Daily review versus Weekly review

As a newbie to GTD, I am still finding my way, and am in need of some advice on reviews.

My setup involves Nirvana, Evernote and paper. (Nearly) every morning, I follow a checklist that gets my inbox to zero, with all actions organised and all lists current, and then I 'star' actions to work on that day. This takes between 10 and 30 minutes. I do a bit of random sorting through the day also.

When it comes to my Friday review, I feel that there is not much else to do after my daily review. Maybe I will fill in some time and effort estimates, maybe convert a task into a project etc.

How do other people's reviews differ? Maybe I am too thorough with my daily review? I am very curious to hear some stories from other GTD users!

Thanks!

I'm impressed! Daily AND weekly reviews! Sounds like a very good way to stay on top of things, if you can keep it up and want to do it then I suggest you continue. :D

However there might be a bit too much control and maintenance of the system and the order of things, and not taking enough time spend on the higher horizons like goals and visions. And what happens to your system when you get sick, can you keep it up although you are not 100%?

A suggestion is that during the WR you let loose a bit from the norm and get Creative and Courageous!

Life is good
:D

I tend to use a daily review to run through my pre-defined action lists to remind myself of what I'm supposed to be doing today or this week, whereas the weekly review goes to higher levels and looks at how the current projects and actions align with longer term goals. Do I have projects to move towards those longer term goals? Do I still want to be doing the projects currently on my list? Do I need to plan any projects in more detail?

That said, it sounds like you're doing great. What do YOU feel is missing?

I am also a daily reviewer and so by the time the weekly review rolls around I am pretty clear about the runway. So during the weekly review, I also do more reviews at the higher level. In fact, these days, I actually start my weekly reviews from my horizons of focus mindmap.

I would agree with the other posters that the weekly review is more strategic.

My job involves a lot of short actions, single ones as well as project related, so my lists move very quickly. I use my weekly review to step back from the busyness. I often pick up loose ends and tidy up the lists. I look ahead by at least 6 weeks in the calendar and take a really good look at my projects list. The review allows me to link my actions to my projects and keeps on track and proactive, rather than reactive.

It's interesting. I read this post last night, and then started my day with an eye toward what it is that I do in a morning. Admittedly, this is an odd morning, because I've just come back from being out of town for the weekend, but...

I also do what you're calling the "daily review." Inboxes to zero, looking at my lists, figuring out what the main things on my schedule will be for that day.

But I think if that's all you're doing at your weekly review, you may be missing out on harnessing the true power of the WR. At my WR, that's when I back up to 10 and 20,000 feet, and often even up to 30,000 feet (I'm writing my dissertation, so managing the 1-2 year goals is critical right now). I make sure I've captured at those levels, I make sure that all my projects are represented in my calendar and my NA lists, and I see if there are any balls I need to get rolling. For instance, there's a conference coming up at the end of October, and even though it's September 4, I need to start drafting my presentation. But that wasn't on my NAs or even my projects lists yet; I looked at the calendar, did a little 3-dimensional thinking, and went, "Okay, that's got to go in the hopper."

So that's where my WR goes. Yes, I do all the clearing the decks thing every day, but the WR is still important for that "backing away" aspect.