11 Tips Membuat Keputusan

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1. Get clear on the number of alternatives you have. Is this a yes/no decision or are there multiple outcomes (like buying a new car or choosing a place to live)?

2. How long will this decision affect your life? Buying a new car is a decision that you may need to live with for the next 10 years or so. You should take more time to make a good decision than you would if the decision won't affect you for as long. There is a stunning array of choices when renting a movie for the evening but the outcome only lasts as long as the show.

3. Narrow your options. In our area we have an ice cream store that boasts three display coolers full of ice cream from which to choose. There are over 100 different flavours. You could be there all day. One trick our family uses is to look at only one of the coolers and choose from that. It doesn't matter which cooler. We know we're going to get something good (it's ice cream, after all!) but we've narrowed our options by two-thirds. We still have 33 flavours from which to choose.

4. Gather information about each alternative. What do you need to know in order to make an informed decision? Narrow down the variables that are important to you and devote your decision-making time to those. In choosing a new car, price, service and safety features are my most important variables and those are the things I need to know the most about.

5. Know when to stop gathering information. No decision is ever the perfect one. Analysis paralysis is that phenomenon where there's a decision to be made or a project to be done but we get caught up in the process of meeting, discussing, brainstorming, and tweaking. There are always more studies to be conducted, more reports to be written and read and more statistics to be collected and reviewed. At some point you have to stop.

6. Make a list of pros and cons. What are the reasons for and against each alternative?

7. Assign a value to the pros and cons. Certain variables will be more important than others. Going back to the new car example, the pro of having rear side air bags as a safety feature has more value for me than the con of not being able to get the car in the colour I want.

8. Set deadlines. Assign a timeline to making the decision. This way you have a framework for the amount of time a decision should take and you reduce the chances that days, weeks and months will pass without some action.

9. What does your intuition say? Are you leaning towards or away from one option even though you can't quite put your finger on why? Pay attention to that feeling.

10. Discuss the decision with a neutral party. Someone who doesn't have a stake in the decision. Ask a friend, your neighbor or anyone who may have information about the decision that you might not have.

11. Make your decision and act on it.

Tips on Filling Your Vehicles

This is a Message received from a friend:
I don't know what you guys are paying for petrol... but here in Durban, we are also paying higher, up to 47.35 per litre. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every litre.
Here at the Marian Hill Pipeline, where I work in Durban, we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline.
One day is diesel; the next day is jet fuel, and petrol, LRP and Unleaded. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 litres.
ONLY BUY OR FILL UP YOUR CAR OR BIKKIE IN THE EARLY MORNING WHEN THE GROUND TEMPERATURE IS STILL COLD. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground, the denser the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening.... your litre is not exactly a litre.
In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products play an important role. A 1degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps. Compiled by Ramesh Patel on 16.03.2008 @ 10:00Hrs. Page 1 of 2
WHEN YOU'RE FILLING UP, DO NOT SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER OF THE NOZZLE TO A FAST MODE. If you look, you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low,
Compiled by Ramesh Patel on 16.03.2008 @ 10:00Hrs. Page 2 of 2
middle, and high. In slow mode, you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created, while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TIPS IS TO FILL UP WHEN YOUR TANK IS HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank, the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.
Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated, so that every litre is actually the exact amount.
ANOTHER REMINDER, IF THERE IS A FUEL TRUCK PUMPING INTO THE STORAGE TANKS, WHEN YOU STOP TO BUY, DO NOT FILL UP - most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.
Hope, this will help you get the maximum value for your money.
DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS! LET’S SHARE INFORMATION AND BENEFIT ALL, FOR THE BETTER OF MANKIND.