Five Minutes After a Meeting: Write Down Only the Decisions

Right after a meeting, your mind is at its clearest, but we often let those five minutes get swept into the next schedule item. Then, three days later, the question starts: "Who was supposed to do that again?" If you spend five minutes right after the meeting writing down only what was decided, rather than everything that was said, a single meeting turns into real action.

Meeting minutes and decision notes are different

Meeting minutes capture "what was discussed." They are long and rarely read later. Decision notes capture only "so what are we going to do?" They usually take just three to five lines and make it easy to take action the next day. If you confuse the two, the record gets longer and the action disappears.

After it ends, write in this order for five minutes

1. As soon as the meeting ends, before you get up from your seat, set your phone timer for five minutes. Use these five minutes before moving on to your next schedule item.
2. At the top of the note, write "date / meeting title / attendees" on one line. Example: "6/11 New product page meeting / me · Team Lead Kim · Design team."
3. Write only what was decided in the format "A: Agreed to ~." Leave out the discussion process and opposing views. Example: "A: Agreed to reduce the main banner copy to three options."
4. Add an "owner-deadline" to each decision. Example: "Owner: me / three drafts by 6/13." If no owner has been decided, make it explicit: "Owner undecided - check tomorrow."
5. On the last line, write one sentence for "the first thing I will do." Example: "Send copy candidates to the design team tomorrow morning."

Use these sentence templates when things feel unclear

• Decision: "Agreed to ___ (owner ___, by ___)"
• On hold: "___ will be discussed again on ___ after checking ___"
• My part: "The first thing I need to do = ___"

Paste notes written this way into the meeting chat or shared notes on the same day. Others can also check "what was I supposed to do?" in five seconds. A three-line decision note gets read far more often than long meeting minutes.