The Decision-Making Framework That Saved Me 10 Hours a Week
Hey there! Welcome back to Founder Mode! his week, I’ll show you a simple way to make decisions. It has saved me at least 10 hours each week.
I used to spend hours on decisions that didn’t move the needle. Years ago, I argued for 45 minutes with my co-founder. We debated the shade of blue for a new logo for our company.
Three major product decisions piled up in our backlog. Customer calls were left unscheduled, and a key hire was still pending.
Sound familiar?
As founders, we often fall into the trap of decision fatigue. These decisions take time. They also drain our mental energy, even when we don't think about them.
After the blue-logo incident, I knew I had to make a change. That's when I created the 3-Tier Decision System. It changed how I made decisions.
The 3-Tier Decision System
The core idea is simple: Not all decisions deserve equal time, energy, or process. You can free up time by organizing decisions into three tiers.
Tier 1: High-Impact, Hard-to-Reverse Decisions
These are the choices that truly impact your company’s future:
- Pivoting your product strategy
- Making key executive hires
- Raising a funding round
- Major partnerships or acquisitions.
How to handle Tier 1 decisions:
- Set aside at least 90 minutes for focused thinking.
- Gather data and diverse perspectives.
- Document your reasoning.
- Set a firm decision deadline.
- Communicate the decision and rationale broadly.
I block 2 hours every Monday morning for Tier 1 decisions. This sets a clear rule: if it doesn't matter for this slot, it’s not a Tier 1 decision.
Tier 2: Medium-Impact, Reversible Decisions
These decisions matter, but won’t sink the company if you get them wrong:
- Feature prioritization
- Marketing campaign approval
- Mid-level hires
- Pricing adjustments
How to handle Tier 2 decisions:
- Set a 30-minute time limit.
- Use a simple pros and cons framework.
- Make the call and move on.
- Review outcomes after implementation.
For Tier 2 decisions, I follow a version of “70% rule”. If you have 70% of the information you need, go ahead and make a decision. More information gathering usually hits diminishing returns.
Tier 3: Low-Impact, Easily Reversible Decisions
These are the decisions that consume far more time than they deserve:
- UI color choices (yes, like that blue logo)
- Office snack selection
- Blog post approval
- Meeting time selection
How to handle Tier 3 decisions:
- Delegate completely.
- Set clear guardrails.
- Don’t review unless asked.
- Resist the urge to override.
The real productivity tip is knowing when to treat a Tier 3 decision like it’s a Tier 1 one. If I spend over 5 minutes on a Tier 3 decision, I either delegate it or decide quickly.
How I Learned to Delegate and Get More Out of AI
I first learned to delegate by reading Tim Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Workweek. I never considered working with assistants or forming a team outside of my day job. I ran a small side business at the time named Henrikson Media. I hired my first employee on odesk, now called Upwork. It was a small step, but it opened my eyes to the potential of delegation.
As my side business grew, I became better at delegating. I took on bigger tasks and learned what worked. Over time, it became a habit. Today, I use the 3-Tier Decision System to scale my efforts. It helps me focus on key decisions while delegating the others.
One thing I’ve learned is that delegation and working with AI are more similar than we think. When you ask AI like ChatGPT, Grok, or Perplexity a question, their answers can be off sometimes. You need to give feedback, provide context, and refine the answer over time. I developed this skill over the years. I did this by assigning tasks to others and learning the right questions to ask. How to give feedback that not only improves the work but future tasks.
Working with AI is like managing a team. You need to know who you're dealing with—an assistant, a team member, or a large language model. Clear feedback is key to achieving better results. This applies to both people and AI systems.
I use Loom to record feedback or complex tasks with my Executive Assistants (EAs). Sometimes I talk fast. Looking back at the recording or reading the transcript helps them find the key details. It also lets us slow down when needed. This helps a lot when you work with team members who speak different languages or when the quality of the call isn't perfect. You can always look at the summary. These days we use Fireflies for live meetings.
BTW: If you're looking for top-notch EAs, check out Athena. Could not be happier with the EAs they have found me.
Learning to delegate well—and refining how I use AI—has been an investment in my future self. I improve my skills in scaling decisions. I manage tasks more efficiently. This helps me be more effective in my role.
Real Results: My Before and After
Before the framework:
- 15+ hours a week on decisions
- Constant context-switching
- Decision backlog of 20+ items
- Regular decision reversals
- Team frustration with bottlenecks
After implementing the framework:
- 5 hours weekly on decisions (10+ hours saved)
- Batched decision-making
- Decision backlog of 3-5 items
- 90% decision stick rate
- Team empowerment and faster execution
The most surprising benefit? Sleep quality. After I quit bringing unmade decisions to bed, my sleep tracker showed a 27% jump in deep sleep. Use Whoop and the EightSleep app these days to track sleep.
How to Implement This Framework Today
- Audit your decisions. Review your calendar and to-do list from the past two weeks. Place each decision you made or put off into one of the three tiers. Most founders find it shocking that over 70% of their decisions are Tier 3.
- Create decision protocols. Document how to handle decisions at each tier. Share this with your team. This will help them know when to expect your input and when they can act on their own.
- Build decision muscles. Start with Tier 3 decisions—delegate five of them this week. Next week, batch your Tier 2 decisions into a single 90-minute block. The week after, implement your Tier 1 process.
- Measure the impact. Log the time you spend on decisions before and after you use this framework. Also, track how your team feels about decision speed.
One founder I shared this with reclaimed 12 hours in her first week. Another reduced his decision backlog from 37 items to 8 in just ten days.
The Hard Truth About Decision-Making
The framework works. But it makes you confront a tough truth: Many decisions aren’t worth your time.
As a founder, your role isn’t to make every decision. Focus on making the right choices. Know how involved you should be.
When I first implemented this framework, I felt guilty. Wasn’t I supposed to be involved in everything? Wasn’t that what being a “hands-on” founder meant?
But the data doesn’t lie.
Your top resource isn’t your money—it’s your skill in making decisions. Treat it accordingly.
Bonus: Nerding Out with Viktor
I was a guest on the Nerding Out with Viktor podcast, hosted by Viktor Petersson.
Scaling teams in different locations can be tough. This is true for both small startups and big companies. In this episode, I talk about my growth journey. I share the engineering challenges I faced and my acquisitions.
If you’re into tech, growth, and scaling, you can’t miss Viktor’s podcast. It's great for anyone wanting to learn from top industry experts.
This podcast taught me that a strong team and good leadership are the keys to success.
Listen to the Nerding Out with Viktor podcast below – it’s full of valuable insights!
Quick Recap
- Not all decisions deserve equal time or processes.
-
Classify decisions into three levels. Focus on their impact and how easy they are to change.
- Tier 1: High-impact, hard to reverse → Focused process
- Tier 2: Medium-impact, reversible → A fast and orderly way.
- Tier 3: Low-impact, easily reversible → Decide quickly or pass it on.
- Start slowly. Begin by delegating Tier 3 decisions.
- Measure the time saved and the impact on team velocity.
What Tier 1 decision are you facing this week? Hit reply and let me know—I read every response.
See you next week,
-kevin
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