Major undertakings, like purchasing a house or car, DIY projects, or applying to colleges, can be overwhelming.

We fear making wrong decisions, and the sheer number of steps can feel like a test of endurance.

Being methodical can help you rise to these challenges and produce better results with less stress.

Here are five strategies I used during a recent car search that apply to any big undertaking.

1. Define a Process and Execute It

Recently, my car died, and I had to find a new one. Within a couple of days, I developed a habit of searching Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist several times a day.

It quickly became a set routine. I'd search three times a day, using the same filters, and fire off messages to sellers with generally the same questions (how long they'd owned the car, was the title in their name, and what was the VIN).

Being methodical usually involves creating a process that you trust will eventually lead to an acceptable result, and then committing to executing it over and over. This reduces a lot of mental load, and helps when you don't know exactly how long something will take or how many attempts you'll need to make.

2. Use Math to Frame Your Decisions

Numbers can help us frame situations more objectively. For example, I was paying $250 a week for a rental car while I searched, so that helped me see the value of a faster decision. I didn't want the hunt to drag on for weeks, but I also knew I shouldn't overpay by $1,000 to avoid another week's rental.

I kept in mind a math concept called optimal stopping, which is focused on the exact problem of balancing looking and leaping. There's a popular distillation of this concept from the book Algorithms to Live By. It says, roughly, that of the options you're prepared to see in person, you should look at 37 percent without making a decision and then jump on the first one that's better than anything you've seen yet.

The strict "mathy" version of this method is specific to certain assumptions. However, you don't really need a precise calculation; you're simply trying to create a framework for a process you're prepared to trust. Math can help with bounds, illuminate what a good process might be, and make various tradeoffs clearer to you.

3. Use AI as Your Helper

During my car search, I sent hundreds of messages to AI. It taught me all sorts of things. For example, it told me I should get a free code scan at an auto store and check not only that the car didn't have current codes but that it was showing "emissions ready," meaning the codes hadn't been recently cleared.

This exact process helped me avoid buying a car from an owner who was trying to cover up a recent accident. The owner claimed the car hadn't had any recent work, but the code check showed the codes had been cleared. When I questioned the test result, he tried to explain it away and say his wife had benign service work done on the vehicle and hadn't told him previously. But then they accidentally showed me a piece of paper that said a sensor had been replaced "due to a recent crash on the highway."

AI also showed me how to look at build sheets for specific individual vehicles based on the VIN to check specs, like the transmission type for car models that came with two types, where one was much better than the other.

For any task that involves comparing specs, AI can help you get a more objective view, especially if there is a lot to filter through.

Even though AI also told me numerous completely senseless things and gave bad advice, it was helpful and correct about enough that it was invaluable.

4. Know Your Goal: Avoiding the Worst Decision vs. a Perfect Decision

How to be methodical varies depending on your goal. For example, in my search, I was mostly motivated to avoid a bad decision, like dubious discrepancies with the car's title, a car that could need thousands of dollars of repairs soon, or one that had been in an accident that might have affected the structural integrity but wasn't reported to insurance.

You can create a much more realistic and targeted method for any endeavor if you're very specific about what your real goal is.

Going backwards and forwards with AI helped me a lot in clarifying my goal. For example, it made me see I wasn't looking for a great deal in this circumstance; a fair deal was fine with me.

5. Let Your Process Evolve as You Learn

Sometimes we think being methodical means knowing the process to follow right out of the gate, but if you're learning as you go, that makes no sense.

You won't necessarily know how to approach a goal methodically until you've gotten started and fumbled around a bit. In fact, a good way to know you're learning is if you're refining your process.

Most advice about being methodical implies you should plan everything before starting. This doesn't match reality. As you learn, aim to structure those learnings into a method.

Methodical Looks Cleaner From the Rearview Mirror

Did I find a car? Yes, after exactly a week of intense searching. It felt really messy. For example, I drove 45 minutes only to get ghosted by a seller who never showed up, even after he replied to the text I sent as I was leaving home.

It's normal and expected that being methodical won't feel clean and streamlined at the time, but will seem more so when you're looking in the rearview mirror.

Simply setting a goal and intention to be more methodical can help bring that to fruition. This applies to managing the logistics and the mental stress of a long, hard, or uncertain project. The discipline to apply your procedures consistently, and adjust and improve them as you go, even when you're facing uncertainty, is key.

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