Weekly Review
So you’ve identified your small and large goals and priorities for this year. You already plan your days and use a to-do list daily. You might even have had success with hourly check-ins. However, you’re still noticing that you’re not making any real progress with your overall goals and losing track on some of your essential tasks.
What do I suggest here? Implementing a weekly review!
In a nutshell, a weekly review allows you to take an objective look at your entire week and not just your daily commitments, and determine whether you’re still aligned with achieving your goals. It gives you the chance to look at what worked and what didn’t, and establish any patterns that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.
It’s easy to feel busy when your diary is packed, and you’re on the go all the time. A weekly review allows you to take a step back and see what you’ve achieved, rather than what you think you’ve achieved.
The key to an effective weekly review is consistency. Choose a day that works for you, and stick to it. The weekly review doesn’t come in a one-size-fits-all format, so play around with it and see what works for you. It’s important though that you keep your review under 60 minutes because otherwise it becomes too time-consuming and you’re less likely to make it a habit.
Have a look at the below timeline of what a weekly review session might look like:
0 to 10 minutes: Declutter and mind-dump
Tidy your workspace, file away or action loose paper and materials, write down any new projects or action items.
10 to 20 minutes: Reflect
Take a look at what you achieved during the previous week: what worked and what didn’t, and how it compared with your expectations.
20 to 35 minutes: Get current
Check-in on goal progress; does anything need to be tweaked or updated? What do you need to do or action next?
35 to 50 minutes: Plan
Write down your most important tasks and events for the upcoming week, ensuring that each task has at least one action item next to it.
50 to 60 minutes: Get creative
Review your ‘someday’ project list? What’s been getting you excited - can you add anything new/thought-provoking/risk-taking to your list of maybes?
It’s also best to have a checklist on hand of what you’ll be reviewing.
Productivity consultant David Allen uses the weekly review as a core part of his well-known productivity methodology ‘Getting Thing Done’ (GTD) and focuses on the below areas for his weekly review:
Get Clear: Process all your loose-ends
Get Current: Make sure all your items are up to date
Get Creative: Come up with new ideas to improve how you live and work
The great thing about weekly reviews is that you’ll never be left wondering what you’ve been doing with your time. By putting aside an hour every week to reflect and review on your overall progress, you’ll be able to make proactive rather than reactive decisions, and start to direct your life with intention.