How to Make Better Decisions When Everything Feels Urgent

Running a business means making decisions all day, every day. Which product to prioritise. Which costs to cut. Which platforms to invest in. And when everything feels urgent, clarity can evaporate.

You start reacting instead of responding. You feel pulled in too many directions. You worry that every choice is the wrong one.

If you’re in that place right now, you’re not alone. Most founders of growing brands feel like this at some point—especially when the stakes get higher and the pressure increases.

So how do you start making better decisions when everything feels equally important?

First, slow down. Urgency is often a symptom of lack of clarity, not a sign that everything must happen immediately. If you treat every decision as life-or-death, you never have the mental space to see which choices genuinely move the needle.

Next, get everything out of your head and onto paper. Write down every open loop, every pending decision, every nagging thought. Sometimes the simple act of externalising the noise can reduce its power.

From there, ask yourself four questions:

1. What happens if I do nothing?
   Often, urgency dissolves when you realise that waiting a week won’t change much.

2. What’s the real impact of this decision?
   Will it meaningfully affect revenue, customer experience, or operations? Or is it just busywork?

3. What’s the smallest next step?
   Big decisions feel overwhelming because we try to tackle them all at once. Break them into smaller actions.

4. Does this align with my strategy?
   If you don’t have a clear strategy, every decision feels equally important. When you do, prioritising becomes simpler.

Ultimately, better decisions come from better foundations. When you know where you’re going, it’s easier to see which actions belong in the plan—and which are just distractions.

Need help finding clarity in the noise?

The Retail Reset was designed to help founders like you step back, get perspective, and make decisions with confidence—not panic.

👉 Join for free

Or book a Reset Session to clear the fog and rebuild your decision-making process with support.