There are many situations in life where you can stretch time to fit the decision. Typically, this means delaying things until you are ready.

Then there are the emergencies where even thinking about what to do could be the difference between life and death. These situations are rare, yet they do occur.

In the middle is the stuff where the situation is bad, and it might be about to get much worse. A bit of triage makes a big difference. In the strict medical sense, each person’s situation is assessed quickly to decide if something should happen or be delayed until things calm down. When time is short, you want the best resources to be focused on the situations where intervention will change the outcome.

Most days, we face thousands of decisions, and inaction costs little. It is not the end of the world, and very few negative things will happen if there is a delay. Rushing will not help, either.

Thinking in Bets, by Annie Duke, explains how poker players make decisions with incomplete information on each hand. The full title, Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts, clarifies that decisions can and will happen when there are unknown unknowns. Most of our choices involve incomplete information. You have to embrace uncertainty and deal with the outcome.

As a real estate investor, you look at potential deals. Rarely is all the information available at the start. The clock is ticking as others look at the same deal. You can request more info or run searches to fill the gap. A decision is required, even if you are not ready. Do you pass on what might be a good deal (false negative), or do you go forward with what turns out to be a bad deal (false positive)? Can you reduce the downside impact of a missed opportunity by having good alternatives? Or do you green-light a project and prepare for unknown issues downstream (having a Plan B)?