The weekly review process is basically where you sit down at a set time each week to review how the past week has gone and then plan out the week ahead.
This way I can be sure I’ve planned out everything for next week so I can relax over the weekend.
This process might seem simple in practice but it’s amazing to realize how well this can prime your mind for determining where you can improve and planning how the next week will look.
The concept of a weekly review touches upon the concept of continued reflection which is mentioned in The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll.
“If we forfeit the opportunity to learn from our experiences, as the saying (sort of) goes, we condemn ourselves to repeat our mistakes.” The Bullet Journal Method - Ryder Carroll (p59)
Note: Yup
By checking in each week, you’ll build up the routine of reflecting on your work and determining how you can improve it.
For instance, if you’re working towards a goal of building a consistent writing habit, then this is your chance to look back over the last week to see how well you’re working towards that goal. If things aren’t going well, this is your chance to ask the question “why is this not going well?”. This will give you the mental space to come up with a possible solution that you can try next week.
That is the idea of Plan, Do, Check, Act: * Plan on doing something: like writing every day * Do the thing: write every day * Check in on how you are progressing with your task (during your weekly review) * Act by adapting what you’ve learned to make the process better going forward
Some of you may recognize this process as the concept of Kaizen which means continual small improvements over time.
Note: Kaizen: Continual improvements over time - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen?wprov=sfti1
How I Setup My Weekly Review
I have a weekly reminder in Todoist that notifies me at 4:30 pm on Fridays to start my weekly review. Todoist is the app I am currently using to manage my tasks.
I then jump over into Notion and create a new weekly review entry. I have a template set up that contains all the necessary prompts and checklists I need and this saves me a lot of time each week.
Get Started * I have a short checklist before I start the weekly review that allows me to clean up my inboxes and get things in order: * Clear Desk space * Zero Todoist, Email Inbox, Notion Inbox * Review last week’s entry * Review daily reflections
Reflections
Here is where my weekly review process truly starts. I ask myself the following questions: * What went well this week? * What should I start doing? * What should I stop doing? * What should I continue doing?
Work Log * Since reading Show Your Work by Austin Kleon, I’ve been documenting the work I do each week.
Planning
Now that I’ve reflected on the last week, it’s time to plan for the next week. * I start by scheduling any appointments or calls into my calendar. * I then schedule any relevant tasks for the next week using Todoist. A lot of my work now can be set to recurring tasks so I find that each week isn’t totally different from the last one.
Shut Down * Once I’ve completed my weekly review process, it’s time to shut down work for the day. * I step through my shut down routine which tells my brain work is finished for the day, and to go and do other things. * This is a great way to switch off from work as it creates a clear separation in your mind.