Each week I do a review. This isn’t just a quick glance over the week – been there, done that (it wasn’t very helpful – I just kept repeating the same bad habits). Over the past couple of years I’ve compiled a list of questions that I ask myself each week. Having tweaked it for some time I now have 15 questions.
My weekly review process
I printed this list out and added it to my ARC A4 size discbound notebook to do my weekly review.
Read more: Guide to Discbound Planners & Frequently Asked Questions
15 Questions to ask yourself at the end of every week
I go through this list and write down my responses / notes for each one. I initially went through the questions answering them in my head in about 5 minutes and wouldn’t write anything down. I really do think it’s true that writing things down is more effective.
1. What worked well?
2. What were the biggest time wasters?
3. What did I dislike the most this week? (Something I did or something that happened)
4. What tasks took longer than I expected them to?
5. What did I do that I hadn’t originally planned to do?
6. What was my best day? Why? (Most productive, did something fun, was happiest)
7. What is not working in my current planning system? (don’t look at monthly calendar often enough, too much paper, re-writing same tasks etc.)
8. What did I enjoy doing the least? (maybe time to delegate or drop these tasks)
9. What things do I feel behind on and need to get on top off?
10. What did I do this week that my future self will thank me for?
11. What goal milestones did I achieve? (Review your goals for the month & tick off progress – or use a progress bar)
12. What due dates are coming up? (refer back to monthly, quarterly & annual planning for a reminder of the bigger picture)
13. What maintenance tasks did I do this week? (Clear computer files etc. stuff you need to be on top of whether you want to do it or not – habit trackers are good for accountability)
14. What things didn’t get done this week, that also didn’t get done last week? (I.e. what are you putting off and should potentially drop or hurry up and do).
15. Rate the week out of 10. Am I happy?
These are the 15 questions I ask myself. You may choose to add more questions or just do a few relevant to you.
Immediately after this review I setup for next week. Make sure you do it straight after the review while it’s fresh so you do intentional planning and don’t fall into the same bad habits.
I used to use the Plum Paper lined with notes layout to do a review of what I did each day so could compare against what I had planned but have since found this is a bit too time consuming and wasn’t giving me as much value as targeted questions. Doing the same questions each week has helped me identify patterns and see what I need to change for the next week.
Click here to download the printable! (existing subscribers can login here – the password is at the bottom of every email I send)
My monthly review is much the same as my weekly but with a few different questions. I’ve added my monthly review questions to the free printables library as well.
Read more: 10 Different ways to do a monthly goals review in your planner
These are some great questions, thank you.
I’ve just – FINALLY – this month managed to make EOW reviews a part of my weekend routine, but have been thinking that I’d like to change some of the questions up. These give me some helpful ideas for what I can add to or replace in what I’m already doing 🙂