Welcome to Part Two of the Periodic Review series. Originally written in the Spring of 2007, “The Weekly Review” described how I went about completing this part of the GTD system.

My own practice has evolved and grown into a richer and more useful review appointment. Therefore I am up-dating this post and adding some additional details and practices that may make your own review practice easier and more productive.

The Weekly Review

The Weekly Review has real power, the power to heal your mind and let you get your things done. Left undone, life and work come at you too fast for your overloaded mind to keep up. Once again you will find yourself overwhelmed, surrounded by “opportunities to excel“.

When you are surrounded by things that need to get done, tasks to be accomplished and calls to be returned, you can get the feeling that you have nowhere to turn. Without a coherent plan you will have no way to decide what choice to make, and then the feeling that any choice is the wrong one will leave you paralyzed, only to submerge beneath the waves of tasks and responsibilities.

So what do you do? What’s the next action?

Be Prepared.

Block out some time in your busy schedule and create a plan for managing all of the pieces of your weekly review: what to collect, how to process it, where to organize it, when will this all get done?

The short answer is “now”.

The Weekly Review Checklist is designed to keep your Projects and Next Actions from slipping through the cracks in your memory. Following from the principle of “ruthless iterations”, it occurred to me that a Monthly Review and Quarterly Review should also be incredibly useful tools for keeping myself on track (these will be explored in upcoming posts).

This is how the original system was designed, following this Weekly Review Checklist. I recommend that if you have never done any sort of regular review procedure that you take a look at this worksheet and use it for 4-6 weeks (or longer). This will train you in the habit of evaluating the various components on a regular basis.

Note that some of the contexts may not apply to your own situation, or that you need to add additional contexts specific to your own needs. In that case, I left some blanks on the worksheet for you to use.

1. Review the Tickler File ~ Look at all of the folders/pages from the past week, making sure that everything was done. Re-Tickle anything that didn’t get done, if appropriate. Jot down any ideas that occur to you while reviewing and put them in the In-Box.
2. Process the In-Box ~ I use this time to pay bills, update my checkbook, file receipts and papers and notes, clean out my wallet, and other little “housekeeping” chores. After the in-box has been emptied, I review and clean up the hPDA.
3. Calendar Review ~ Simply reviewing the time-specific actions and information from the past week. Does any of it need to get archived for possible retrieval? Finally, in the spirit of efficiency, I process any emails that are sitting in the inbox.
4. Project Review ~ First I close and archive any completed Projects, prepared to jot down any ideas that occur to me as I do this. Next, I update current and forthcoming Projects on the @Project List by asking myself if the Project is still worthwhile. I have saved a great deal of time by letting go of projects that had turned away from the original goal, or if the goal of the project had shifted. While reviewing each Project, I can check the status of Next Actions that are in @Waiting For, and tickle or calendar a contact action for the person responsible for getting back to me. (Do not actually email them now, the purpose of this exercise is review, not do)
5. Next Action Review ~ Clean up the @Next Action list with the focus on “is the action/project still worthwhile” and “what is being waited on“. This is the third time the @Next Action list has been looked over by now, so any Next Actions remaining should be valid.
6. Review the Someday/Maybe list ~ Has the Review brought any ideas to the front of your mind that need to be logged here?
7. Review Support Files ~ Scan through these files and archives for inspiration.
8. Brainstorm Creative Ideas ~ What would your current projects look like from beyond the completion date? Envision wild success, what is the best possible result? Capture the features, concepts, and possibilities that you imagine as a result of this success.

When you have completed your Weekly Review, archive it with your notes in a dated folder, so that you can access it easily at the end of the month. Incorporating a scan of your Weekly Reviews into your Monthly Review is very important to your overall success.

The next post will discuss the Monthly Review.

Be Sociable, Share!

•