Decision Journal: How to Make Smarter Choices on Paper

A decision journal is a short written record of the choice you face, the options you considered, and why you picked one – so you can learn from the outcome later.

Your journal is a very effective companion in helping you to make critical decisions. Using a journal will save you from mental overload, fears, mindless wandering and other unpleasant experiences of decision-making.

In this blog post, I want to share how I have been making decisions using my journal. Furthermore, I will reference journals of other successful people – like Benjamin Franklin – and how they made decisions.

Benefits of decision-making with your journal

Decision-making is an inevitable and critical aspect of almost every human life. People who choose to use a journal enjoy the following benefits:

• A defined process – having a process gives you confidence that you can make decisions in a structured manner using the process
• Optimize for time – spending too little or too much time in preparing to decide can also be costly
• Optimize for quality – your journal allows you to focus on the quality of your decision so that you don’t regret it later down the road
• Articulating the decision – the cumulative benefit of deciding in your journal is that it guides you to articulate it with a pen and paper instead of looping endlessly in your mind

The best way to realize the benefits listed above is through practice. Thus, let’s talk about a framework you can start practicing decision-making with.

Framework for decision-making in your journal

The framework I like for decision-making using a journal is inspired by Benjamin Franklin. As he noted in a letter to a friend:

“… my way is, to

1. (prepare) divide half a sheet of paper by a line into two columns, writing over the one Pro, and over the other Con.
2. (gather info) Then during three or four days consideration I put down under the different heads short hints of the different motives that at different times occur to me for or against the Measure.
3. (prioritize info) When I have thus got them all together in one view, I endeavor to estimate their respective weights; and where I find two, one on each side, that seem equal, I strike them both out:
4. (eliminate info) If I find a reason pro equal to some two reasons con, I strike out the three. If I judge some two Reasons con equal to some three Reasons pro, I strike out the five; and thus proceeding I find at length where the balance lies;
5. (wait and make the decision) and if after a day or two of farther consideration nothing new that is of importance occurs on either side, I come to a determination accordingly” [Emphasis and steps added]

Here is a demonstration of Benjamin Franklin’s decision-making framework:

Example of decision-making with Benjamin Franklin’s Framework. In this case, the “pros” outweigh the cons, and you get to buy a car!

Following the above framework to make decisions will help you enjoy the benefits of good decision-making and live a life with fewer poor or impulsive decisions. If most of your big decisions happen at work, a work diary is a natural home for this framework.

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