Weekly Review - Wow!

[Anonymous]

I'm embarrassed to say that after a year of trying to implement GTD, this morning I did my first weekly review. Part of the problem was that I was trying to do them on Friday afternoons. I get too distracted tying up the loose ends from the week and dont get it done (or even started). My work has lots of weekly deadlines.
But what a feeling to sit down and review the week! I've gotten fairly good at the collection phase of the workflow but its so enlightening and freeing to see and decide about how all that collected stuff fits together.
I'm onto something....

[neilhedley]

Congratulations, DM!
As for me, I find Sunday morning after breakfast works best.
I feel like I'm in tune enough with my Next Actions list recently that the threat of "missing something" doesn't resonate enough with me to make me want to do it on a Friday.
Maybe Sunday for a Weekly Review is a carry-over from my misspent time as a 7H devotee. It's a good, quiet time when I know that no one will bother me. I can let each and every business call go to voicemail without feeling guilty, and I can mentally "clear the decks" so that when I sit down on Monday morning, I've already got a grip on the week ahead.

Mind you, a THOROUGH Weekly Review has escaped my grasp. I'm trying to adapt the template at the whkratz site, but it's taking me longer than I had anticipated to get the checklist working for me. Obviously I still get bogged down occasionally facilitating work instead of doing work.
Right now, my Weekly Review tends to be more of a "get my inbox and my desktop completely clear" kind of process.

I'll get there. Who knows - maybe tomorrow?

Regards,
Neil

[Anonymous]

Hi, congratulations on conquering the weekly review! I also just recently completed my first actual weekly review (after a year of gtd! yikes). What a great feeling. I'm finding that coming to work early on Wednesdays is a good time to do it. I need to do it when I have lots of energy.

Hi all, nice to meet you, I'm new here.
Susan

[Jason Womack]

Here 'tis, about to start a new year!

I want to say that when we hear that people "doing" their weekly review really gets us jazzed over here! It's great to hear the stories from the "trenches" of the work world. I agree, that one hour or so per week really gives me the leverage to prioritize and "re-agree" to what I've already said yes to out there!

Great work!

[Anonymous]

Happy new year David Allen et al!!!

I have read the forums on this website for much of the last couple of years and I have been working on the ideas that David advocates for more than three years!! (What a scary thought!)

In all this time I have completed a weekly review on a pretty regular basis! OK... nope - I haven't managed to do them religiously every week but over the past three years I can honestly say that the most powerful part of my personal growth has been weekly, monthly and yearly reviews. In fact I have just finished the review for this year and despite a change of job, moving 7,000 miles back to my home country and finishing a relationship of more than five years I am able to stay smiling as I just keep focusing on the values that are important to me...

Happy New Year guys!!!
PS. If anyone would like me to let them know how I go about my Weekly Review I'll be happy to post details in 2003!!!

[awebber]

Rich, I would be curious to see your weekly review.

Alan

[taxgeek]

I would love to hear how, when, etc you go about the weekly review.

Thanks!
Susan

[Anonymous]

Well - if this helps then I'll have done something useful on the very last day of 2002!!!

1. My Palm is invaluable in this whole exercise! Every Friday at about 4pm an alarm beeps to remind me to review my week.
2. I then open up the Memopad and create a new Memo based on a template I have set up. I then basically answer a bunch of questions that I have found the most helpful in reviewing the week just gone and getting ready for the week ahead.
3. I have taken a lot of time to consider the values that are most important to me over the past few years and one of the things I do in this review is consider those values and reflect on my application of them in the week just gone. (To make things simple I just give myself a rating out of 10 for each - ok, its simplistic - but its a quick and easy way to show up if I have been focusing on the wrong areas that week)
4. The trick is to spot any areas or goals where you need to focus and then plan how you can improve in the following week.
5. At the end of each month I read the 4 or 5 Weekly Reviews for the month. This is a very powerful way to spot any recurring patterns of behaviour that are bugging you. (It has bugged me for ages that I watch too much junk tv - but only when I saw this written down over the past few weeks did I realise that I could do something about this!!)

If anyone is interested here is the Weekly Review I have just completed. Bear in mind that I am a teacher and this was the first week of my holiday - so there were no work-related goals this week!

------------------------------------------------------------
Weekly Review w/c 12/22/02
How did I go following last week's patterns of action?
• PLAN TV & stick to the plan
Not so good! I need to write down what I intend to watch and not just veg in front of the box!

SPIRITUAL - Early morning drive - Yep - drove to the park and took an early morning walk!
MENTAL - Read x4 nights - YES
PHYSICAL - Exercise x3 - NO NO NO!!!
SOCIAL - Write Xmas cards - YES

Are there any roles or values where I have spent too little or too much time?
• Work - 6/10
• Personal - 6/10
• Development - 5/10
• Exercise - 0/10

Values:
1. Positive Mental Attitude - 7/10
2. Proactivity & Planning - 6/10
3. Commitment & Integrity - 6/10
4. Relationships & Empathy - 6/10
5. Health & Fitness - 0/10
6. Learning & Teaching - 6/10

What patterns of action are holding me back?
• Not exercising
• Too much TV

WHAT NEW PATTERNS OF ACTION ARE NEEDED?
• PLAN exercise & stick to plan
• PLAN TV & stick to plan
------------------------------------------------------------

Have a great 2003!!
- Rich


"I shall tell you a great secret my friend.
Do not wait for the last judgement. It takes place every day"
- Albert Camus

[awebber]

Rich,

Interesting exercise! Looks a bit Franklin and Coveyesque which I like and goes beyond just the base weekly review in to performance measurement!

Well done....I think I might have to "borrow" this idea and implement it into my system along with my roles, goals and values.

Thanks,

Alan

[taxgeek]

This is off topic but short:

Rich, to help with your TV watching: Try Tivo. Just a suggestion. You will watch only what you planned to watch.

Thanks for posting your weekly list, I aim to adopt parts of it!
Susan

P.S. Edited to add that one of my New Year's Resolutions this year is to do better on my Weekly Reviews!