There’s Actually A Frustrating Reason Why It’s So Hard To Pick What You Want For Lunch

There’s no pain greater than lunchtime decision-making. I work from home,  but that makes things slightly difficult when it comes to figuring out what to eat. Instead of relying on a brown bag I packed the night before, I literally have a full fridge at my disposal. Should I create an easy stir-fry? Rely on a sandwich? Or maybe I can turn last night’s dinner leftovers into something delicious. It’s a hard choice, and no matter what, I feel like I’m making the wrong one. But at least I know I’m not alone.

Scientists have reportedly called this “choice overload,” and researchers at Caltech looked into it even more. Even better, their research cited an experiment that was done years ago with jam samples. With something like jam, it’s so hard to choose which one to use to spice up your plain peanut butter sandwich. And that’s usually why you might have only two varieties at home. The study required 24 flavors. Which is crazy, since you likely didn’t even know 24 flavors of jam existed.

When the 24 different flavors were out, a lot of customers flocked the sample station. But unfortunately, not many of them made a purchase. And it wasn’t just the jam — other times, the table was set up with only six varieties. During these moments, customers were ten times more likely to take some of the jam back home with them.

It’s hard to deny those stats — the more choices, the harder it is to commit.

The Caltech study actually brought in an MRI and studied the brains of participants while trying to figure out which scenic landscape image to include on a mug. Participants could choose six, 12, or 24 images total. With the higher amount, the amount of effort increased significantly. Colin Camerer, who serves as Caltech’s Robert Kirby Professor of Behavioral Economics and the T&C Chen Center for Social and Decision Neuroscience Leadership Chair, said that the ideal amount of choices for humans was somewhere between eight and 15.

Simply put, our brains aren’t all that comfortable with more choices than that. And just think about how many choices you need to make each and every day.

So while it’s nice to go into a diner and have the option of eating literally almost anything you want (even though it should be breakfast for dinner) going in with a clear idea might save you a lot of stress. Same with your lunch.

While we’re talking about lunch, sometimes it’s easier to motivate yourself the night before if you have something cute to put it in. Currently our favorite is this colorful bento box that perfectly separates your snacks from your sandwich:

Buy it here for $29.99.