Every productivity guru has talked about doing a weekly review and how effectively it helps. It is as simple as taking 5 to 10 minutes to look back and reflect on the past week and create important projects or tasks. If you google ‘how to do a weekly review’, you will quickly notice how everyone has different views of the topic. I’ve first come across this concept through David Allen’s Getting Things Done in 2013. While this book was the best first book for me to get started with a concept of productivity, doing a weekly review was something I’ve tried periodically in the past but never made a routine. Every time I did it though, I was glad that I did it. So here I am again to try my weekly review journey. This is my plan.
My method
1. List dates from the past week.
2. For each day I review my other note apps and calendar for the list of things that I’ve done. I will note the important things that happened (or I want to remember); it can be an event, a piece of music, a person I met, a book or podcast - anything I think is noteworthy in my world.
3. As I review, I think of what things need to be done, delegate or create a to-do list for the next week. I will also answer these 3 questions in my mind: 1. What do I have to work on in the next few days? 2. What deadlines do I have coming up? 3. Are there any new projects I have time to start working on?
My goal is to create a birds-eye view of my week, remember the most important task of the week, and prioritize it. I will make it simple. I’ve noticed that every time I create these lists a certain task is ‘never’ done, but simply drags along in my head, creating tension in the background. By creating this weekly review I hope to have another chance to look at a certain task more objectively and realistically so that I can make a better decision about what to do next by creating a smaller task and/or a clear deadline for the task that I can’t change.
Join me
Have you ever done a weekly review? What is your method or experience? Join me on this weekly review journey for the next 3 months and let’s share our experiences! Everyone has different views of the topic, so find what resonates with you and do it. I am sure that you will be very glad that you did it.
Jeeyoon
