“When I recently made a really significant change in my life, I felt like I had a good idea of what I wanted, but I needed a bit more objective analysis. I used an iPad app called Big Decisions. There are other similar iPhone apps, including one called Best Decision. These apps give a systematic approach to decision-making by creating a list of criteria to rank for each option you’re weighing.

“Big Decisions asks you to compare one or two criteria at a time, until it can set the overall order, and then you get a score for each option that is weighted against the importance of your criteria. Good things to use this for: where to move, what kind of car or home to buy, or which job offer to accept.

“Decisions are never easy, but at least in today’s world you can combine some science with your heart. It may give you another lens through which to evaluate what’s important to you — or it may happily confirm your gut choice.”

— MARIA ARNONE, Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships, American Academy of Family Physicians