⚡ Productivity
Weighted Decision Matrix for a Messy Choice
Build a transparent weighted decision matrix for a messy personal or work choice, including scores, sensitivity, and a gut-check so the numbers do not fake certainty.
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Prompt
Act as a decision coach who uses numbers as a flashlight, not as a verdict. Build a matrix. Then try to break it. Do not invent options or criteria the user did not imply. Inputs: - Decision: [The choice in one sentence] - Options: [2-6 real options; include "do nothing" if it is real] - Must-haves: [Hard constraints that kill an option] - Criteria I care about: [List, even messy] - Weights if I have them: [Or "help me weight"] - Facts I know: [Numbers, dates, quotes from people] - Unknowns: [What I still need] - Who is affected: [People] - Deadline: [Date] - Risk I will regret: [Wrong kind of error] Generate: 1. Frame: Restate the decision so it is not two decisions glued together. If it is, split and say which matrix this is. 2. Kill list: Any option that fails a must-have. One sentence why. Survivors only go to scoring. 3. Criteria: 5-8. Each: definition, how 1 vs 5 would look, data source (Facts vs judgment). Merge duplicates. Ban vague "culture" unless defined. 4. Weights: 100 points. If Inputs had none, propose weights and mark them as yours. One sentence on what you over-weighted given Risk I will regret. 5. Matrix: Option x criterion. Score 1-5. Show weighted total. A note under any score that is a guess. 6. Sensitivity: Which two weights, if flipped, would change the winner. A one-row "if I am wrong about X" test. 7. Gut check: What the scores ignore (identity, timing, fatigue). A 10-minute experiment that would change a score before Deadline. 8. Recommendation: Winner, first action in 48 hours, what would make you reopen. If totals are within 5 points, say it is a tie and use the experiment, not a fake precision ranking. Constraints: - No em dashes. No fake research citations. - Do not add a surprise option unless labeled as optional extra and not scored as if the user asked for it. - If Facts I know are thin, more scores must be marked GUESS. - Write for someone who will show this to a spouse or a boss.
Instructions
Replace every [bracket] with your details before running. Works on ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
Examples
Example Input
Decision: stay in Brooklyn apartment another year vs move to a 1BR in Beacon vs try a 3-month sublet in Beacon while keeping Brooklyn Options: (A) renew Brooklyn $3200/mo 1BR, (B) sign Beacon 1BR $2100/mo and give up Brooklyn, (C) 3-month Beacon sublet at $2300 plus keep Brooklyn at $3200 for those months, (D) do nothing is the same as A because lease ends Sep 30 Must-haves: partner must agree; I need a desk; commute to Manhattan 2 days/week is allowed to get worse but not past 90 minutes door to door one way on those days Criteria I care about: money, commute on office days, quiet for writing, weekend nature, social life, moving pain, option value if we hate it Weights if I have them: money 25, commute 20, quiet 15, nature 10, social 10, moving pain 10, option value 10 Facts I know: Brooklyn 42 min door to door; Beacon ~75-85 min via Metro-North from a walkable rental we saw; savings ~$1100/mo on B; C costs about $5500 extra over 3 months; partner leans Beacon but fears isolation; lease decision needed by Sep 5, 2026 Unknowns: actual winter trains; whether I can write in the Beacon place (we saw it once); sublet availability is one listing Who is affected: me and partner, no kids Deadline: Sep 5 Risk I will regret: locking into Beacon and feeling stuck more than overpaying in Brooklyn
Example Output
1. Frame One decision: where you live after Sep 30. Not a career change. D is A. Score A, B, C. 2. Kill list None fail must-haves on current facts. B commute 75-85 min is under 90. If a winter timetable shows >90, B dies. Partner agreement is still pending: this matrix is a draft to show them, not a signature. 3. Criteria (1=bad, 5=good) Money: 5 = save ~$1100/mo, 1 = pay two rents. Fact. Office commute: 5 = <=45 min, 1 = near 90. Fact with winter GUESS. Quiet writing: desk exists in all; 5 = actually write. GUESS except Brooklyn known. Weekend nature: 5 = walk to woods. Beacon fact, Brooklyn 2. Social: 5 = current friends without a project. Brooklyn 5, Beacon GUESS 2-3. Moving pain: 5 = no move. Fact. Option value: 5 = easy reverse if you hate it. Matches your regret type. 4. Weights Your 100: money 25, commute 20, quiet 15, nature 10, social 10, moving 10, option 10. I would not steal points from option value. You said the error you fear is feeling stuck. 5. Matrix (score / weighted) A renew Brooklyn: money 2 (50), commute 5 (100), quiet 3 (45), nature 2 (20), social 5 (50), moving 5 (50), option 4 (40). Total 355. Quiet is GUESS-low because Brooklyn is known-noisy, not unknown. B sign Beacon: money 5 (125), commute 2 (40), quiet 4 (60), nature 5 (50), social 2 (20), moving 2 (20), option 1 (10). Total 325. Quiet 4 GUESS (saw once). Social 2 GUESS. Commute 2 fact-range. C double rent 3 months: money 1 (25), commute 3 (60) mixed, quiet 4 (60) GUESS, nature 4 (40), social 4 (40) keep Brooklyn, moving 3 (30), option 5 (50). Total 305. Money is fact: ~$5500 extra. 6. Sensitivity If option value 10 and money 25 flip emphasis (money 20, option 15), A still leads, B does not leapfrog. If commute on B is really 3 (65 min winters), B total +20 = 345, still under A. If partner isolation is a 1 not a 2, B drops. Winner is fragile only if Brooklyn quiet is a 1 (uninhabitable for writing). Then B wins. 7. Gut check Scores miss: Friday trains as a mood, birthday-week fatigue, identity as a city person. 10-minute experiment: one Wednesday you both take the 6:10pm train home from a fake Beacon day this week, time door to door, talk on the platform. That changes commute and social scores. 8. Recommendation A leads 355 vs 325 vs 305. Not a 5-point tie. First 48 hours: show this to your partner; book the timed train test; do not sign Beacon. Reopen if the train is >90 min or if they say isolation is a must-have fail. C is the expensive test; only pick C if the train test is ambiguous and $5500 is an agreed tuition.