I‘m someone who agonizes and agonizes and agonizes over the simplest of decisions until I’ve expended an inordinate amount of mental energy on something that usually doesn’t matter that much. So, when I’m tasked with making choices that are actually of consequence? Forget about it. But, as it turns out, it’s entirely impossible to learn how to be more decisive.

According to Annie Duke, co-founder of The Alliance for Decision Education and author of How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices, folks tend to have difficulty making decisions because they lack two important tools: omniscience and a time machine. “If you were omniscient and had a time machine, you would know everything you need to know about the [the results of your decision], but the problem is that we don’t have either of those things, so we don’t have perfect information when we’re making a decision.” To learn how to be more decisive, then, it’s important to understand that the goal is not to get the decision exactly right, because you can’t predict perfect outcomes, no matter how much you agonize over your options before choosing.

Overcoming this mentality to make informed decisions efficiently is critical, because the alternative is at best wasted energy and at worst inertia. “When we make a decision rather than staying stuck, we often find that the new energy—the sheer power of the ‘unsticking’ decision—leads us to doors and windows we never imagined,” says clinical psychologist Carla Marie Manly, PhD. “Although the journey is sometimes not what we expected, an open mind and open heart can lead us to amazing new realms.”

So how do you get from where I sit—completely hung up in even the simplest of scenarios of needing to choose—and learn how to be more decisive and confident in those decisions? Experts share their favorite tips below.

11 expert-approved tips for learning how to be more decisive

1. Evaluate the decision’s true impact
2. Try “the only option” test
3. Think about the outcomes relative to one another
4. Consider whether there’s more information you can gather to inform your decision
5. Figure out if you could do both options in parallel
6. Beware of your biases
7. Know when to trust your gut
8. Clarify your values
9. Engage in advance planning
10. Set a deadline
11. Quit living in regret

Taking some of the steps listed above, adds Dr. Manly, should offer you some level of reassurance that you did your due diligence before making the decision—which is all you can do (without omniscience or a time machine, to Duke’s point!). “When you make the best decision you can at a particular time, it’s never worth looking back,” she says. “Getting stuck in ‘I should have’ or ‘I could have’ is only a waste of precious time and energy.”