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Keep a decision log for a small project

Remember the question, the options and the evidence that made a choice reasonable at the time.

By Todd Michael Gori · 2026-11-04

Capture the decision before its history fades

A project note often records what changed without explaining why. Start a decision log with the question you faced, the date and the options you actually considered. Include keeping the current approach if that was a realistic choice.

Write the constraints that mattered at the time. A time limit, a missing source or a maintenance concern may explain a choice better than a broad statement that one option was ‘best.’ Keep the entry short enough to write while the reasoning is still fresh.

Separate evidence from expectation

List what you knew and where it came from. Then write what you expected to happen after the decision. An observed result and a prediction belong in different fields. This keeps a later review from rewriting the original expectation to match the outcome.

Add one condition that would justify revisiting the choice. It might be a new requirement, a failed check or a change in who will maintain the work. A decision can be reasonable now and still deserve revision later.

Review one entry, not the whole project

At your next weekly review, choose one decision and compare its expected result with what you observed. Keep the original entry; append the new evidence and next action. A changed mind becomes easier to understand when the change has a visible reason.

Try the method on a small personal project before building a complicated tracking system. A text file or notebook is enough. Todd’s related software work at 2 Solutions is part of the same owned portfolio; this article offers a reusable note-taking method rather than an independent assessment of that business.