Weigh your options systematically. Add criteria, score alternatives, and see which choice actually wins when you think it through.
The decision matrix is one of the most versatile thinking tools available. It forces you to make your criteria explicit, weight them honestly, and score each option systematically rather than going with your gut.
Step 1. Name your options — the choices you’re deciding between.
Step 2. List your criteria — the factors that matter for this decision. Be specific: “commute time” is better than “convenience.”
Step 3. Weight each criterion from 1 (nice to have) to 5 (essential). This is where you get honest about what actually matters.
Step 4. Score each option against each criterion from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
Step 5. Read the result. The highest total isn’t always the right choice — but if it’s not the one you wanted, that tells you something important about your unstated preferences.
This tool applies several mental models: Second-Order Thinking (have you considered all the criteria that matter, not just the obvious ones?), Circle of Competence (are you scoring from knowledge or assumption?), and Inversion (what criterion, if scored wrong, would make the entire decision backfire?).