Established, since 1997, leading UK based training provider.
Celebrating 25 years in business! CPD Member - The CPD Certification Service ilm Recognised Provider

Making Yes or No Decisions

Making Good Decisions - Yes or No? (Should I - Should I Not?)

Yes or No Decisions

To make a correct decision, follow these simple steps:


First rule. Make the decision!
Don't procrastinate unnecessarily.

Write out the decision you need to make in the form of a Yes/No question.

For example:
Should I buy a dog? Yes or No?
Should I move to Australia? Yes or No?
Should I employ a new receptionist? Yes or No?

What are you making a decision about?

Enter all the reasons in favour of your decision - a yes vote.
Think about all the reasonable arguments that are in favour of a YES vote.

Now, take the opposite view and list all the reasons for voting against the decision - all the reasons for voting no.
Be methodical and put your mind totally on the task of finding all the reasons for voting no.
When you have finished, have a short mental break.

Your question: Should I do [X]?

Enter a positive reason:

Enter a negative reason:

Positive Reasons:

Negative Reasons:

  • Nothing yet!

When you've thought of all the reasons, press:

Next Step > Next Step >

You now need to rank (or weight) each reason in turn out of 100, according to how important you believe each reason to be.
In this case, 100 means very important, 0 is hardly worth mentioning.
The point is to give each reason a numerical score, out of 100.

Now repeat the process for all the reasons against.
Score each reason to give it a level of importance: 100 is maximum, 0 is minimum.
Your task is to quantify the reasons and attach a numerical value to each reason, one at a time.

Your question: Should I do [X]?

Rank the following reason out of 100: Reason Name
Drag the slider to the correct value (or tap on a mobile device).

Based on the evidence given, the answer to your question:
I should do [X]?
Has been calculated (by your weightings) as ???.

Here's how it's worked out:

    Should I do X?
    ???
      You can print this page

      You may benefit from attending our time management course.

      Need to decide about something else?

      Are you making a different type of decision? We have other decision making apps available for you to use - find out more here.

      Let's Get Social

      If you think a friend might enjoy this, please share it with them:

      Drag this button: Yes-or-No Decision Web-Widget to your bookmarks bar or desktop to save it for use later.

      Decision Making Articles From Our Blog

      • How to Overcome ProcrastinationThumbnail

        How to Overcome Procrastination

        21 May 2024
        Overcome procrastination with the Mind over Mood method: train the rational brain, adopt smart time-management habits and use a clear action plan to act today.
        How to Overcome Procrastination Procrastination is the habit of putting off what we know we should do because we're not in the mood to do it. Procrastination is the opposite of good time management. Time managers figure out what they should do and then they do it, even if they're not in the mood. Procrastinators figure out what they...
        Continue Reading >
      • Five Important Problem-Solving QuestionsThumbnail

        Five Important Problem-Solving Questions

        27 February 2024
        Master problem solving with five questions: check facts, define the gap, write a plan, act on first steps, then repeat for ongoing improvement and results.
        Five Important Problem-Solving Questions Success requires that we solve problems. There are five questions that may be profitably applied to any situation, the answers to which will provide valuable information and help solve any problem. Here are the five questions: 1. What are the facts, and how do we know? The first thing to...
        Continue Reading >
      • Unlocking the Power of First PrinciplesThumbnail

        Unlocking the Power of First Principles

        13 June 2023
        Learn why first principles thinking beats shifting facts, helps you validate opinions, spark ideas and make better decisions that stay sound as the worldchanges
        Unlocking the Power of First Principles: A Superior Approach to Validating Your Opinions over Facts When it comes to substantiating our opinions, we frequently rely on either factual evidence or fundamental principles. Nonetheless, one of these approaches proves to be notably more impactful. Let's delve deeper into this matter. Rethinking the Reliability of Facts Employing facts as a foundation for supporting your opinions may appe...
        Continue Reading >

      Customer Reviews

      Here are a selection of reviews for our training courses.

      • The training course content was really comprehensive and wide-ranging. Very practical tips and tools that I will try and bring into my day-to-day life. The trainer was very knowledgeable and a pleasure to be trained by; really helped to bring some key points home and explained everything really well.

      • The content of the course was very good with lots of thought-provoking topics, eg use of words, dealing with conflict, planning and prioritising. There was lots of material to cover but the trainer covered it at a good speed with lots of small sessions of thinking time. Writing our own action plan was a great idea as much more likely to focus on what is important to us.

      • Thinking about problem-solving in a creative way will be very beneficial, as will breaking down issues into the various categories. Thinking also about how to engage and encourage was helpful. The course content was diverse, engaging and has motivated me! Presentation was clear and engaging.

      • The course content was easy to understand, interesting and covered a variety of important topics which were motivating and focused on self-awareness. The trainer was very good and explained all content very thoroughly and with enthusiasm.

      • The course content was excellent and gave techniques to use that will certainly be beneficial to me in my future work. It also gave me a more positive outlook to the current work that I have. The training was very well presented, and Chris had a very positive mental attitude and was great to all the delegates.

      • Very clear and informative and will no doubt assist in future conflict situations. It will help me be clearer and approach situations with greater direction and purpose