One decision at a time
Choose a specific question, such as “Should I start this course next term?” Work through seven steps or begin with My decision sheet on page 9. A fictional example is on page 10.
Short notes are enough. Skip questions, return, revise or stop. You do not have to copy the whole analysis onto the sheet.
A deadline may come from an offer, an agreement with someone or your own sense of pressure. If there is no deadline, leave the field blank.
- What do I want to decide now?
- Why does this matter now?
- Is there a deadline? Where does it come from, and could it change?
- What is likely to happen if I change nothing for now?
Write down the available options
Start with two possibilities and describe what you would actually do in each. Staying with the current situation can be an option. Add a third only if it exists.
A staged or conditional version may be possible, but you do not have to invent one. If you have just one option, examine its conditions, timing or implementation.
- What would I do in options 1, 2 and, if relevant, 3?
- What makes each option available?
- What would be difficult to change or reverse later?
What you want to preserve and how to compare
Note your needs, concerns, pressure and commitments to others. You do not have to guess what others expect.
Choose up to three criteria. Two are enough if they cover what matters. “Time for myself” might mean two evenings a week without extra commitments.
Compare the same options against each criterion. Note whether they meet it and why. “I do not know” is a valid entry. No points or totals.
A necessary condition is something without which you do not want to accept an option. If you can compromise, describe the limit. You do not have to have a necessary condition. If another criterion could genuinely change your choice, add it and include it in the comparison. You can want change and fear its consequences at the same time.
- What do I want to gain or preserve? What would be hard to give up?
- If I feel pressure, what choice does it push me towards and where does it come from?
- Which commitments to others do I want to consider?
- How will I recognise that a criterion is met? What am I unwilling to sacrifice, and where can I compromise?
- Does an option fail a necessary condition? Do I know that, or am I assuming it?
- What might I regret, or find hard to lose?
Separate knowledge from assumptions
Choose one or two statements that strongly influence your choice. You do not need to analyse every argument.
“I will have to work in the evenings”: this may be stated in the offer, or it may be a prediction. If you do not know the rules, information is missing. Your need for free evenings does not need proof.
- What is the statement?
- What do I know, what am I assuming, and what is it based on?
- Could clarifying this change my choice: yes, no or not sure yet?
Plan one check, if you need it
A check could be a conversation, reading the terms or a small trial. Not every option can be tried safely and reversibly. Consider whether the trial itself commits you to the decision. You may skip this step.
- What one thing do I want to find out, and how?
- By when, and within what limits of time, money or other commitments?
- What answer could change my choice, and how?
- What will I do if I cannot get an answer?
My decision sheet
Record only what you want to keep. You can finish without a plan or a date. This is a picture of your position today, not a promise never to change your mind.
You can also use the decision sheet on its own; completing the whole workbook is not required.
- What choice is this about, and which options am I considering?
- For today: I choose / I will check first / I am postponing / I am leaving it unresolved / my own description.
- What am I settling on for today, and what is the main reason?
- What remains difficult or uncertain?
- What cost of choosing or waiting do I want to remember?
- What step am I planning, if I want to act?
- When, or under what condition, would I like to return to this?
Fictional example: Marta’s sheet
Marta must respond to a job offer by Friday. She wants to learn, but regular evening availability is not acceptable to her.
Marta is considering accepting the offer or staying in her current job. She has a written description of the new duties, but does not know the rules for availability outside working hours. An assurance of “flexibility” does not answer the question.
Marta could accept a longer commute if evenings remain free. If she declines the offer, she will still need opportunities to learn in her current job or elsewhere.
For now, she will check: she will ask the prospective manager about a recent busy week and expectations for messages after hours. She will return to the choice on Thursday. Without an answer, she will ask for more time or take the uncertainty into account.
The example shows a next check, not a model of the right decision. We do not know which option she will eventually choose.
Before using the material
If someone is threatening you or forcing a choice, safety and support may matter more than completing a worksheet. Do not delay urgent help to finish the exercise.
For medical, legal or financial matters, the workbook helps prepare questions; it does not assess specialist solutions or guarantee the consequences of a choice.
Print on A4 at 100%, preferably single-sided. Initials are enough. Do not enter passwords, identity-document or bank-account numbers. Check how your own files are stored, shared and synchronised.
What has been checked
It has not been tested with readers or through physical printing and handwriting. We do not claim a complete accessibility audit or PDF/UA conformity. File and preview checks do not replace those tests.