I spent 47 minutes deciding what to watch on Netflix last night.
47 minutes. To pick a show.
I have a full-time job. A girlfriend who was waiting. Things to do.
But I scrolled. Hovered over thumbnails. Read descriptions. Opened reviews. Then scrolled more.
By the time I’d “decided,” I was exhausted. So I just didn’t watch anything.
This is my life now. And I’m not alone.
The Problem With Unlimited Options
My parents had 5 TV channels. They watched what was on. Decision took 30 seconds.
I have 10,000 options on Netflix alone. Plus Disney+. Plus Prime. Plus every other streaming service.
My parents were happier with their shows.
I’m miserable with my options.
This isn’t a complaint about abundance. It’s a warning about choice overload.
When you have 5 channels, you pick one and commit. When you have 10,000, you’re mentally comparing every option simultaneously. Always wondering if option 5,478 is better than option 342.
You never actually start watching. You just keep searching.
The Psychology of Too Much
Psychologists studied this. They found a sweet spot: around 6-12 options.
Below that, you feel restricted. Above that, you feel paralyzed.
Netflix has 10,000+ titles. You feel the paralysis.
The research shows something darker: more options don’t make you happier. They make you sadder.
People with fewer choices report higher satisfaction. They commit faster. They enjoy more.
People with unlimited choices keep wondering if they made the wrong call. They’re already thinking about the next option while watching the current one.
It’s a hedonic treadmill powered by indecision.
Where This Shows Up
Dating apps: I have 500 matches. So I keep swiping. Because match 537 might be better than match 42.
I date nobody.
Food delivery: 200 restaurants. 5,000 dishes. I spend 30 minutes choosing. Food arrives cold.
Career paths: Unlimited options made Gen Z more anxious, not more fulfilled. We can be anything. So we can’t commit to being anything.
Work projects: 47 productivity tools, 12 messaging apps, 8 project management systems. We’re more connected and more confused.
The irony: We have unprecedented freedom of choice. And we’re paralyzed by it.
The “Maximizer” Problem
Some of us are maximizers. We don’t just want a good choice. We want the BEST choice.
Maximizers:
- Research obsessively before deciding
- Second-guess their choice constantly
- Feel regret almost immediately
- See every unchosen option as a loss
- Are perpetually unsatisfied
This is me. I am this person.
I don’t “pick” a restaurant. I read 47 reviews, cross-reference menus, check ratings on three apps, then go somewhere else anyway.
And then I regret it.
Maximizers score lower on happiness metrics. Because we’re always comparing what we chose to what we didn’t.
The choice we made wasn’t just a choice. It was a rejection of 499 alternatives. And somewhere, one of those alternatives is better.
So we’re never satisfied.
The Regret Spiral
Here’s what happens:
I watch a show. Midway through, I think: “Is there a better show I could be watching?”
I finish the show. I think: “That was fine, but show 5,478 probably would have been better.”
This regret makes the next choice harder. Now I’m not just choosing between options. I’m choosing between options while remembering all my past wrong choices.
FOMO (fear of missing out) kicks in. The unchosen options feel like losses.
We become decision-averse. Choosing anything feels like failing to choose something better.
What Actually Works
The people I know who are happiest?
They have rules:
- “I watch the first recommendation”
- “I pick the first restaurant that looks good”
- “I date the person who makes me laugh, not the one with the best profile”
They’re not settling. They’re just deciding faster.
Because they learned: a good choice made quickly beats the perfect choice made never.
Your Move
Look at your life. Where are you scrolling instead of choosing?
That Netflix screen. That dating app. That job search.
You don’t need more options. You need fewer.
Delete some apps. Set decision limits. Commit faster.
Because 47 minutes of scrolling and zero minutes of watching isn’t abundance.
It’s paralysis dressed up as freedom.
