Decision-Making Worksheet

Who this is for

One page for a decision that keeps going round. It asks you to write the decision in a line, lay the options out side by side with what is for and against each, name what you still do not know, and record what you chose and why.

Anyone stuck between options — a job, a house, a course, a big purchase, a conversation they keep putting off — and people who make decisions with somebody else and need the reasoning visible to both.

What this helps you track

• The decision itself, written in one line rather than assumed
• Every option laid out, including the one where nothing changes
• What is genuinely for and against each, kept apart
• What you still do not know, and how you could find out
• What you decided, when, and the reason — in your own words, for later

How to use it

1. Write the decision in one line at the top. If it takes three lines, it is more than one decision.
2. Note the date you want to have decided by, and who else this affects.
3. Put one option per row, and include doing nothing as an option — it usually is one.
4. Fill in what is for and against each option. Keep facts and feelings both, but write which is which.
5. Use the unknowns column for what you cannot answer yet, and the checklist to work through the questions people wish they had asked.
6. Tick the option you chose, write the date and the reason at the foot, and come back to it when you want to know what you were thinking.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Is there a scoring system?

No. Weighted scores tend to produce the answer you wanted while looking objective. This sheet lays the reasoning out and leaves the deciding to you.

Why include doing nothing as an option?

Because it is always available and is often the one that happens by default. Writing it in a row with its own for and against makes it a choice rather than a drift.

What goes in the unknowns column?

Anything you are guessing at — a cost you have not checked, a date nobody has confirmed, an opinion you have not asked for. Several decisions stop being hard once that column is emptied.

Can I use it for a decision at work?

Yes, though a decision with several people and a record to keep may be better served by a decision log. This sheet is built for thinking one thing through.

Why write down the reason after deciding?

Because you will not remember it, and the next similar decision is much easier when you can read what you were weighing up last time and whether it turned out the way you expected.