Common Questions
Clear answers. No marketing fluff.
The DLI measures the cognitive cost of unresolved decisions in your work.
It quantifies how much mental bandwidth you spend on decision overhead — choosing, prioritizing, context-switching — versus actual productive work.
Your score ranges from 0 to 100, broken into 5 dimensions so you can see exactly where your cognitive overhead concentrates. Higher scores indicate greater burden.
About 5 minutes.
You answer questions about your decision patterns, context switching, and cognitive load. You get your score immediately — no waiting, no sales call, no follow-up required.
Most burnout quizzes give you a label. CTE gives you a number you can track over time.
The DLI measures decision load specifically — the cognitive cost of unresolved decisions — not general stress or burnout. It breaks your score into 5 dimensions so you can see where your cognitive overhead actually concentrates.
A burnout quiz tells you "you're burned out." The DLI tells you "62% of your cognitive load comes from context switching, and it increased 14% since last week."
CTE is for knowledge workers who suspect their productivity problem isn't time management — it's decision load.
Specifically:
- People who reflect on how they work, not just what they produce
- People comfortable with experimental tools and uncertain outcomes
- People willing to commit 30-45 minutes weekly for 8-12 weeks
- People who value honest data over motivational promises
Not for: People seeking passive income, guaranteed returns, or a finished product. This is research.
A diagnostic measures and reports. It doesn't prescribe or guarantee.
CTE gives you data about your decision load patterns. What you do with that data is up to you.
We don't tell you how to work. We don't promise specific outcomes. We show you a number and what it means.
Think blood pressure monitor, not personal trainer.
No.
CTE is a measurement tool, not a therapeutic or coaching intervention. We provide data about cognitive load patterns. We do not:
- Diagnose mental health conditions
- Provide therapy or counseling
- Offer personal coaching or advice
- Make recommendations about your work or life choices
If you're experiencing mental health challenges, please consult a qualified professional.
We collect metadata about your cognitive load patterns — never your actual task content.
We track:
- DLI scores over time
- Friction patterns (where decisions cluster)
- Context switching frequency
- Self-reported overwhelm levels
We never access:
- Your task manager content
- Calendar details or meeting content
- Email content
- Personal files or documents
Privacy-first by design. We measure patterns, not content.
Yes.
- All data encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest (AES-256)
- Privacy-friendly analytics (Plausible, not Google Analytics)
- We never sell data to third parties
- Published research uses only aggregate, anonymized patterns
See our Privacy Policy and Trust page for full details.
Yes, but only in aggregate, anonymized form.
We will publish aggregate findings from the cohort — patterns across participants, validation results, what we learned. We will never publish individual data or identify specific participants.
You can review our Participation Agreement for full details.
8-12 weeks, with weekly check-ins.
Expected time commitment:
- Weekly check-ins: 10-15 minutes (required)
- DLI assessments: 5-10 minutes, 1-3x per week
- Reflection notes: 10-15 minutes weekly (optional)
Total: 30-45 minutes per week.
Life happens. Missing one check-in is fine.
However, consistent participation is essential for research validity. If you miss more than 2 consecutive weeks, we may need to mark your participation as incomplete.
We'd rather have honest "I couldn't do it this week" responses than fabricated data.
Maybe. Possibly zero. This is experimental.
We're testing a model where active participants share in 70% of any advertising revenue generated. But:
- Revenue may be $0 if we don't close sponsors
- Even if positive, amounts may be small ($1-10/month range)
- This is supplemental, not the primary value
Do not join expecting income. Join expecting to learn something about how you work.
The DLI assessment is free. No credit card required.
Your contribution is your time and honest responses. If CTE introduces paid features in the future, early participants will receive preferential access.
We publish what we learned and halt.
Specifically:
- We publish aggregate findings (what worked, what didn't)
- We return any unused participant funds
- We do NOT pivot to a different model or reframe the failure
- The data becomes public research
See our Evidence page for the specific gates that define success and failure.
Because we don't know if this works yet.
Most productivity tools launch with confident claims and vague metrics. If they fail, they quietly pivot.
We're taking a different approach:
- Start with a small, serious group
- Test specific hypotheses with defined gates
- Publish findings regardless of outcome
- Only scale if evidence supports it
This is what "evidence first" actually means.
See where your decision load stands. 5 minutes, free, signup optional.
Take the Assessment