I feel like I experience decision paralysis when I am presented with too many "solutions" or choices. For example, some times in teaming meetings everyone has their own opinion and wants their voice to be heard. It is difficult to sort through the information and make a decision. I quickly become exhausted trying to figure out what is the right choice. Hopefully, by reading this book, the team can come up with a "Path" easier by eliminating choices.
I had a student who was experiencing some issues in his life. He needed to make a small change and begin with that. Instead, he was presented with about five different options he could change and he was quickly overwhelmed. It didn't help that his parents had an idea, his teachers had a different idea, I had yet another one and so on. Finally, it took an outside party who had didn't have daily contact with him to get him to see he needed to make one small change and that would alleviate some of his issues.
When I feel overwhelmed and have so much to do, I don’t know where to start; therefore, I don’t. I have to get calm and make a plan of action to prioritize and organize and then I can begin. I understand how students feel. They are pulled in so many different directions. Homework comes from multiple instructors, chores need to be done at home, sports practice or a job after school keeps them tied up for a few hours. Then, finally, they get home and they still have homework, chores, and they’re tired. No wonder students don’t always get their homework finished. And, that’s for students that come from a fairly well-functioning family. Other students go home to families in survival mode and education/homework are at the bottom of the totem pole. Some students come to school and do nothing because they cannot deal with the overwhelming demands being made upon them. They don’t have the coping skills necessary to prioritize and start small to make the changes needed. Hopefully, they are learning those skills and get to practice them so they can cope with life and all the changes they must/ get to experience in their lifetime.
I can get this quite often. I want everyone to be happy and to get their needs met. I want people to reach compromise and find agreeable situations. When I am in the middle of conflicts, I sometimes experience decision paralysis because someone is not going to be happy and get their needs met! I have seen teachers experience this dilemma when they are not sure what to do for a student or how to write up an IEP and then they just get stuck and do nothing. Its like they are so overwhelmed by so many things to do, they do nothing and get further behind. Sounds like some of our high school students too....
I can experience decision paralysis when I am overwhelmed with too many tasks at once. I may just ignore them for a few days and then make a list in order to get the items accomplished. Sometimes I just have to give myself some time to process everything before digging into the tasks. I tend to ignore more of them at home than at work. I have a young student whom I feel is doing this on a daily basis this year. I feel he is probably overwhelmed with all day at school and trying to learn so many skills. He tends to shut down and not even try. Learning new skills has been very difficult for him and it takes a lot of energy.
I have a student who shuts down when given too many choices or when she has to really think and try for the decision. Many times, especially last year, she would put her head down and go to sleep as a coping mechanism. I on the other hand struggle with "decision paralysis" when the outcome is not clear or could have various repercussions and I am not sure if I am comfortable with so much grey area to decision making. I also have a hard time if the decision can impact others negatively. I am such a peace maker, that I struggle with the possibility of conflict.
The biggest impact of "decision paralysis" for me is when I am looking at a menu at a restaurant. It takes me forever to decide! My favorite place to eat is a place called Quincy's in the mountains. The only three items on the menu: vegetarian lasagna, steak, prime rib. You get baked potato, bread and a salad. The choice of size and how it is cooked is all. I love not having too many choices!
Often I suffer from decision paralysis when it comes to picking out what I want to do on a weekend when we don't have our kids at home. There are so many options and I just don't know what to pick. It seems absolutely ridiculous to me that it is so hard for me to decide, and then I get frustrated and don't want to decide at all. I feel like I do so much better when I am presented with choices and then I can pick from them. Once that happens, I can decide and we can both be happy. It just seems so silly to me! This has to be how our students feel on a daily basis when presented with too much information and not enough coping strategies to help them find an answer. I have a student right now that has decision paralysis almost daily when it comes to homework. If I don't set him down and talk about what he has and help him decide what to do first, he just doesn't do his homework. That has seemed to work for him all these years (he's a 6th grader). I'm trying really hard to break him of this habit before he goes on to 7th grade.
I suffer from decision paralysis when I have too many things to do and not enough time to do them. I have to make a list and tackle one thing at a time. I stress about decisions when they involve IEPs and goals because my decisions can affect a child in a number of ways. I also have secession paralysis when I have to make a decision and I don't think I have enough information. I saw this decision paralysis in a student a few weeks ago. She had lots to do and many people telling her what to do and how to do it. She seemed to feel backed in a corner and could not even think about what she had to do to get caught up. We helped her get her locker organized and a list of what to work. After that--lots of authentic positive praise. It is working--another bright spot
Sometimes I think I have decision paralysis during SIT teams or when consulting with teachers. The teacher will begin listing all the problems and frustration she is having with a student, and I begin to feel overwhelmed. "Wow, this is such a big problem, we will never find a way to make it better." I feel stuck and cannot seem to get in a problem solving frame of mind.
I have had my children's pictures taken on numerous occasions and then been presented with a large selection of proofs to look through and decide what I want to order. It's always so hard to make a decision and decide what I want to order. The last time I had them done, the photographer put two pictures on the screen and asked which do you like best. He would eliminate one and then put others up until I had it narrowed down to two or three pictures. It seemed to make the decisions so much easier.
I experience decision paralysis when I have too many things on my to-do list, and feel overwhelmed with IEP's, meetings, kids, etc. I might take some time to destress and make daily to-do lists for the next week so it looks more manageable. I also get decision paralysis when I am writing goals and I have a severe student who could work on a number of things and I have to decide what is most important for them to accomplish in a year. Sometimes it's not clear cut, and there are too many options.
In my personal life, I experience decision paralysis by not being able to decide where to eat! I am a people pleaser and I don't want to step on other's toes if they don't like a certain place so I usually don't voice my opinion and it takes a while to decide where to go.
I feel like I get decision paralysis at times when it matters most. Usually I am one to over think my options and a situation. I play the what if or maybe card a lot in my mind. I guess I do this because there have been times in my life in the past that I have made rash decisions and wished I could change them and I can’t go back and do over. I have tried to learn from my past mistakes to think things through but I think I over think a lot of the time. I like things cut and dry. I like to plan ahead and have my ducks in a row and when someone or something goes on a skeet shoot and blows it all over the place I spend more time than I wish getting myself back together. I do like to problem solve things out but sometimes my over thinking gets me more problems then I started. I need to learn to make my solutions into smaller junks.
Decision paralysis is something I feel like I have experienced a lot this year. I have taken on many new things this school year, a new job in special education, going back to school for my masters degree, leading our SIT team at school, and of course my 2 children and husband are always in my life and i do not want to let them down. I feel paralyzed when I feel overwhelmed, when I have a long list of things to do. These are the times that I need to step away and do something for myself to refocus and calm down for a bit before I can hit everything head on and get it all accomplished. I am a perfectionist and tend to quit or become paralyzed when I feel like I can't do something the way I think it should be done, in not wanting to let anyone down or fail I tend to fail myself. When I feel paralyzed with so many things going on I have to step back and face things one step at a time to move on
I often experience decision paralysis in my life. I have often found myself to be indecisive. Looking back, decision paralysis is a huge reason why. Sometimes when it comes to little things, I can not make up my mind and too many choices could be a huge cause! being an analytical person, I often try to examine all possible options before coming to a decision. Thus, I actually work hard to give myself as many options as possible. OOPS! I think that eliminating options is the process I normally would use, however having a conscious realization of decision paralysis, it may be easier to look for eliminating factors. It makes sense... how do you get somewhere if you do not know where you are going? With too many destinations, it would be hard to take the steps to get to the place one wants to be. Decision paralysis can happen quite easily for my students. Thus, I must remember that choices are good to provide, but they should be limited. Just the other day, helping a student to write a letter, she experienced decision paralysis. It was difficult for her to decide who to write her letter to, but when given choices to choose from she was able to select one. Also, what to write about was difficult when she had no limitations. Giving limitations enabled her to choose what her sentences were going to be about and include.
I often feel like I have "decision paralysis" when I don't have enough information to make an informed decision. This has happened recently with a student who has been out of the country approximately 4 weeks and now we are attempting to rewrite his IEP. I feel like I don't have an opinion on his communication skills (and anyone that knows me, knows that isn't normal! LOL! ) Going into the IEP trying make recommendations on service time, goal setting when you are in "decision paralysis"...it's an unsettling feeling. I also get DP when I am overwhelmed..when my to do list outnumbers the hours in the day. However, I have also learned that those decisions will still be there waiting tomorrow and sometimes that's the best time to make them!
I get decision paralysis when I feel like I don't know a student well enough to write or rewrite his IEP. I also feel like I'm not able to make a decision when I know a student has many things they need to work on and improve. I've started picking the four easiest things for them to over come and then when they have met those, I have a meeting to update their goals. I feel like I get more done with them throughout the year rather than focusing on everything at once.
At home I get decision paralysis if I have to decide on something quickly that just pops up. I'm a planner and hate when things come up unexpectedly and I don't have time to process the information.
I had a student experience decision paralysis every time they had a paper to write or a power point due. They thought through all the possibilities and all the scenarios and had a hard time focusing on one theme and getting the project done.
I experience decision paralysis when I feel like I don’t have all the information, but I can also experience it on a Saturday morning when the weather is beautiful outside (my happy place) and I have may chores to do, a book blog and work for a class!
My Dad always had a saying about not panicking, and one of my sons has taught his children that the number one rule is “no matter what, don’t panic” – because when we panic we give up making wise decisions. Sometimes easier said than done.
The first time I experienced decision paralysis was in college when I declared my major. I knew I always wanted to be a teacher but making the decision final by officially declaring it was a rather daunting task. After that everything fell into place and seemed so natural. Whenever I get overwhelmed at work I really don't feel mentally paralyzed. I just order the tasks into what is due first, then next, and so on and tackle one at a time. That method works for me and in the past I have told new teachers that I have mentored the same thing. Don't try and do everything at once- it never works and the results are usually sloppy! Recently (last year or so) I experienced a decision paralysis concerning Common Core. At the beginning it was too much to process, and still is at times. There still are too many unknowns, like the DLM and the regular assessment. Fortunately our principal broke it down into smaller pieces, taking it one step at a time. He bought the staff books and sent out emails to help make things more clear. He also had SWPRSC come and work with different departments to help us all navigate through it. Now I feel more confident regarding Common Core, at least in ELA.
In regards to students; mine usually experience decision paralysis when they are given a task with little parameters. In other words they need to decide on the specifics of the task themselves versus the teacher giving them the specifics. They have no idea how to narrow down things, they simple see the entire forest and not a single tree.
I think the times I experience paralysis is when I see changes that I feel need to be changed in a classroom and I can't seem to get those changes made. Not having control of a classroom of my own, there are times when I wish things were done differently and I experience paralysis when I don't know how to help the adults change things to make activities/experiences for children better.
I have experience paralysis in my job this year with a student that I am learning how to work with as well as how to manage his behavior. I do run things by my mentor as well as other colleagues. My lnexperience working with children with this disability sometimes or should I say a lot has me question myself. I do sometimes feel like I can answer questions and feel as I can do it but then there are those moments that i freeze and don't know what to say or do. I think in my life I like to be an expert in what I am doing or even just knowing what to ask or where to go for the answers. I sometimes feel there are so many people that can be involved in a student's educational career sometimes I wonder where I should go. Do I send an email to everyone or do I go to a certain person? Questions always come up and I need to get over not having all the answers.
(Mary S.) "Decision paralysis" presents itself to me when I have too much to do - both at work and/or at home or if there are too many options from which to choose. I have observed this in my students too, especially when they are trying to complete a writing assignment, for example. Unless they have the assignment broken down into smaller increments, it seems very difficult for them to even get started. My way of dealing with decision dilemmas is to just stop and try to think what has to be done first, second, etc. --- then do it! One the most difficult decision situations on the job is trying to make educational decisions / recommendations about a student I don't know very well. As pointed out in Chapter 2 - I will try to remember to ask myself, "What is working right now?"
I know some of my students shut down when they have to think for themselves. They have a hard time looking through a passage to find the answers. Writing is another area where they shut down because they haven't practiced it much. For myself I feel decision paralysis sometimes when I'm preparing lesson plans. Some units I have so much information it is hard to choose what is important and what is just to hard or not needed.
I feel like I experience decision paralysis when I am presented with too many "solutions" or choices. For example, some times in teaming meetings everyone has their own opinion and wants their voice to be heard. It is difficult to sort through the information and make a decision. I quickly become exhausted trying to figure out what is the right choice. Hopefully, by reading this book, the team can come up with a "Path" easier by eliminating choices.
ReplyDeleteI had a student who was experiencing some issues in his life. He needed to make a small change and begin with that. Instead, he was presented with about five different options he could change and he was quickly overwhelmed. It didn't help that his parents had an idea, his teachers had a different idea, I had yet another one and so on. Finally, it took an outside party who had didn't have daily contact with him to get him to see he needed to make one small change and that would alleviate some of his issues.
When I feel overwhelmed and have so much to do, I don’t know where to start; therefore, I don’t. I have to get calm and make a plan of action to prioritize and organize and then I can begin. I understand how students feel. They are pulled in so many different directions. Homework comes from multiple instructors, chores need to be done at home, sports practice or a job after school keeps them tied up for a few hours. Then, finally, they get home and they still have homework, chores, and they’re tired. No wonder students don’t always get their homework finished. And, that’s for students that come from a fairly well-functioning family. Other students go home to families in survival mode and education/homework are at the bottom of the totem pole.
ReplyDeleteSome students come to school and do nothing because they cannot deal with the overwhelming demands being made upon them. They don’t have the coping skills necessary to prioritize and start small to make the changes needed. Hopefully, they are learning those skills and get to practice them so they can cope with life and all the changes they must/ get to experience in their lifetime.
I can get this quite often. I want everyone to be happy and to get their needs met. I want people to reach compromise and find agreeable situations. When I am in the middle of conflicts, I sometimes experience decision paralysis because someone is not going to be happy and get their needs met! I have seen teachers experience this dilemma when they are not sure what to do for a student or how to write up an IEP and then they just get stuck and do nothing. Its like they are so overwhelmed by so many things to do, they do nothing and get further behind. Sounds like some of our high school students too....
ReplyDeleteI can experience decision paralysis when I am overwhelmed with too many tasks at once. I may just ignore them for a few days and then make a list in order to get the items accomplished. Sometimes I just have to give myself some time to process everything before digging into the tasks. I tend to ignore more of them at home than at work. I have a young student whom I feel is doing this on a daily basis this year. I feel he is probably overwhelmed with all day at school and trying to learn so many skills. He tends to shut down and not even try. Learning new skills has been very difficult for him and it takes a lot of energy.
ReplyDeleteI have a student who shuts down when given too many choices or when she has to really think and try for the decision. Many times, especially last year, she would put her head down and go to sleep as a coping mechanism. I on the other hand struggle with "decision paralysis" when the outcome is not clear or could have various repercussions and I am not sure if I am comfortable with so much grey area to decision making. I also have a hard time if the decision can impact others negatively. I am such a peace maker, that I struggle with the possibility of conflict.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest impact of "decision paralysis" for me is when I am looking at a menu at a restaurant. It takes me forever to decide! My favorite place to eat is a place called Quincy's in the mountains. The only three items on the menu: vegetarian lasagna, steak, prime rib. You get baked potato, bread and a salad. The choice of size and how it is cooked is all. I love not having too many choices!
Often I suffer from decision paralysis when it comes to picking out what I want to do on a weekend when we don't have our kids at home. There are so many options and I just don't know what to pick. It seems absolutely ridiculous to me that it is so hard for me to decide, and then I get frustrated and don't want to decide at all. I feel like I do so much better when I am presented with choices and then I can pick from them. Once that happens, I can decide and we can both be happy. It just seems so silly to me! This has to be how our students feel on a daily basis when presented with too much information and not enough coping strategies to help them find an answer. I have a student right now that has decision paralysis almost daily when it comes to homework. If I don't set him down and talk about what he has and help him decide what to do first, he just doesn't do his homework. That has seemed to work for him all these years (he's a 6th grader). I'm trying really hard to break him of this habit before he goes on to 7th grade.
ReplyDeleteI suffer from decision paralysis when I have too many things to do and not enough time to do them. I have to make a list and tackle one thing at a time. I stress about decisions when they involve IEPs and goals because my decisions can affect a child in a number of ways. I also have secession paralysis when I have to make a decision and I don't think I have enough information.
ReplyDeleteI saw this decision paralysis in a student a few weeks ago. She had lots to do and many people telling her what to do and how to do it. She seemed to feel backed in a corner and could not even think about what she had to do to get caught up. We helped her get her locker organized and a list of what to work. After that--lots of authentic positive praise. It is working--another bright spot
Sometimes I think I have decision paralysis during SIT teams or when consulting with teachers. The teacher will begin listing all the problems and frustration she is having with a student, and I begin to feel overwhelmed.
ReplyDelete"Wow, this is such a big problem, we will never find a way to make it better." I feel stuck and cannot seem to get in a problem solving frame of mind.
I have had my children's pictures taken on numerous occasions and then been presented with a large selection of proofs to look through and decide what I want to order. It's always so hard to make a decision and decide what I want to order. The last time I had them done, the photographer put two pictures on the screen and asked which do you like best. He would eliminate one and then put others up until I had it narrowed down to two or three pictures. It seemed to make the decisions so much easier.
I experience decision paralysis when I have too many things on my to-do list, and feel overwhelmed with IEP's, meetings, kids, etc. I might take some time to destress and make daily to-do lists for the next week so it looks more manageable. I also get decision paralysis when I am writing goals and I have a severe student who could work on a number of things and I have to decide what is most important for them to accomplish in a year. Sometimes it's not clear cut, and there are too many options.
ReplyDeleteIn my personal life, I experience decision paralysis by not being able to decide where to eat! I am a people pleaser and I don't want to step on other's toes if they don't like a certain place so I usually don't voice my opinion and it takes a while to decide where to go.
I feel like I get decision paralysis at times when it matters most. Usually I am one to over think my options and a situation. I play the what if or maybe card a lot in my mind. I guess I do this because there have been times in my life in the past that I have made rash decisions and wished I could change them and I can’t go back and do over. I have tried to learn from my past mistakes to think things through but I think I over think a lot of the time. I like things cut and dry. I like to plan ahead and have my ducks in a row and when someone or something goes on a skeet shoot and blows it all over the place I spend more time than I wish getting myself back together. I do like to problem solve things out but sometimes my over thinking gets me more problems then I started. I need to learn to make my solutions into smaller junks.
ReplyDeleteDecision paralysis is something I feel like I have experienced a lot this year. I have taken on many new things this school year, a new job in special education, going back to school for my masters degree, leading our SIT team at school, and of course my 2 children and husband are always in my life and i do not want to let them down. I feel paralyzed when I feel overwhelmed, when I have a long list of things to do. These are the times that I need to step away and do something for myself to refocus and calm down for a bit before I can hit everything head on and get it all accomplished. I am a perfectionist and tend to quit or become paralyzed when I feel like I can't do something the way I think it should be done, in not wanting to let anyone down or fail I tend to fail myself. When I feel paralyzed with so many things going on I have to step back and face things one step at a time to move on
ReplyDeleteI often experience decision paralysis in my life. I have often found myself to be indecisive. Looking back, decision paralysis is a huge reason why. Sometimes when it comes to little things, I can not make up my mind and too many choices could be a huge cause! being an analytical person, I often try to examine all possible options before coming to a decision. Thus, I actually work hard to give myself as many options as possible. OOPS! I think that eliminating options is the process I normally would use, however having a conscious realization of decision paralysis, it may be easier to look for eliminating factors. It makes sense... how do you get somewhere if you do not know where you are going? With too many destinations, it would be hard to take the steps to get to the place one wants to be.
ReplyDeleteDecision paralysis can happen quite easily for my students. Thus, I must remember that choices are good to provide, but they should be limited. Just the other day, helping a student to write a letter, she experienced decision paralysis. It was difficult for her to decide who to write her letter to, but when given choices to choose from she was able to select one. Also, what to write about was difficult when she had no limitations. Giving limitations enabled her to choose what her sentences were going to be about and include.
I often feel like I have "decision paralysis" when I don't have enough information to make an informed decision. This has happened recently with a student who has been out of the country approximately 4 weeks and now we are attempting to rewrite his IEP. I feel like I don't have an opinion on his communication skills (and anyone that knows me, knows that isn't normal! LOL! ) Going into the IEP trying make recommendations on service time, goal setting when you are in "decision paralysis"...it's an unsettling feeling. I also get DP when I am overwhelmed..when my to do list outnumbers the hours in the day. However, I have also learned that those decisions will still be there waiting tomorrow and sometimes that's the best time to make them!
ReplyDeleteI get decision paralysis when I feel like I don't know a student well enough to write or rewrite his IEP. I also feel like I'm not able to make a decision when I know a student has many things they need to work on and improve. I've started picking the four easiest things for them to over come and then when they have met those, I have a meeting to update their goals. I feel like I get more done with them throughout the year rather than focusing on everything at once.
ReplyDeleteAt home I get decision paralysis if I have to decide on something quickly that just pops up. I'm a planner and hate when things come up unexpectedly and I don't have time to process the information.
I had a student experience decision paralysis every time they had a paper to write or a power point due. They thought through all the possibilities and all the scenarios and had a hard time focusing on one theme and getting the project done.
ReplyDeleteI experience decision paralysis when I feel like I don’t have all the information, but I can also experience it on a Saturday morning when the weather is beautiful outside (my happy place) and I have may chores to do, a book blog and work for a class!
My Dad always had a saying about not panicking, and one of my sons has taught his children that the number one rule is “no matter what, don’t panic” – because when we panic we give up making wise decisions. Sometimes easier said than done.
The first time I experienced decision paralysis was in college when I declared my major. I knew I always wanted to be a teacher but making the decision final by officially declaring it was a rather daunting task. After that everything fell into place and seemed so natural.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I get overwhelmed at work I really don't feel mentally paralyzed. I just order the tasks into what is due first, then next, and so on and tackle one at a time. That method works for me and in the past I have told new teachers that I have mentored the same thing. Don't try and do everything at once- it never works and the results are usually sloppy!
Recently (last year or so) I experienced a decision paralysis concerning Common Core. At the beginning it was too much to process, and still is at times. There still are too many unknowns, like the DLM and the regular assessment. Fortunately our principal broke it down into smaller pieces, taking it one step at a time. He bought the staff books and sent out emails to help make things more clear. He also had SWPRSC come and work with different departments to help us all navigate through it. Now I feel more confident regarding Common Core, at least in ELA.
In regards to students; mine usually experience decision paralysis when they are given a task with little parameters. In other words they need to decide on the specifics of the task themselves versus the teacher giving them the specifics. They have no idea how to narrow down things, they simple see the entire forest and not a single tree.
ReplyDeleteI think the times I experience paralysis is when I see changes that I feel need to be changed in a classroom and I can't seem to get those changes made. Not having control of a classroom of my own, there are times when I wish things were done differently and I experience paralysis when I don't know how to help the adults change things to make activities/experiences for children better.
ReplyDeleteI have experience paralysis in my job this year with a student that I am learning how to work with as well as how to manage his behavior. I do run things by my mentor as well as other colleagues. My lnexperience working with children with this disability sometimes or should I say a lot has me question myself. I do sometimes feel like I can answer questions and feel as I can do it but then there are those moments that i freeze and don't know what to say or do. I think in my life I like to be an expert in what I am doing or even just knowing what to ask or where to go for the answers. I sometimes feel there are so many people that can be involved in a student's educational career sometimes I wonder where I should go. Do I send an email to everyone or do I go to a certain person? Questions always come up and I need to get over not having all the answers.
ReplyDelete(Mary S.) "Decision paralysis" presents itself to me when I have too much to do - both at work and/or at home or if there are too many options from which to choose. I have observed this in my students too, especially when they are trying to complete a writing assignment, for example. Unless they have the assignment broken down into smaller increments, it seems very difficult for them to even get started. My way of dealing with decision dilemmas is to just stop and try to think what has to be done first, second, etc. --- then do it! One the most difficult decision situations on the job is trying to make educational decisions / recommendations about a student I don't know very well. As pointed out in Chapter 2 - I will try to remember to ask myself, "What is working right now?"
ReplyDeleteI know some of my students shut down when they have to think for themselves. They have a hard time looking through a passage to find the answers. Writing is another area where they shut down because they haven't practiced it much. For myself I feel decision paralysis sometimes when I'm preparing lesson plans. Some units I have so much information it is hard to choose what is important and what is just to hard or not needed.
ReplyDelete