Hey Reader

Not sure if you've heard, but I'm getting married 💍

This isn't really news seeing I've been engaged since 2018, but it's actually happening this year!

I'm excited for both the event itself and the planning that will go into it, which is certainly for the best since there's going to be a lot to plan.

I love planning, but even in these early stages, I’ve noticed analysis paralysis creep in, closely followed by decision fatigue 😝

Sure, wedding planning is exciting, but dang there are a lot of choices to make 😅

For a lot of aspects, there are so many options, and I find myself asking

I know this is one of the reasons I've put off wedding planning as long as I have, but one tool in particular seems to be helping a lot.

This one has already helped me stop ruminating over all the options I have for particular decisions, and made me feel more assured in my choices.

Let's have a look!

The idea - Use a prioritisation matrix to weigh up a lot of options

A recent decision I had to make was regarding the wedding menu planning. We needed to pick:

• 4 canapes out of 13
• 3 mains out of 8
• 3 sides out of 10

While some options were easy to eliminate, those that remained still made for an overwhelming list 😅

That's where the prioritisation matrix came in.

Instead of looking over a large list and getting increasingly overwhelmed by considering every option against every other option, the matrix simplifies things by having us consider the items in pairs.

We don't have to think about everything together all at once, just a simple pairing, to which we ask which one is better?

For my wedding menu, rather that agonising over the full list, I just compared two dishes at a time. This gave me a clear, definitive ranking for each of my menu categories.

The matrix layout itself is just a way of organising our choices. Each box on the matrix represents the pairing up of whatever options are found at the top of the column, or right-hand side of the row.

It can be a bit more helpful to see how it works rather than read, so we have a full explanation of how it works in this video 👌

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While I'm mainly using it for wedding planning at the moment, there are a bunch of other ways I've used it previously:

• Household project prioritisation 🏠 Vogel and I each completely a ranking of our potential projects independently, then compared the results to see which ones were most important to both of us
• Ranking my top books of the year 📚 instead of a book bracket, which only gives you one winner, this method let me rank a full top 10 in order
• Sorting out my task list 📝 When I have way too much on my plate, this can help me figure out what needs my attention first

While you can totally set up the matrix in your journal, we've also got a free spreadsheet version that does the math for you.

All you have to do is input your list items and specify the winner in for head-to-head matchup; it automatically ranks everything for you 👌

If you want to try it out, click the button below to jump over to the resource library!

Let's take action

Considering an area where you have a lot of potential options, try applying the prioritisation matrix to your decision making.

While I've used this for book ranking, project planning, and now my wedding, I'd love to hear how you're thinking about using it.

Hit reply and let me know your thoughts 😄

Until next time!

- Jess

Sick of setting goals that don't get achieved? Learn the system everyday goal-getters are using to make EPIC things happen.