The weekly review: ten minutes that make your week calmer

Why a weekly review helps

• You empty your head. Loose ends, ideas and promises end up on paper instead of keeping you awake.
• You see what you really did, which feels better than only seeing what is still open.
• You learn how full a week can be, so you plan more realistically.
• You catch things before they become urgent, such as a deadline next week or someone you were waiting on.

A weekly review checklist

1. 1Look back. What did you finish? Which tasks took longer than you thought, and which did you keep moving?
2. 2Clear your inbox. Give every loose task a place: a workspace, a day, or let it go.
3. 3Check what you are waiting for. Who still owes you an answer? Plan a moment to ask.
4. 4Look at your workspaces. Does each active project have a next step?
5. 5Plan next week. Put the important tasks on a day, and check that every day fits your hours, with a buffer.

Tips to keep it up

• Make it short. Ten to fifteen minutes is enough; a review that takes an hour gets skipped.
• Fix a day and time, and treat it as an appointment with yourself.
• Do not judge. A week where little got done is information for next week, not a failure.
• If you skip a week, just do the next one. There is nothing to catch up on.

The weekly review in Plenzu

Plenzu has a week review built in. On the day you choose, it invites you to look back. You see how many tasks you checked off, the hours you planned against the hours you had, planned and done per day, which workspaces moved forward, and which tasks you moved most often. Where you filled in how long a task really took, you see that next to your estimate.

Then you plan next week straight from the review, with a time bar per day. Your Waiting for list and the matrix help you decide what goes first.

Questions