Hello everyone,
I hope you are doing well and staying safe!
Every Sunday I do my weekly review to understand my progress the previous week and set my goals for the week that is coming. I choose to do it on Sunday to properly close my week and have time to plan my week and my Monday, where usually I plan to do a lot of reading & creative work. So as the week is heading to an end, I thought to share with you some tips on how to make the most out of this review, based on my experience and the learnings that I have got in the last years that I am practicing the exact same routine.
First let's talk about Getting Things Done methodology, which is important to understand to follow the tips on the weekly review. (If you are familiar with the methodology, you can skip to the next part where I am talking about specifically about the Weekly reports.)
The Methodology (briefly)
Getting Things Done (GTD) is a really famous personal productivity methodology that redefines how you approach your life and work by David Alen. (source: gettingthingsdone.com)
Is structured in 5 steps:
1) Capture - Write, record or gather any and everything that has your attention to a collection tool.
2) Clarify - Is it actionable? If so, decide the next action and project. If not, decide if it is trash, reference, or something to put on hold.
3) Organize - Park reminders of your categorized content in appropriate places
4) Reflect - Update and review all pertinent system contents to regain control and focus.
5) Engage - Use your trusted system to take action decisions with confidence and clarity.
For sure I totally recommend you to read the book, since it is, in my opinion, the most comprehensive and effective methodology for personal productivity.
The Weekly Review
Now that you understand more about the methodology, let's go deeper into the Weekly Review following the methodology of GTD and answer to some question about setting up the process.
💻Digital or 📝Physical? - Generally, I am using Evernote template for the weekly review (you can find it here) which is pretty simple and has really good guidance & a set of tips, especially for the beginning. Last 3 weeks I switched it to my physical journal because I was sometimes getting distracted since I was doing everything digitally and I actually found out that I am faster doing the exact same thing in a physical journal. But of course, is up to you to choose which wayfits better to your preferences.
⏳What is the best time? - Most of the articles that I have read on the topic are mentioning that the best day to do it is on Friday evening or in general the last working day, if you are using the GTD methodology for work productivity. For people like in my case that I am using the methodology for my personal productivity (which combines studies, side jobs, volunteering etc.) or for people that are freelancing or working also on weekends I can say that putting the review on Sunday evening can suit to your schedule too. I have booked a time on my calendar for the rest of the year and I commit to this hour for my review in order to finish the work that I have to on Sundays and have time after the review if I need to take care of something that emerged out of it. But I use in general my Sunday as a review & restart day so practically my review starts kinda from Sunday morning.
⌚Duration - I book 2 hours for the whole process but I guess this comes also with experience & preparation beforehand - if your inbox & voicemail is full probably you are going to need more time for getting clear before going to the reviewing stage.
The following 3 steps are parts of the original methodology, based on which I am going to give you some tips on how to make your review more effective.
1) GET CLEAR
Collect Loose Papers and Materials & Get “IN” to Zero - I found out that this step was taking up to 50% of my entire review. You can start by collecting all the loose papers before starting your review, this way you will have a more tidy space to work without distractions and you will already have collected the important papers.
Same with inbox - I clear all of my phone related inboxes (voicemails, messages etc) during the day when I have some free time and I usually get my inbox clear in the morning. After this, I use the Weekly Review to put items that occurred from my to action lists.
Empty Your Head - I really like to start my review with this space, to discharge & write down everything that bothers me or I keep overthinking. Especially if you feel pressured or confused by the big amount of actions that you need to do, consider starting with this first.
Main Tips: Be proactive & well prepared in order to start your review with a clear mind (and desk).
2) GET CURRENT
Review Action Lists - I review all of my action lists that I have either on digital or physical notebooks. I leave all the unmarked actions that I had & then I reorganize them on my lists (upcoming, if it's something that needs to be done now, for later, if it's something that I can postpone or someday maybe when it is not important or urgent and I have to reconsider if it's worth my time.
Review Previous Calendar Data - A really fast & visual thing to do is to change the colour of your calendar slots to red (not done) and green (done). After doing it, you have a pretty clear picture of what you achieved this week.
Review Upcoming Calendar Review & Review Waiting For List- Jump into next week's calendar right away to review any changes and add the new actions that you need to do this week or some unfinished actions that need to be done.
Review Project (and Larger Outcome) Lists - Evaluate the status of projects, goals, and outcomes, one by one, ensuring at least one current action item on each. Browse through project plans, support material, and any other work-in-progress material to trigger new actions, completions, waiting for’s, etc.
Review Any Relevant Checklists - Use it as a trigger for any new actions. Here I go through my brain dump lists (read more here, is a technique that I am using to boost my creativity & right down any crazy or irrelevant ideas that I have) and I see if I can get something from this done or at least start them.
3) GET CREATIVE
Review Someday Maybe List - Review for any projects which may now have become active, and transfer them to “Projects.” Delete items that you no longer working on or delegated them to someone else.
Be Creative and Courageous - Take some time to write down any new, crazy, risky ideas that you see the opportunity to start right away!
Other things that you can track and plan through Weekly Review
Here are some ideas on what else you can track during your weekly review to have a good overview of where your week have gone & what did you achieved through it.
Personal Finance Tracking - Review the expenses of the week and plan for the week ahead.
Time Tracking - Review where you devoted most of your time and see if you produce the expected results. Plan your time for the week ahead.
Track your habits
Track the content that you consumed (Movies, podcasts, series, books etc) and write down few learnings that you got from them.
Meal planning
Household/chores planning
A weekly review can give you clarity, get you organized, creative and give you the tools to make the week that is coming even more productive. Devote 2-3 hours per week focused only on yourself & your goals and you will see the benefits to your career & your personal goals.
Are you doing a weekly review? How this process has been for you?
Feel free to share with us your tips for the process and of course your questions!
Also don't forget to follow our Instagram account @learnactreflect_ to see inspiring quotes, learnings, and practices from other people! We are waiting for you :D Till next time, keep learning, Daphne
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