When faced with the proverbial “fork in the road,” what seems like a simple cost-benefit analysis is actually a far more complex process of delicate neural activities.

A thought starts in the frontal lobe, where it meets a mix of dopamine-sensitive cells from both the emotional and the cognitive domains of the brain to produce a decision. What this means is that your decisions are influenced by your feelings as well as your rational faculties.

According to Jonah Lehrer the quality of the decision would be determined by the level of awareness regarding the emotional and cognitive domains. Stronger awareness leads to a better balance between the two domains, which in turn leads to making better decisions.

One of the major contributors to this balance is our prior decision patterns, therefore, our decisions in the past determine how we are likely to decide in the future. In a
recent study, it was found that dishonest decisions lead to moral disengagement, which leads to further dishonesty in subsequent decisions.

To prevent this, one can make use of simple measures such as following honour codes and step-by-step decision making processes. An example of the former can be seen in Alex Shalman’s blog, where he discusses living consistently with a mission and vision. In his mission, he aims to be an “outstanding human in every aspect,” with values such as honesty, truth and love.

For a better decision making process, ZenHabits offers the following:

1. Take one decision at a time.
2. Be honest and transparent.
3. Give the facts.
4. Minimise participants.
5. Have direct, to the point instructions.
6. Make clear and concise proposals, and
7. Record the decision.

GTD Times also offers a five-point checklist that targets both emotional and rational domains:

1. There are always more things to do than there is time to do them.
2. Brainstorm to see if you can merge tasks.
3. Time might only permit doing one out of two high priority tasks.
4. Whatever you do, don’t do nothing.
5. Do your best and to God leave the rest.

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