When buying a gadget becomes a research project
I only wanted a selfie stick. I had been thinking about doing more live videos and sharing ideas when they occurred to me, without always turning everything into a carefully planned production.
Holding my phone at arm’s length was not ideal, so a selfie stick seemed like an easy solution. I opened Amazon, typed in two words and expected to make a quick choice.
That was my first mistake.
When more choice makes choosing harder
Within seconds, I was looking at what felt like hundreds of options. Some were short, others extended to more than a metre. Some had tripods, detachable remotes, built-in lights, magnetic attachments or several different light settings.
I would find one that looked suitable, only for Amazon to suggest another model with an extra feature. Then came the reviews. One person thought it was brilliant, another said it broke after a week, while someone else complained that it would not hold their particular phone.
Before long, buying a selfie stick had become a major research project. My brain was mince!
Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, but choosing the technology can become another job in itself. The more options we are given, the more we worry that we might choose the wrong one or miss something better.
Do we really need every feature?
I began with one requirement: something that would hold my phone while I recorded a video. Yet I soon found myself comparing lighting strengths, tripod stability, Bluetooth ranges and whether I might one day need to take a photograph from more than a metre away.
That is how easily our original purpose can get lost. A useful question to ask is not, “Which product has the most features?” but, “What do I actually need this to do?”
For me, the answer was straightforward. It needed to hold my phone securely, be quick to set up and make spontaneous videos easier to record. A light would be helpful, but I did not need a piece of equipment capable of filming a television programme.
The hidden cost of too much choice
This kind of decision fatigue does not only happen when buying gadgets. It can happen when we choose software, design a website, select an email platform or search for the right tool for our businesses. It even happens with me when I enter a carpark and there are too many choices of where to park.
We start by trying to solve one problem. Then we spend hours reading comparisons, watching reviews and investigating features we had never heard of before beginning the search.
The financial cost may be small, but the time cost is not. There is also the possibility that we become so overwhelmed that we postpone the decision altogether.
A more practical way to choose
The next time a small purchase starts turning into a major investigation, try returning to the original problem.
Ask yourself:
What do I need this to do?
Which features are essential?
What is my realistic budget?
Will I use the additional features?
Is there a good-enough option that solves the problem?
Limiting yourself to three serious choices can also help. Compare those options, check the most consistent comments in the reviews and then make a decision.
There will nearly always be another product with an extra feature or a slightly better rating. At some point, continuing the research costs more time than the improvement is worth.
Also read: How to stop social media distractions
The equipment is not the important part
The real reason I wanted a selfie stick was to make it easier to show up, speak naturally and share an idea without overcomplicating the process. Ironically, I had already begun overcomplicating it before buying the equipment.
It is easy to convince ourselves that we need the perfect camera, microphone, lighting or background before making a video. In reality, people are usually more interested in what we have to say and whether it is useful, honest or entertaining.
The right gadget can make the process easier. But it should not become another reason to delay starting.
So yes, I will buy a selfie stick. I just need to stop looking at all the other selfie sticks first.
Have you ever gone online to buy one small thing and found yourself still comparing options an hour later?