Decision Journal in Notion (opens in new tab)

(optemization.com)

74 pointssaviorand5y ago17 comments

17 comments

What: Two Notion database templates of decisions modeled after the Farnam Street Decision Journal.

Why: To help you and your team make better decisions.

How: Once you receive a link over email, open it and click "Duplicate" on the top right to copy this page to your Notion workspace. Use it.

Here's a blog post about this template was published on the Digital Opssessions newsletter. There's also a video breakdown: https://optemization.com/decision-journal-notion

saviorandOP5y ago

Huge work! We work together and using this decisions flow (with a slightly different template) for our own team decisions. Gotta say it's very useful, helps wrap ones head around difficult situations

awinter-py5y ago

notes + diarying as the form of self-investment is popping up everywhere

there are historical examples (leslie groves composed his autobiography of the manhattan project from his daybook)

for doing business (CRM users capture the customer's needs and situation, given that the next conversation might be in 6 months)

and for thinking (capture where you are, take a break, read and think about it the next day)

bmj5y ago

St. Igantius of Loyola (founder of the Catholic Jesuit order), outlined a process of discernment that is very similar to the decision journal method nearly 500 years ago in his Spiritual Exercises[0]. Of course, there is a distinct focus on the discernment of spirits, but the prompts in the decision journal are generally the same.

[0] https://www.marquette.edu/faith/ignatian-principles-for-maki...

saviorandOP5y ago

Hmm, maybe we can bring that discernment of spirits part back to the template? JK

simonebrunozzi5y ago

> leslie groves composed his autobiography of the manhattan project from his daybook

I had no idea, and this is a great example of why I read Hacker News every day.

yodon5y ago

Cliff Stoll did the same when while writing the Cuckoo's Egg.

2 more replies

talentedcoin5y ago

This is really cool, but as a futures trader I'm a sucker for this kind of thing.

I guess perhaps this is a subset of "range of outcomes", but one specific category I've found very useful is "pros and cons" -- even just looking at an itemized list of one vs the other can jog your brain a bit.

optemization5y ago

yeah, sometimes I feel that the FS template is an overkill that's why I delete prompts often. Maybe it's a good idea to create a "simple decision" template.

munaf5y ago

https://getoutcome.com

optemization5y ago

woah! makes me think, once Notion has reliable API and offline mode, we'll be building entire products there.

markcarrier5y ago

For software projects I like markdown architectural decision records:

https://adr.github.io/madr/

saviorandOP5y ago

This is actually very similar in structure. With possible consequences, outcome, decision pros and cons

tiagomvalente5y ago

This is really nice! Will give it a try :)

saviorandOP5y ago

Let me know how it goes! We're also trying it out the past month. Using it for business decisions

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

17 comments

optemization5y ago

What: Two Notion database templates of decisions modeled after the Farnam Street Decision Journal.

Why: To help you and your team make better decisions.

How: Once you receive a link over email, open it and click "Duplicate" on the top right to copy this page to your Notion workspace. Use it.

Here's a blog post about this template was published on the Digital Opssessions newsletter. There's also a video breakdown: https://optemization.com/decision-journal-notion

saviorandOP5y ago

Huge work! We work together and using this decisions flow (with a slightly different template) for our own team decisions. Gotta say it's very useful, helps wrap ones head around difficult situations

awinter-py5y ago

notes + diarying as the form of self-investment is popping up everywhere

there are historical examples (leslie groves composed his autobiography of the manhattan project from his daybook)

for doing business (CRM users capture the customer's needs and situation, given that the next conversation might be in 6 months)

and for thinking (capture where you are, take a break, read and think about it the next day)

bmj5y ago

[0] https://www.marquette.edu/faith/ignatian-principles-for-maki...

saviorandOP5y ago

Hmm, maybe we can bring that discernment of spirits part back to the template? JK

simonebrunozzi5y ago

> leslie groves composed his autobiography of the manhattan project from his daybook

I had no idea, and this is a great example of why I read Hacker News every day.

yodon5y ago

Cliff Stoll did the same when while writing the Cuckoo's Egg.

2 more replies

talentedcoin5y ago

This is really cool, but as a futures trader I'm a sucker for this kind of thing.

optemization5y ago

yeah, sometimes I feel that the FS template is an overkill that's why I delete prompts often. Maybe it's a good idea to create a "simple decision" template.

munaf5y ago

https://getoutcome.com

optemization5y ago

woah! makes me think, once Notion has reliable API and offline mode, we'll be building entire products there.

markcarrier5y ago

For software projects I like markdown architectural decision records:

https://adr.github.io/madr/

saviorandOP5y ago

This is actually very similar in structure. With possible consequences, outcome, decision pros and cons

tiagomvalente5y ago

This is really nice! Will give it a try :)

saviorandOP5y ago

Let me know how it goes! We're also trying it out the past month. Using it for business decisions

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse