Not much to do at weekly review for me...

[Guest]

If I split weekly review in parts and do it everyday then what do i review once a week?

I use omnifocus on ipad and there is a built in review mode and I can set a review interval for each project, for some projects it is once a week, for some it is once a month and etc.

I dont have to review all projects at once, I can review as many projects as I like everyday and it keeps track of what was and wasnt reviewed.

Ok so I know that weekly review is not just about reviewing projects though, however all other parts of weekly review I do daily too.

For example,

I scan through a list of all of my projects daily to get an overview whenever I feel like. And so on.

So here is an example of my workflow to give a better idea of what Im talking about(btw it works great for me):

Daily review routine(generally done first thing in the morning on ipad):

get current / check hard landscape

check calendar

check daily checklist

check daily actions

check Omnifocus forecast for due dates

check waiting

any time review ( is done daily whenever I feel like and as much as I feel like )

1. get clear

process stuff

empty your head

2. get current

scan project list

(scan through all available projects to see an overview

don't go into details

review mode is designed for that purpose

the goal is to have an overview of everything, to see how much stuff is on my plate)

check if all available projects have next actions

check due dates / tickler (forecast)

check waiting for context

Omnifocus review mode

review any unreviewed project (including someday/maybe but review interval for someday/maybe is at least 2 weeks)

(review project

make sure dates are current

make sure due date is current

make sure start date is current

make sure repeating interval is current

make sure review interval is correct

make sure project is current and real

projects should be named as successful outcomes, something that you can finish and something you have full control over and can win no matter what the rest of the world is doing)

(review its actions

make sure dates are current

make sure due date is current

make sure start date is current

make sure repeating interval is current

make sure everything is really a next doable action

Do I really want to see all of those actions as options?Maybe delete or move or change some of them

do the actions attract or repel you?)

(remove completed stuff)

(review its project support/relevant checklists

consider adding projects/actions)

So by the time a weekly review comes Im already somewhat clear and current, it is impossible and not necessary to be 100% clean and current all the time but since everything which is supposed to be done at weekly review at once - I do daily, there is no need for a real weekly review.

All I can do at weekly review which would make sense is what I do any day anyway - scan project list.

No point in reviewing all projects all at once in detail though because this process is split in parts and done daily with built in review mode in omnifocus. It is also a lot easier and managable this way.

I also could check calendar in more detail but I have very few calendar actions so there is not much to review.

I could also review

Areas of Focus

goals

visions/life purpose

But this is not supposed to be reviewed each week.

So the question is what do I review at weekly review then? What do you think of my workflow?

I also heard David Allen say

"A lot of it depends on how complete it is to start with, if your managing this pretty well or the vast majority of your projects have been caught within the last week or two or three and you kept them fairly current then the weekly review doesn't have to take much at all rather than: ok what do I need to do to trust that I'm not missing anything that I might need to see in terms of what's coming up."

The only reason I can see myself doing a weekly review for more than 5-10 min is that if I fell off the gtd wagon during a week and wasnt doing my daily processes.

Any thoughts/comments?

 

[enyonam]

What iPad app do you use for your daily routine review?

 

[mattsykes]

The main caution I would give is that you're spending too much time reviewing, as opposed to doing. Great to stay on top of your processing, but if you're genuinely doing an end to end review, no matter how cursory, most days, I'd suspect your process is inefficient, and so you're at risk of it falling over in those crunch times when you're particularly busy.

 

[supergtdman]

The main caution I would give is that you're spending too much time reviewing, as opposed to doing. Great to stay on top of your processing, but if you're genuinely doing an end to end review, no matter how cursory, most days, I'd suspect your process is inefficient, and so you're at risk of it falling over in those crunch times when you're particularly busy.

I can certainly see how it might seem like I review stuff too much from my post and I see your point.
However I actually spend very little time for my daily review processes. I dont try to stay on top of my system all the time, in fact I really dont mind to fall of the wagon all the time because it's easy to get back on.

Everything is done whenever I feel like anyway (processing inbox, scanning project list, checking due dates, checking waiting for) and it's not like this should be done only at a weekly review either so it's not like I have some overly long and complex daily review practicies. And it is also a lot more managable than doing it all at once in one sitting once a week.

Morning review takes about 2 minutes and then I start doing right away.
All I really have to do each day is this daily review, everything else is optinal so there is no risk that the system will fall over.

I don't do an end to end review ever. The whole key point is that I do bits of review here and there whenever I feel like when I have free time. For example some day I might review 10 projects while on a commute, it might take only 5 minutes and then Omnifocus keeps track that those projects were reviewed and I dont have to review them for the next week generally. So by the time Weekly Review comes I might have very little projects to review left and if I do have a lot left then I dont have to review them all at once in one sitting anyway.
So I dont have much to do at a weekly review which should be specially done at a weekly review...

Also if I see that some projects with a lot of project support have to be reviewed in more detail and it is going to take a lot of time then I create a next action for this so I do my reviews very quickly.

 

[supergtdman]

What iPad app do you use for your daily routine review?

It's not a single app. I use default calendar app for calendar, default Reminders app for daily checklist and daily actions, omnifocus to check forecast (due dates and tickler) and waiting for. I use omnifocus for projects and actions, and project support is in mind maps and evernote

 

[bishblaize]

At the weekly review you want to be tying in longer term strategic thinking alongside your daily doing.

The daily review might include updating projects and making sure they have a next action. The weekly review might include deciding whether the projects you have are the right projects at all, when measured against your longer term goals and the business plan of the company.

I review my job description, my charity's 5 yr plan, my teams' goals, our financial performance and junk like that in my weekly review. After reviewing them I inevitably create a dozen new projects that i hadnt thought of before.

From my point of view as a CEO the weekly review is hands-down the most essential part of the week. Its the time when you make all the pieces of the jigsaw fit together. Its when you spot potential fires on the horizon and make sure they get handled before they ever occur. Its when you recalibrate towards your long term aims without waiting months to some sort of formal annunal review. I can honest say that the 2-ish hours I spend doing my weekly review is the most effective thing I do.

If you're already doing a super daily review, then your weekly review will be even more effective because you're not wasting time with the nuts and bolts, you can go straight into the longer term, more important work.

 

[Cpu_Modern]

I am like you always organized.

And this is 98% of my weekly review most of the times:

I could also review

Areas of Focus

goals

visions/life purpose

But this is not supposed to be reviewed each week.

And no, it doesn't have to re-done each and every week. But reviewing it helps IMHO.

What I do is basically giving my mind time to process the general input of life's last week in light of the freshly read (reviewed) lists of Horizons of Focus.

I don't do it for hours, just one go, stand still for a moment, press the pause button of life and listen if something comes up. Then go on with life. That's it. But no less.

I catched a lot of errors in my life that way. For instance: I could hear anger in me. Why? Because I subscribed again to super-stupid projects. Stop that. Honesty.

Don't be a perfectionist with it, you don't want to make it a meditation practice or discover the formula that explains it all. But give yourself a moment to watch that you don't run full speed with your head into a wall you could have seen.

My 2 cents.

 

[supergtdman]

At the weekly review you want to be tying in longer term strategic thinking alongside your daily doing.

The daily review might include updating projects and making sure they have a next action. The weekly review might include deciding whether the projects you have are the right projects at all, when measured against your longer term goals and the business plan of the company.

I review my job description, my charity's 5 yr plan, my teams' goals, our financial performance and junk like that in my weekly review. After reviewing them I inevitably create a dozen new projects that i hadnt thought of before.

From my point of view as a CEO the weekly review is hands-down the most essential part of the week. Its the time when you make all the pieces of the jigsaw fit together. Its when you spot potential fires on the horizon and make sure they get handled before they ever occur. Its when you recalibrate towards your long term aims without waiting months to some sort of formal annunal review. I can honest say that the 2-ish hours I spend doing my weekly review is the most effective thing I do.

If you're already doing a super daily review, then your weekly review will be even more effective because you're not wasting time with the nuts and bolts, you can go straight into the longer term, more important work.

Thanks for the reply, it is useful and interesting for me and I saved this in evernote.

I find that forcing myself to do strategic planning/ getting creative about all of my projects during a weekly review doesn't work very well for me though. I mean, sure, I will scan my projects list and see how much stuff is on my plate and maybe add some thoughts/ideas to an inbox or move/delete some projects. Which is getting clear and current.

Planning anything in detail however is a separate project/action for me most of the time instead of a part of a weekly review. It takes a different mindset than reviewing for me and it often takes a lot of time. So I also do spend hours on planning projects/work/life, it is just not a part of a weekly review process for me.

I generally don't do the get creative part much during a weekly review because I come up with creative ideas and plans much better at random times, sometimes during a walk, sometimes while listening to some podcast. I don't force them. I capture those ideas right away really well and then I eventually process them into projects and actions, for example projects like - decided about such and such, rnd something and so on. Next actions would look like search the web or brainstorm or test something or talk to someone and etc.

 

[supergtdman]

I am like you always organized.

And this is 98% of my weekly review most of the times:

And no, it doesn't have to re-done each and every week. But reviewing it helps IMHO.

What I do is basically giving my mind time to process the general input of life's last week in light of the freshly read (reviewed) lists of Horizons of Focus.

I don't do it for hours, just one go, stand still for a moment, press the pause button of life and listen if something comes up. Then go on with life. That's it. But no less.

I catched a lot of errors in my life that way. For instance: I could hear anger in me. Why? Because I subscribed again to super-stupid projects. Stop that. Honesty.

Don't be a perfectionist with it, you don't want to make it a meditation practice or discover the formula that explains it all. But give yourself a moment to watch that you don't run full speed with your head into a wall you could have seen.

My 2 cents.

thanks, this is also helpful and interesting and I saved your post to evernote also.

 

[Myriam]

there's the key point!

I don't do an end to end review ever. The whole key point is that I do bits of review here and there whenever I feel like when I have free time. For example some day I might review 10 projects while on a commute, it might take only 5 minutes and then Omnifocus keeps track that those projects were reviewed and I dont have to review them for the next week generally. So by the time Weekly Review comes I might have very little projects to review left and if I do have a lot left then I dont have to review them all at once in one sitting anyway.
So I dont have much to do at a weekly review which should be specially done at a weekly review...

A lot of people have trouble the other way around. They say "I never seem to find time to do a weekly review", and usually the advice then is: "you can also do your weekly review in bits and pieces"... sounds to me like this is exactly what you do and it works veryw ell for you. So in fact you ARE doing a weekly review, only not at once, but cut up in pieces.

Seems ok to me if all the elements are in there...

Myriam

 

[enyonam]

It's not a single app. I use default calendar app for calendar, default Reminders app for daily checklist and daily actions, omnifocus to check forecast (due dates and tickler) and waiting for. I use omnifocus for projects and actions, and project support is in mind maps and evernote

Ah ok - so you review your GTD system to make sure you know what's coming up for the day. Gotcha.

 

[bishblaize]

Planning anything in detail however is a separate project/action for me most of the time instead of a part of a weekly review. It takes a different mindset than reviewing for me and it often takes a lot of time.

Well what works is what works, and thats all the matters.

I know for me sometimes its the only window of time I can guarantee to be in that reflective mood. Work is hectic, and I cant be sure that in a two hour window between meetings that I'll be able to change my focus from the runway to the 20/30/40K level effectively, then back again. Sometimes I can, not others.

Part of the weekly review is the ritual - I go to the same cafe, with the same great view of the Thames, put on the same music and go through the same routine. This way I get into that relaxed reflective mood needed to start thinking long term and creatively.

As part of an investigation, perhaps try flicking through Franklin/Covey's First Things First. Its a bit outdated in some ways (or superceded, perhaps, by GTD) but it has some really excellent relfections on why the weekly perspective is fundamentally different to the daily or ad-hoc perspective.

But again, what works is what works and thats it.

 

[alsa]

My Weekly Reviews now take about 30-60 min.

I used to make the mistake of actually processing and DOING stuff during my reviews in the past, but now I am very mindful of not doing that.

It works -- each week I know exactly what I am NOT doing and don't fret about it. In the last couple of years I am also finding I don't juggle thoughts like ''Maybe I shold...'' because I resolve all these thoughts each weekly during my Review. One of best productivity practices I have ever picked up.