Decide better: a small toolkit for everyday choices
ost decisions don't deserve a spreadsheet, but most also don't deserve a coin flip. A small toolkit of decision habits — applied consistently to the choices that come up every week — quietly compounds into much better outcomes over a career.
Everyday decision toolkit
- Better everyday decisionsstart
- Size decision firstask
- One-way or two-way
- 10-10-10 testfeel in
- 10 minutes
- 10 months
- 10 years
- Know when to commitgather
- Load-bearing information
Table of Contents
- What you'll learn· 1 min
- Size the decision first· 1 min
- Three lightweight tools· 1 min
- Knowing when to commit· 1 min
Quick reference
Size first
Two-way doors decide fast; one-way doors deserve real time.
10-10-10
10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years. The longer-term answer usually wins.
Pre-mortem
Imagine the decision failed. Write the reasons. Prevent what you can.
Bright lines
For repeating decisions, set rules in advance. Easier than judgement calls.
Set a deadline
Decide by a specific time. Most stalling after that point is discomfort, not analysis.
Write it down
Record decision + reasoning. Re-read 6 months later. Build calibration.
Most decisions don't deserve a spreadsheet, but most also don't deserve a coin flip. A small toolkit of decision habits — applied consistently to the choices that come up every week — quietly compounds into much better outcomes over a career.
What you'll learn
Size the decision first
Before you decide anything, ask one question: is this a one-way door or a two-way door? Two-way doors are reversible — try the new tool, take the role, sign the lease. If it doesn't work, you can walk back through. Decide quickly and learn from the actual result.
One-way doors are not reversible — selling a house, ending a long relationship, taking equity in lieu of salary, publishing a book. These deserve real time. Treating a two-way door as a one-way door wastes weeks; treating a one-way door as a two-way door costs years.
Three lightweight tools
The 10-10-10 test. For a sticky choice, ask: how will I feel about this in 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years? Choices that feel uncomfortable in 10 minutes but right in 10 years are usually the better ones. Choices that feel great in 10 minutes but bad in 10 years are usually a trap.
The pre-mortem. Before committing, imagine it's six months later and the decision has gone badly. Write down the reasons it failed. Most failure modes show up clearly in the pre-mortem — and many can be prevented now.
The bright-line check. Some decisions hide as a series of small ones (one more drink, one more late night, one more scope creep). Set a bright line in advance — a number, a time, a behaviour — that turns a recurring decision into a single one. Bright lines are vastly easier to keep than judgement calls.
Knowing when to commit
Many decisions get worse with more thought. Once you've gathered the load-bearing information, stalling further is just discomfort with commitment.
A practical heuristic: set a decision deadline at the moment you start gathering information. "I'll decide by Friday at 5pm." When the deadline arrives, decide with what you have. Decisions made under deadline pressure aren't worse on average than decisions made under no deadline — they're just made.
After you commit, write down what you decided and why. Six months later, read it. Calibration on your own decision-making is one of the most valuable feedback loops you can build.
Want a more guided way to practise this?
Common questions
How do I know if a decision is a one-way door?
Imagine reversing it. If you can do it within a few weeks at modest cost, it's two-way. If reversing it would take months, money, or apologies, it's one-way.
What if I don't have enough information?
You usually do. The discomfort of deciding feels like missing information; usually it's just discomfort. If a piece of information would actually change your answer, name it specifically and go get it. Otherwise commit.
How do I avoid second-guessing after I decide?
Write down your reasoning at the moment of decision. Re-reading your own logic later is usually enough to settle the second-guessing — or to update for next time.
What about big life decisions?
Big decisions deserve more time, but the same tools apply. The pre-mortem and the 10-10-10 test scale up well. Just don't mistake comfort with the process for confidence in the answer.
Bottom line
Better decisions aren't about being smarter — they're about applying small tools consistently. Size the decision, run a quick test, set a deadline, and write it down. Do that for the next year of your decisions and the average outcome will visibly improve.