Spending your days moving between different tasks doesn’t leave much time for strategic planning about the big picture. Before you know it, your busy days have turned into hectic weeks, which turn into manic months and even whirlwind years.
If you’re lucky, you’ll make some progress towards your long-term goals. But, if not a year can pass with no progress before you know it. Making meaningful progress in both your work and home life requires more than just checking tasks off of to-do lists.
That’s where a weekly review comes in. It only takes about an hour and gives you a chance to think about your week, what went right, what went wrong, what you completed etc. It also gives you time to plan for the coming week, assess your goals and check to see if what you’re doing is helping you move towards them.
The weekly review is a key component of the Getting Things Done method, which we’ve talked about previously. But, it’s something that works with any productivity method, or even without one. The creator of the Getting Things Done method, productivity consultant David Allen breaks the weekly review down into three actions:
Get Clear – Tie up all loose ends
Get Current – Ensure everything is up to date
Get Creative – Think about new ideas to improve how you work and live
A weekly review is a great idea if you:
- Typically don’t have a plan for the week
- Feel like you’re always busy but struggle to make any real progress
- Want to set aside time for self-improvement and reflection
- Want to be able to get more done
How to Perform a Weekly Review
How you perform a weekly review is really up to you. But here are some pointers:
| How Long | What to Do |
| 10 Minutes or Less – Declutter & Mind Dump | Tidy up your work space, file or throw away notes and get everything out of your head and in to your task management system |
| 10-20 Minutes – Reflect on the Week | Review what you’ve completed, your goals, calendar and notes. Compare what happened to what you planned to happen and think about what worked and what didn’t |
| 20-35 Minutes – Update Current Projects and Goals | Think about the progress you have made on your priorities. Update anything that needs an update and decide what you need to do next |
| 35-50 Minutes – Plan for Next Week | Decide on your most important tasks and events for the next week and write them down |
| 50-60 Minutes – Think Bigger | Review any ‘someday’ projects you have. Decide what you’re excited about and what new things you want to do or learn |
It may seem like a weekly review is a waste of time, especially if you’re already using a productivity method. But, it encourages you to take a step back and think about things instead of just bouncing from task to task. It forces you to think about:
- What you’ve managed to get done vs what you planned to do
- What things popped up unexpectedly and blocked your productivity
- How efficient you were compared to the previous week
Eventually you’ll notice patterns that you may have missed before.
A weekly review isn’t just about looking at your past week’s performance. It’s also about preparing for the coming week. This will help you start each day with a game that will help you prioritize tasks.
You don’t have to schedule every little thing, just work out your top priorities so they are visible in your calendar or to-do list.
When to do your weekly review is entirely up to you. But, here’s a few suggestions:
Friday Afternoon – The natural end of the work week. It’s also a time when productivity dips for most people as they start looking forward to the weekend.
Sunday Evening – For most of us, Sunday evenings are when the next week starts looming and we begin thinking about Monday. If you find yourself anxious about what’s coming up, channel that anxiety into creating your weekly review. Then when done, disconnect from ‘work mode’ and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Monday Morning – The natural start to the work week. But, it’s often hard to really get going after a relaxing weekend. So, spend an hour doing your weekly review, it’s the perfect way to ease yourself gently into work mode.
These are only suggestions, and the day you do your weekly review really doesn’t matter. What’s important is consistency. Start doing your weekly review on the same day, around the same time each week and it will quickly become a habit you won’t forget.