How to make a decision when you're almost out of time

Cut the field before you compare

With limited time, don't try to weigh every option carefully — eliminate the ones you already know are wrong first. Most time-pressured decisions have two or three real contenders once the obviously-wrong ones are removed.

Your gut reaction is data, not a shortcut

Under time pressure, your first honest instinct is often your slower reasoning compressed, not a lazy guess. Notice which option you flinched toward, or away from, before you started overthinking — that reaction is usually worth more weight than it feels like right now.

Decide the direction, not every detail

You don't need every detail settled to move — you need the main direction settled. Smaller details can often be adjusted after you've committed to the direction; waiting to have everything figured out before deciding anything is usually what runs out the clock.

A fast decision isn't a lesser one

A decision made quickly, with the honest information you had, is not automatically a worse decision than one made slowly — it's just made under different conditions. Judge it later by whether it was reasonable given what you knew then, not by how much time you had.