Op-Ed: Stop Agonizing Over Every Decision

If you're constantly hunting for "the best" option, a new New York Times opinion piece suggests you're doing life wrong. Author David Epstein revisits Nobel laureate Herbert Simon, the psychologist and economist who argued that chasing perfection is a losing game. Simon coined "satisficing"—settling on something that's good enough rather than the best possible choice—and then lived it: same breakfast, same house for 46 years, one style of socks, one hat. The idea wasn't low standards—it was conserving mental energy for what actually mattered.

When Simon "faced a decision, he considered a few alternatives, sometimes asked for advice, chose, and moved on," writes Epstein. "He didn't agonize, and he didn't second-guess." The mantra he lived by: "The best is enemy of the good." Epstein walks through research showing that people wired to maximize choices tend to be less content, more prone to regret, and endlessly comparing themselves with others—a tendency supercharged by social media, dating apps, and now AI tools promising to optimize everything. The paradox: Your odds of a good outcome often improve when you stop the search earlier than feels comfortable. Read the full essay.