Frequently asked questions
What it is
What is Decide One?
A priority instrument for a single day. You bring the work that is competing for your attention into view, choose one of three methods for ordering it, and give the first thing a real amount of time. You make the decision; the instrument holds it steady while you work.
It is one page, it runs in a browser, and it is not trying to become your whole system.
How is this different from a to-do list app?
A list records decisions. This one makes you make them.
The methods are enforced rather than drawn: Top 3 gives you three lines and no fourth, Ivy Lee will not open the second line until the first is closed, and the urgent/important matrix requires you to classify a thing before you can write it. A list with a "priority" dropdown does none of that, which is why lists stop working.
Is there an AI in it?
No. There is no model deciding your day, no suggestions, and nothing sent to an inference service.
That is partly a privacy position and partly an honest one: scheduling a day optimally is a class of problem known to be computationally intractable, so a tool promising to solve it quietly in the background is applying a heuristic and not telling you which. Decide One ships the heuristics openly and lets you pick. The longer answer is here.
What it costs
Does Decide One cost anything?
No. You can open it and use it without paying and without signing up for anything. Everything the product exists to do — seeing the day's competing work, choosing a method, running the clock, closing the day, and backing your data up as JSON — is free.
A few extras are reserved for supporters: two additional paper tones, three additional ink colours, a weekly PDF review, a Markdown export, and an annual print. None of them are the instrument; they are finishes on it.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no sign-up, no email, no password to create, and nothing to verify. You open the page and start.
Will I be shown adverts?
No. Nothing you write is sold, and there is no advertising in the product. That is not a pricing decision and is not available as one.
Your writing
Does anything I write leave my device?
No. Your tasks, notes and reflections stay in your browser, on your machine, and are never transmitted anywhere.
Separately from that, the product is capable of sending anonymous counts of which features get used. It is off. Turning it on requires two independent things to both be true — a build compiled with it enabled, and your explicit consent stored on that device — and silence is never taken as consent. The build currently published has it compiled out entirely. Even with it on, what you write would still never be included.
Where is my writing actually stored?
In your browser's local storage, under this site's origin. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no server copy and no one — including us — can read it.
Can I get my writing out?
Yes. A JSON backup is free and exports everything, so you are never locked in. Markdown export and printable formats are supporter extras, but the complete, machine-readable copy of your own data is not.
What happens if I clear my browser data?
It is deleted, permanently, with no way to recover it. This is the honest cost of a tool that never uploads anything: there is no server holding a copy to restore from.
If the writing matters to you, take the JSON backup. It is free, it takes one click, and it is the only safeguard that exists.
Can I lock it?
Yes. You can set a local passphrase that encrypts the notebook on your device. It is not an account and it is not recoverable by anyone — if you lose it, the contents are gone.
The methods
Which methods does it ship?
Three, all older than the software industry, all credited honestly.
Top 3 — three things for today and no fourth, for a day holding more than it can. Ivy Lee — six tasks written the night before and worked in strict order, given to Charles Schwab at Bethlehem Steel in 1918. The urgent/important matrix — sorting on two axes before deciding, from a distinction drawn in a 1954 speech; the 2×2 grid people now recognise was built later.
Why only three?
Because three is what can be done properly, and because a fourth would be there to look complete rather than to be used.
Each of the three answers a different problem, and between them they cover the days people actually have. Adding more would mean more time spent choosing a method and less spent doing the work the method is for.
Which one should I start with?
It depends on what today is like, and that is not a dodge — it is the whole design. If the day holds more than it can, start with Top 3. If the volume is fine but nothing is moving, start with Ivy Lee. If everything is shouting at once, start with the matrix.
The full version of this question is here, including how to tell the three apart when the day is ambiguous.
Can I add my own method?
No. The roster is fixed at three on purpose, and that is a decision rather than a gap waiting to be filled.
Using it day to day
What happens if I miss a day?
Nothing. There is no streak to break, no score that falls, and no red mark waiting for you.
A day you did not open is simply a day you did not open, and the product does not decide otherwise on your behalf. What matters is the day that is there when you come back.
What if I do not finish something?
It stays unfinished, which is a description and not a verdict. Nothing marks it against you, and the calendar moving on does not turn an incomplete thing into a failed one.
Running over on a timer adds the time and says nothing about it.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once the page has loaded, it keeps working without a connection, because everything it needs is already on your device and there is no server for it to check in with.
Can I install it like an app?
Yes. It is installable from the browser on desktop and mobile, and it opens in its own window without browser chrome. There is no store download and no separate native version to keep in step.
Where to go next
- How to prioritise your tasks — the three conditions and which method each calls for
- The Top 3 method — the most common starting point
Still stuck?
The most useful thing you can do is open it on a real morning with real work in front of you. It takes about two minutes to find out whether it fits, and there is nothing to undo if it does not.
Open Decide One — free to use, with no account. Nothing you write leaves your device.
Decide One is a priority instrument. Bring the day into view, choose a method, give the first thing real time.