Mẹo nhỏ trang hoàng căn phòng khách ngày Tết

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Dear Dan,

This Christmas, the entire family will be together for the first time in two years. I’m in charge of Christmas dinner, and I feel under pressure for everything to be perfect. I’m overwhelmed and exhausted by all the decisions: wine or eggnog, turkey or roast beef, mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes? Even thinking about decorations (trang hoàng, trang trí) and napkins (khăn ăn) makes my head spin. What should I do?

—Bertha

Sounds like you are suffering from choice overload. More options would intuitively (qua trực giác) seem better than none, but too many can produce anxiety (mối lo âu, băn khoăn, lo lắng) and decrease happiness. In the most extreme cases, facing an excess of choices can lead to not making a choice at all.

The downside of choice was first demonstrated in a field study conducted more than twenty years ago. Upon entering a grocery store, customers encountered a stand offering jams to sample and purchase. On some days there were six jam flavors on offer; on others, 24. More people were attracted to the stand when 24 flavors were on display, but only a tenth as many ended up buying jam as when there were just six. When faced with too many choices, people worry about regretting a decision that isn’t perfect—and not making any decision is the simplest way to avoid making the wrong one.

As for Christmas dinner, one way to lift your decision-making burden is to crowdsource it—for example, by asking your friends on social media to make some of the decisions for you.

Bài trước: D.I.Y bữa tiệc thật vui mà không lo "cháy túi"