It isn’t uncommon that I get a random text from one of my friends asking to do something on a weeknight.

When this happens, my thought process is almost always the same.

I first think about all of the things I have to do around the house – the basement I need to finish renovating, the landscape that needs to be groomed, the cleaning that needs to be done, etc. Then I think about how early I need to get up the next morning, and how going out would certainly make my visit to the gym the next day much more difficult.

I eventually cycle through a laundry list of reasons why I should stay home.

At this time, if I were to build a pros and cons list, it would be completely one-sided. Based on the number of entrants alone, it would appear obvious that I should always stay home.

But that doesn’t always happen. More often than not, unless I have something important to do that can’t change, I try to find time to go out.

Why?

Because when I look back on my 20’s, I’m sure I won’t want to see someone who spent every minute trying to be “productive.”

It isn’t rational, and it won’t come across on a pros and cons list.

But that’s how I think.

More generally, that’s why pros and cons lists don’t work for me. Whenever I’ve tried them for a big decision (much bigger than just deciding how to spend an evening) I’ve found that the quantity of reasons rarely matters.

When I stop and think about what really matters to me, more often than not, it becomes clear that one or two factors outweigh everything else. Everything else I come up with is usually just an attempt to justify going against my gut.

-Brandon