Online Decision Tools & Analytics

For those of you lucky enough to still have a spring break (ah, the good old days), it’s not too late to decide to spend your spring break in a way that leaves you feeling relaxed and ready to take on the spring quarter/semester. Whether you decide to stay in town or get away, there are plenty of options to fit any budget and lifestyle.

If you decide you want to leave town this spring break (and haven’t already booked a trip), you should take a look at this Los Angeles Times article I found, Spring Break: Last-Minute Travel Deals For Students. The article lists lots of great spring break deals, as well as other websites you can decide to check out for more information and suggestions. SmarterTravel.com also has suggestions for Last-Minute Spring Break Getaways, although these aren’t necessarily targeted at student budgets.

If you decide to stay in town this spring break, either at school or in your hometown, there’s no reason you can’t still have a great time! Depending on where you live, you might want to decide to explore your town/city in ways you don’t get to during the busy semester. Visit TripAdvisor, Frommer’s, Lonely Planet, or another travel site to explore your area like a tourist. Or you may have a list of certain parks or museums you wish you had time to visit during the school year, but you are just too swamped to take advantage of them. Don’t forget to check your local paper for area festivals and events that go on during spring break, such as SXSW in Austin or Harvest of Hope in St. Augustine, Florida. For more music festivals in your area, check out Festival Outlook for a complete list of 2010 music festivals.

Whatever you decide to do, you should always make safety a top priority. Check out the CDC’s Spring Break Health and Safety Tips for information and resources that will help you stay safe, whether you are at home or away.

For those of you struggling to decide how to tackle your taxes, I took some time to research the latest articles that give advice to help you decide how prepare for April 15. From deciding to avoid common mistakes, advice about software and IRS protection, to deciding translating the lingo, here are some of the helpful articles that caught my eye:

- 10 Most Common Tax Mistakes, WalletPop.com

- Using Tax-Prep Software? Trust Results but Verify, NYTimes.com

- Don’t Pay For IRS Protection, CNNMoney.com

- 10 Tax Terms Translated Into English, msnbc.com

Attention all iPhone users! I am thrilled to announce the release of the brand-new Let Simon Decide iPhone App. My team and I have been hard at work on creating this app, and we are so excited to be able to share it with you. You can now make decisions on the go, as well as access my advice in the palm of your hand. You should decide to download the Let Simon Decide iPhone App today and, please, let me know what you think. I love to use my users’ advice to decide how to improve my tools.

Even before It’s Complicated hit theaters and this Valentine’s Day got people thinking about lost loves, one of the most popular user decisions has been Should I Get Back Together With My Ex?

The appeal of getting back together with an ex is obvious. There is already a built-in familiarity and comfort level, as well as a shared history and fond memories. No awkward first dates, no 20-questions about each other’s families and backgrounds. Throw in a long-standing chemistry and you face a very compelling argument for deciding to get back together. That is, of course, if you can decide to forget any painful history and to ignore the advice of concerned friends and family.

When it comes to deciding to get back together with an ex, there are many issues you should consider, from why exactly you parted ways to begin with, how you and your ex may or may not have changed, and so on. And where else to get advice but Oprah.com’s relationships page? M. Gary Neuman, a family therapist, offers his two cents in this article: “Get Back Together With Your Ex? It’s Complicated.” He addresses the pros and cons, and also offers advice for those who do decide to give it a go. If all you have in mind is a booty call, decide to read Sex and the City screenwriter Cindy Chupack’s advice about deciding to call up an ex: “Should You Sleep With An Ex?” (Spoiler: she doesn’t recommend it.)

So, what are Simonites deciding to do? As far as results go, the decision outcomes have been split pretty evenly between deciding to get back together and deciding to stay apart. What are users considering when trying to decide what to do about their exes? The #1 factor, by a long shot, is “Love,” with “Happiness” and “Avoiding pain” in a close race for second place.

Have any of you decided to get back together with an ex? How did it work out? Any advice for other Simonites?

For those of you who have seen previews for the star-studded movie Valentine’s Day, you know there are countless ways to decide to celebrate the holiday–or boycott it. I am by no means saying you should decide to get caught up in something you hate/don’t believe in (Go ahead and stick it to the man!), but if you do decide to do something special with someone you love, here are some ideas and advice for this February 14th.

- YourTango.com gives advice for how to get romantic anywhere BUT a restaurant in this article: “6 Non-Restaurant Valentine’s Day Ideas.”

- For those of you self-proclaimed nerds (myself included), the Huffington Post’s “Valentine’s Day Ideas for Nerds” gives advice for the best sci-fi date movies, as well as a gift guide.

- If you are on a budget and/or you have a family in the picture, you should decide to check out WalletPop.com’s advice in “14 Cheap Ways to Show Your Family You Love Them.”

- Valentine’s Day haters, I have not forgotten you. If you are in the NY area, you should decide to drop by an anti-Valentine’s event, listed in this NY Daily News article: “Hate Valentine’s Day?”

I found tons of other city-specific articles with great advice, so feel free to let me know which city you are in and I can send you more information. Oh and before I forget, will you be my Valentine?

Interested in making your temporary title a permanent one? Then decide to read this WSJ article for some advice on how to do so: “Making a Temporary Stint Stick.” Although the author decides to give advice mainly for people in interim management positions within their companies, I think anyone in a temporary position should decide to follow this advice. Have any of you decided to turn your temporary position into a permanent one? Has it worked? If so, what advice can you offer other Simonites?

For those of you who decided to make New Year’s resolutions to land both your dream job and your dream apartment in 2010, here is a Yahoo! HotJobs article with advice that kills two birds with one stone: “Finding the Dream Job and a Great Apartment.” You should decide to check it out to get some solid advice on how to snag that awesome job and cool digs. For more advice on your job search, check out “The Savvy Networker” to learn about the “top 10 most useless job-search rules” you should decide to break ASAP.

If I ever decide to give up my career in decision making (which I can’t imagine choosing to do), perhaps I could have a future as a water-slide tester or a fried food inventor. To find out more about these 11 dream jobs, you should decide to check out this list of the World’s Coolest Jobs, which I found on msnbc’s TODAY Technology & Money page. Do you think these jobs are too good to be true?

I just read a terrific U.S. News & World Report career article by career coach and author Curt Rosengren: 4 Steps to Taking Your Career Off Autopilot. What I like about this article is that rather than decide to give vague answers and advice, the author has chosen to pose important questions that we should all decide to consider, no matter where we are in our careers or what field we work in. It’s always a good idea to take some time to check in with yourself and decide how satisfied you are with your career. If you are interested in taking Rosengren’s advice and making changes, you should check out U.S. News’s list of the 50 best careers for 2010.

Should I be worried that my Simonites are not good team players? When it comes to deciding on a sport to play, more Simonites decide that they should take up swimming, tennis, or cycling than any other alternative. Sure, you can decide to play doubles in tennis, but should that really be called a “team” sport? I wonder if my community is full of independent-minded athletes, or if maybe after a certain age people decide that these individual sports make more sense for their lifestyles. What do you think?