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Decisions · Reflection · HourLife Premium

Write the choice down, then come back and see how it turned out.

Write down a decision, weigh the options, mark the one you chose, and come back later to record how it turned out.

  • Weigh it in one placeA decision starts as a question. Add the options, give each a “Yes”, “Maybe” or “No” leaning with its good reasons and risks, and log thoughts as they come.
  • Choose, then set a date to look backTap the option you pick and the decision moves to Decided. A review reminder, in a week, a month, three months or on any date, brings it back with “How did it turn out?”.
  • A track record of your callsRate each outcome Good, Mixed, Bad or Too early and write the lesson. The lanes keep a running “2 of 3 went well”, and Insights banks every lesson.
HourLife Decisions: The Decisions lanes, with a track record of 1 of 1 went well, its latest lesson, two decided choices, one looking back on Nov 3, and one reviewed.
The Decisions lanes, with a track record of 1 of 1 went well, its latest lesson, two decided choices, one looking back on Nov 3, and one reviewed.

Your first decision

  1. Ask the question

    Open Decisions, tap "+", and type what you are deciding under "WHAT ARE YOU DECIDING?". Add a "DEADLINE" if there is one, and tap "Create". It starts in "OPEN".

  2. Put the options on the table

    Type each choice into "Add an option". Tap one to set its "LEANING" and list "WHAT'S GOOD" and "RISKS". When you know, tap the circle beside the one you pick.

  3. Set the day to look back

    Choose "Review Reminder" from the ⋯ menu and pick "In a week", "In a month", "In 3 months" or a date, then tap "Save". That day, record the outcome and the lesson.

Every step, in detail
  1. 1 Open Decisions and tap "+" to start a "New Decision".
  2. 2 Type the question under "WHAT ARE YOU DECIDING?", add a "DEADLINE" if there is one, and tap "Create".
  3. 3 On the decision, type each choice into "Add an option". Tap an option to give it a "LEANING" and its "WHAT'S GOOD" and "RISKS".
  4. 4 Tap the circle beside the option you pick. The decision moves to "Decided", dated today.
  5. 5 From the ⋯ menu, choose "Review Reminder" and pick a date. When it arrives, tap "+" and choose "Record Outcome".

From question to lesson

Decisions sorts every question into lanes by what it needs from you: To Review first, then Open, Decided and Reviewed. A decision moves on when you choose an option, comes back on the review date you set, and settles into your track record once you say how it turned out. Take one through all four.

Sample · five decisions on Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026 · lean, choose, set a review date, then look back

Your decision

Take the team lead role, or stay hands-on?

Opened Oct 14, decide by Oct 23, 2 thoughts so far.

  1. Weigh
  2. Choose
  3. Review date
  4. Look back

Mark how you lean on each option. When you know, tap the circle beside the one you choose.

Take the lead role
Stay hands-on
Ask for a three-month trial

Decisions Think it through, decide, learn from it. 1 open
TRACK RECORD 1 of 2 went well
  • Good 1
  • Mixed 1
LATEST LESSON

Winter needed a plan B. Price in the bad-weather days.

— Sell the car and cycle to work?
OPEN

DECIDE BY OCT 23

Take the team lead role, or stay hands-on?

  • Take the lead role
  • Stay hands-on
  • Ask for a three-month trial

2 thoughts

DECIDED

DECIDED OCT 6

Move from 4 to 3 weekly strength sessions?

Three longer sessionsover Keep four

Look back Nov 3

DECIDED SEP 14

Keep current apartment or relocate closer to downtown?

Keep the apartmentover Move downtown

REVIEWED

DECIDED MAY 18

Sell the car and cycle to work?

Sell itover Keep it for weekends

Winter needed a plan B. Price in the bad-weather days.

Mixed

DECIDED MAR 2

Accept New Job Offer?

Accept the offerover Stay where I am

Negotiate explicit boundaries before starting, not after burning out.

Good

An open decision with a deadline in the past turns its DECIDE BY line amber. Choosing never sets a reminder, and a decided call with no review date stays in Decided for good. The track record counts only decisions you have reviewed, and leaves Too early out of the score.

When it comes back

Review Reminder offers three presets and a date picker, and they count from different days. The presets count from the moment you open the sheet. The picker starts on the day you decided plus your default review interval, which is 90 days until you change it in Decisions Settings. Move the day you open the sheet and the interval, and watch which dates move.

Sample · decided on Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026 · drag the day, step the interval

Default review interval 90 days
Review dates: Decided Oct 20, Sheet opened Oct 20, Picker starts Jan 18, 2027, In a week Oct 27, In a month Nov 20, In 3 months Jan 20, 2027. Oct Jan 2027 Apr Jul Oct Decided Oct 20 Sheet opened Oct 20 Picker starts Jan 18, 2027 In a week Oct 27 In a month Nov 20 In 3 months Jan 20, 2027
  • From the day you decided
  • From the day you open the sheet

Open the sheet today and the three presets land on Oct 27, Nov 20 and Jan 20, 2027. Leave them alone and Save keeps the picker’s Jan 18, 2027. Either way the reminder fires at 9:00 AM.

HourLife Decisions: The overview counts, and a “Default review interval” of 90 days.
Decisions Settings, where the default review interval lives.

When the day comes

  • A notificationAt 9:00 AM, titled with your question: “How did it turn out? Record the outcome and lesson.”
  • The TO REVIEW laneThe decision moves to the top lane, with “Time to look back” on its card, and the header counts it.
  • TodayThe Decisions card says how many are ready to review.
  • CompassIts horizon lists the decision on its review date.
  • Weekly reviewEach quarter, DECISION OUTCOMES gathers decisions made 90 days ago or more that still have no outcome.
  • No reminder, no laneA decided call without a review date never reaches TO REVIEW. Only the quarterly list catches it.

Insights, from what you recorded

“Insights” on the Decisions page reads every decision you have not archived: how often you decide, how the calls turned out, whether you come back to them, and what they taught you.

Sample · nineteen decisions since March, on Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026

2 decisions are ready to review.

3 logged this month, 63% loop closed.

Pace · 6 months

You’ve logged 3 decisions this month.

June and September were the busiest, with 4 each.

Decisions logged by month: May 2, Jun 4, Jul 1, Aug 3, Sep 4, Oct 3. 0 2 4 May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
19all time
3open
10reviewed

Where decisions happen

Most of your decisions touch craft.

  • Craft3 good · 0 bad
    5
  • Health2 good · 0 bad
    4
  • Family1 good · 0 bad
    3
  • Wealth0 good · 1 bad
    3
  • Learning0 good · 0 bad
    2
  • Relationships0 good · 0 bad
    2

The loop

You’ve closed the loop on 63% of your decided choices.

Deciding is step one — the review is where the learning happens.

3weighing
6decided
10reviewed

Review queue

2 decisions need review now.

1 decided choice has no review reminder — set one so it comes back to you.

2due now
1next 7d
3scheduled

How you weigh

You usually put real alternatives on the table before deciding.

You’ve written down 53 pros and cons along the way.

2.2options each
94%compared 2+
30thoughts

Track record

67% of your settled decisions turned out good.

1 is still too early to call.

  • 6 good
  • 2 mixed
  • 1 bad
  • 1 too early

Lessons banked

What past decisions taught you.

  • Drop the side project?

    Stopping freed more hours than any system did.

  • Tell Sam the trip doesn't work for me?

    Say it early. The late no hurt more than the no.

  • Cut caffeine after noon?

    Small rules beat big resolutions.

  • Give the conference talk?

    Say yes to the work that scares me a little.

  • Move Sunday dinner to Saturday?

    Ask the people it affects before deciding for them.

  • Prepay a year at the gym?

    Pay monthly until a habit has lasted a season.

Due now counts decisions whose review date has passed with no outcome yet. Next 7d and scheduled count the ones still ahead, so a review in four days sits in both.

Tips

  • Set the review reminder the moment you choose. Nothing brings a decision back by itself, and one with no reminder stays in "DECIDED".
  • Write the risks for the option you are leaning toward, not only the one you are leaning away from.
  • Fill in "WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE" before you choose. It is what makes "Good" or "Bad" an honest call months later.
  • Record an outcome as "Too early" if you are not sure yet. It stays out of your track record, and you can change it later.

Questions

About Decisions day to day.

  • Do I have to list options before I save a decision?

    No. A new decision needs only the question, and a deadline if you want one. It starts in "OPEN" with "No options yet", and you add options whenever you are ready.

  • How do I mark a decision as made?

    Tap the circle beside the option you chose, or open the option and tap "Choose This Option". The decision moves to "Decided" and keeps today's date. Tap the circle again to undo it.

  • Will HourLife remind me to check how it went?

    Only if you set a review reminder: from "Review Reminder" in the decision's ⋯ menu, or with "Remind me to review" in "Edit". On that day a notification asks "How did it turn out?", and the decision moves to "TO REVIEW". Choosing an option does not set one.

  • What does "Default review interval" do?

    It sets the date the reminder picker starts on, counted from the day you decided, 90 days unless you change it in Settings. It does not schedule anything by itself. The "In a week", "In a month" and "In 3 months" choices count from the day you set them.

  • What does "1 of 1 went well" mean?

    It is the number of outcomes you rated "Good", out of every outcome you have rated except "Too early". A decision marked "Too early" stays out of the count until you change it.

  • Is Decisions free, and does it sync?

    Decisions is part of HourLife Premium. Decisions sync through iCloud with the rest of your data, so they are on every device signed in to your account.

Works with

Where Decisions hands off to the rest of HourLife.

  • Goals

    A goal's page lists its decisions and has a button to add one already linked to that goal.

  • Areas

    A life area's page counts its decisions under "CONTEXT", and a decision started there is tagged with that area.

  • Experiments

    When you conclude an experiment, "Create a decision record" opens a new decision asking whether to keep the change.

  • Pursuits

    Converting or passing on an opportunity creates a decision asking "Should I pursue …?".

  • Today

    Today can show a "Decisions" card with how many are ready to review, or your total and how many you started in the last 30 days.

  • Compass

    Compass's horizon lists decisions whose review date has passed, and its review counts your decisions.

  • Calendar

    Day by day shows each decision on the day you made it.

Read and try

Books from the library that Decisions puts into practice, and something to try on paper or in the browser.

Already have HourLife?

Decisions is under Reflection in the module list, and it is part of HourLife Premium. "+" starts a decision, and the ⋯ menu holds "View as List", "Insights", "Archived" and "Settings". Today can carry a "Decisions" card, and decisions due for review show up in Compass.

Decisions is in the Library, under Reflection. If it isn’t there, turn it on in Settings → Look & Feel → Modules. It needs HourLife Premium.

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HourLife is free to download. Decisions comes with HourLife Premium.

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