How do you make your toughest decisions? Write a pro/con list? Go with your gut? Have your own system that you've perfected over the years?

Building a small or micro business takes a lot of time, effort and passion and there's nothing worse than realising partway through that business journey that you're not 100 per cent committed. While this process can often be very reactive, the secret to continuing your passion for a business is to engage in what entrepreneur Andrew Griffiths describes as 'conscious decision-making'.

Someone with more than 400 companies under their belt, billions of dollars and a knighthood is bound to have made some good decisions in their time. Luckily for the rest of us, entrepreneur Richard Branson has shared his tips for making business decisions, to help out anyone who's trying to get where he's at now.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to hear General Norman Schwarzkopf speak at an event. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the US Central command and led the military in the Gulf War. He offered two pieces of advice to all aspiring leaders. When you’re in charge, lead. And do what’s right. But how does that translate for today’s IT leaders?

Major bottlenecks in businesses are often caused by indecision. It could be that a business owner is waiting on more data before making a decision on a big ticket purchase. They could be too busy to stop and make up their minds on something that needs to be done or perhaps they're easily distracted by new options that are presented to them. But avoiding the tough decisions that need to be made can paralyse a business, leading to lost opportunities. Here's some advice from small business expert Dr Greg Chapman to help business owners tackle the problem of indecisiveness.

Productivity isn't just about getting things done. At its core, it's about being resourceful with your time. In a recent interview with author Charles Duhigg, he told us, "You can spend your entire day being busy and not get anything important done. Productivity is about getting important things done." In his new book, Smarter Faster Better, Duhigg explores this fuller meaning of productivity and how to achieve it.

The average person makes at least 70 decisions a day. That number is likely to be higher when you're a small business owner. But you only have a limited amount of time and brain capacity to make decisions. One way to manage this is to go into "auto pilot mode" for smaller decisions throughout the day.

Why is it that we often ignore hard data and go with our gut when making a decision? It's especially true when it comes to estimating the probability of something. Are our brains just really mediocre when it comes to numbers or is there a reason for our misguided instincts?

You probably think that the more information you have, the better the decisions you make will be. This isn't always the case. In many cases adding more information can make your decisions worse if it's not the right information.

There are four different sets of guidelines on when you should start getting mammograms and how often you need them -- and they disagree with each other. A tool called Breast Screening Decisions can help low-risk women figure out what schedule is best.

You've probably heard the phrase "strike while the iron is hot," but when emotions are running high, it's often better to not strike at all. By waiting for the "iron" to go cold, you'll avoid making heated situations any worse.

History is full of evil dictators, and while the had their share of bad qualities, it's undeniable they were efficient at getting things done. Here's what we can learn from them, despite their evil nature.

Games like Settlers of Catan are "resource management games," where you make difficult choices and focus on long-term goals (like building the largest army). It's a lot like life: You have goals, opportunities, and decisions along the way to get where you want to go. You can apply that same game logic to make the right choices.

We all make bad decisions sometimes, but have you ever wondered what mental obstacles can lead you astray? This infographic goes over 20 of the most common cognitive biases that can mess with your head when it's decision time.

We're all obsessed with finding the best -- the best TV, the best laptop, the best...toothpaste. At a certain point, though, you're just wasting time. Ramit Sethi explains it well: don't spend more than two seconds on decisions that don't really matter.

In order to make better decisions, it helps to understand how you make decisions in the first place. This tool can help you figure it out.

When you have to make a big decision in your life, you might feel inclined to ask others for advice. While advice can be comforting, you're probably better off getting information that you can use to make the right decision for you.

Pondering a decision for a few extra seconds could actually be a waste of time. A team of international researchers have discovered unconscious neural activity precedes subsequent free decisions by as much as four seconds. It can even influence the outcome of your responses.

iOS: Making decisions is tough, but if you're looking for a little help, Seesaw is an app that makes creating polls your friends can vote on for any type of decision simple.