The Power & Importance of a Weekly Review

My process is based on the more extensive Weekly Review in David Allen’s Getting Things Done system.  My version is a bit shorter, but in my opinion still highly valuable and easier to emulate (as well as stick with on a regular basis).
It starts with a comprehensive inventory of projects. I keep these in Outlook Tasks tagged as “Projects – Active”.  For me, a project is anything that’s more than one task. Something I can’t or won’t get done right away.

These projects cover a lot of ground.  All work-related projects (for the business, for clients, for staff, etc.), all household projects, things I need to do in my personal life, etc.  I use this as a safety net to keep track of all the more comprehensive things I want to get done.  Oftentimes, if I come up with a project in the middle of the week that doesn’t need to be worked on right away, I’ll add it to the Project list and literally “forget about it” until the next weekly review.

Identify an immediate next steps for my task list: If it’s something I haven’t worked on yet or in awhile, I quickly identify the immediate next thing I need to do – the tactical, single next task – to move that project forward. Typcially this gets assigned to myself as a to-do later in the week. I don’t worry about whatever task comes after that. This usually gets notated once the first task is complete, or there’s next week’s review to pick it back up again.

Make a note to ask for an update on something I’m waiting for: Sometimes I’m waiting for a deliverable or update from someone else, and the weekly review helps me remember to ask for and get that more quickly

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