“Let me sleep on it…”

Think about the last time you said that. Chances are, when you said it to someone you really meant one of three things:

1) “Please leave me alone, I can’t talk to you about this problem anymore. You are making my head hurt.”

2) “I have absolutely no idea how to make this decision but I don’t want to seem lame.”

3) [I’m doing a karaoke version of Meatloaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light]

It turns out, however, that sleeping on it may be the best way to make complex decisions. A new study out of the University of Amsterdam (via New Scientist) has shown that the unconscious mind is better equipped to avoid distraction and focus on what really matters about a particular decision.

“Thinking hard about a complex decision that rests on multiple factors appears to bamboozle the conscious mind so that people only consider a subset of information, which they weight inappropriately, resulting in an unsatisfactory choice. In contrast, the unconscious mind appears able to ponder over all the information and produce a decision that most people remain satisfied with.”

The study also indicated that it was important to know in advance that a complex decision was required. So, you can’t just go to sleep knowing that a decision is looming and expect the answer with your morning coffee. I’m extrapolating a bit here, but it would seem that reviewing options and information relating to a particular choice right before bed, might get your unconscious mind working on the problem and, hopefully, produce an solution by daybreak.

Give it a try this weekend. Have a good one.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 17th, 2006 at 5:47 pm and is filed under General.