisfice—stop at the "good enough" option—can help you become more flexible. You can opt when to indulge your inner maximizer, rather than feeling compelled to do so even when you're facing decision distress or significant opportunity cost (i.e., when it's taking away from what you value more).

Let's look at some ways to switch into satisficing mode when it's to your advantage. You don't need to try them all; just choose one or two.

Strategies for Flexible Maximizing

1. Adopt an iterative approach and experimenter's mindset to maximization. Imagine you're going to find the optimal stain remover, but not all in one shot. Instead, you'll test five alternatives to what you currently use, over the next 10-15 months. This puts less pressure on the decision of which stain remover to try next. When a satisficer approach results in faster experimentation, it can be a faster route to overall maximization.
2. Identify one or two areas in which to devote your full maximizer energy, and other areas where you can take a satisficing approach to facilitate that. This allows you to go full-tilt maximizer where it matters most to you. For example, if you're optimizing your finances, you might satisfice decisions related to gardening and house cleaning. Outside of when you want to maximize because it's important, designate special decisions to maximize for the enjoyment of the process itself—for example, choosing vacation accommodation. This provides both purposeful and pleasurable outlets for your maximizer tendencies.
3. Gamify satisficing. Each time you satisfice a decision, allocate yourself credits to spend in ways that matter to you. For example, spend time on a hobby or indulge in a maximizing activity that brings you joy.
4. If gamification doesn't appeal, set a weekly target for decisions to satisfice. This helps you practice the skill by forcing you to identify decisions that suit a satisficer approach.
5. Time-box some decisions.
6. Ask an AI tool to contrast a maximizing vs. satisficing approach for a current decision. This can help if your maximizing tendencies are so ingrained and automatic that you forget it's an uncommon approach.
7. Distinguish between when your behavior is being driven by high standards vs. anxiety.
8. Leverage good-enough feedback loops. After choosing a satisfactory option, immediately use it in a real-world context. Use the results to decide if further optimization is worth it, cutting down on speculative maximizing. Hypothesize that taking any decent action (e.g., buying a basic starter tool) will reveal new information that makes future maximizing easier.
9. Run experiments to see which satisficing strategies produce results that satisfy you. Deliberately choose a "good enough" option in a low-stakes decision (e.g., buy a basic product with one strong feature) and measure the outcome (e.g., does it get you 80% of the way to your goal?). How did it feel to save the time and angst? Did you enjoy the product or regret it?
10. Blend satisficing and maximizing. Use satisficing for the first phase of a decision (e.g., pick one strength training exercise for each major muscle group) and reserve maximizing for a later phase (e.g., optimize your sets based on your observations of what you can best recover from).
11. Keep mental models accessible that remind you to account for the cost of decision fatigue. Author Gretchen Rubin gives the memorable example that packing for a vacation is more taxing than packing the same items to go home. The only difference: choosing.
12. Explore decision-making as a way to express values beyond maximization. For example, you might seek to express your creativity through your decision-making approach, but do so in a fast and fun way.
13. Designate a solution as temporary. Doing so makes the pressure to maximize less: "This is my solution for the next month."

Treat Maximizing as a Tool

Being a maximizer is something to be proud of: You're willing to work hard to achieve superior outcomes. But no tool is right for every job. Your maximizer mindset isn't necessary in every situation. You wouldn't use a scale that measures to 0.001 grams to weigh flour for a cake.

Avoid using maximization as a way to look down on satisficers. Instead, use the strategies we've covered to recognize when it's not the best approach for a given situation. When that happens, switch to a more flexible, faster, and less costly decision-making method. For more tips on making faster decisions, check out this guide.