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Decision Making Process, Essay Example

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Decision Making Process

I have habitually been forgetting to turn off the light before I go to sleep. This has resulted in extremely high electric bills, but also sluggish behavior on my part. I frequently have lapses in energy and I am tired throughout the day because when I lay down to rest I am too exhausted to get back up to turn off the light. The problem is after sleeping for a few hours, the brightness from the light wakes me up and I can’t get back to sleep even after taking the time to turn it off. Since this issue I have been having with the light has resulted in many sleepless nights, I will try to make a decision based on the decision making process that we studied in Chapter 6.

Step 1: Identify the problem/What is the decision to be made?

Should I cut off the light? I am laying down and extremely exhausted. I have been having trouble getting a good night’s sleep and I believe cutting the light off will ensure that this happens, but I a also concerned getting up might result in me no longer being tired.

Step 2: Identify Decision Criteria

Some of my considerations would be: whether turning off the light will save money for energy price, and provide me with a better rest than if it were on. Another consideration would be whether getting up to turn off the light would result in me not being able to get comfortable again.

Step 3: Allocate Weights to the Criteria

Value for each of the criteria:

Rest: Getting a good night’s sleep has become a complication for me. It is a major concern for me and I genuinely value moments when I am comfortable and exhausted enough to fall asleep. Preserving these moments and not wasting them or jeopardizing them is very important to me.

Energy Cost: 6 Lately, my electricity bills have been significantly higher and I am beginning to realize it’s due to forgetting to turn off the light before I go to rest. This cost must be taken into account when I entertain any alternative methods to turning off the light that might take on a fiscal value.

Comfort: 8 Currently I am comfortable and falling asleep, but I know that if I don’t turn off the light, history shows I will be uncomfortable and wakeup in a few hours, but then unable to go back to sleep.

Time: 7 I want to be conscious of my time. If I get up and turn off the light, only to find I can’t get back to sleep, I will be unproductively sitting in the dark, as I have a very tight schedule of work and study I can’t afford wasting any time. If I’m not sleeping, I need to be working, but I can’t do this in the dark.

Step 4: Develop Alternatives

There are three alternatives I can make: First, I will break the light by throwing something at it that I have nearby. Second, I don’t turn it off because I risk losing my comfortable state. Third, I get up and turn the light off.

Step 5: Analyze Alternatives

	Break the light	Don’t turn it off	Get up and turn it off
Rest: 10	10 – I will keep my position and be able to rest.	4 – I will keep my position and be able to rest but only get partial rest as the light will disturb me.	7 – I will be able to get a full night’s sleep if I can get back to sleep, but by losing my position there is a chance I might not get back to sleep.
Cost: 6	3 – Cost of new light + cost of time lost from work or study + +money will be saved on the power bill.	4 – I will have a higher electric bill but probably not as much as the cost of replacing the light.	6 – I save money on the power bill, and there is no additional cost.
Comfort: 8	8 – I get to maintain my comfortable position and even get the added benefit of letting out some stress on the light/lamp.	6 – I keep my comfortable position, but will not have the same caliber of sleep as I would with the light off.	4 – I lose my comfortable position and risk never getting it back.
Time: 7	3 – I save time temporarily by breaking the light, but create a situation where the light must be replaced and that could take more time than expected.	6 – I save time by just allowing myself to fall asleep with the light on, and if I wake up from discomfort of the light skinning on me, I can always work or study.	5 – It doesn’t take much time me to get up and turn off the light, but if I have trouble getting back to sleep, I could waste a lot of valuable work and study time sitting in the dark being unproductive, and then even more time if I decide to get up and turn the light back on to work only to find myself in the same situation when I get comfortable again.
	25	20	22

Step 6: Select an Alternatives

	Weight Allocation	Break the light	Don’t turn off the light.	Getup and turn off the light
Rest	10	30	90	70
Cost	6	12	60	36
Comfort	8	32	58	48
Time	7	70	7	63
		= 144	= 165	= 217

Step 7: Implement the Alternatives

After assessing the weighted value of each choice it appears that breaking the light would be the best decision. The problem is this value is based on a temporary situation. I think if the decision is assessed as a problem that will consistently occur and that can needs to be solved with a routine or continuously implemented solution, there are other alternatives that can be utilized such as purchasing a Clapper Light which allows the consumer to clap their hands and have the light cut off automatically.