The Weekly Review

J

Joshua Moore

0
I have been working to implement GTD in my life for about 6 to 8 months now). I find that I have a hard time with the review and making the decision if I should keep/drop projects. I think this maybe do to the fact that I have been mostly focusing on the runway and 10000 feet levels (projects and next actions). I have been focusing here because I figured once I got these areas in order I it would be easier to take a higher view. But, I am finding that it is hard to do the weekly review.

I think that it is hard to do the weekly review because I have no firm framework to accept/reject projects. This is, I believe, do to the fact that I have not set strong goals at higher levels. So when a project comes along I feel I have to do it because I feel that almost every possible project I encounter is something that one day will make my life better and lead me to my life "goals". The problem with that is I am getting overwhelmed by the number of projects that I am finding. I am spending all my time bouncing between projects and never getting anything done.

I think the best way for me to overcome this project is to set goals on the higher levels of work (1 to 2 years, 10 years, life) so that when I encounter a project I can quickly say yes it will or will not help me get my 1 to 2 year goals. I think that if I can look at my goals and say no, it will not help me get there that I will have more confidence to drop the project.

I am wondering has anybody else every experienced a problem like this? Is the path that I am planning to take help? If not I would appreciate if you could recommend alternative paths.

Thanks,

Josh
 
I would think it would help. But also, there are some things that you know you will do, but you don't need to spend time working on it now or reviewing it every week. I've got a set of on-hold projects that is about the same size as my active projects. I don't review it as often. I also use it as a 'waiting' area for projects that are not finished, but I'm not actively working on.
 
re: Migrating Projects

Two things that I think would help:

(1) Get used to migrating projects to and from a Someday-Maybe List or folder. Those you can work on for the upcoming week, keep on your active Projects list. Those you can't get to for a week or two, keep in Someday-Maybe. Bring them out, as needed, when doing your weekly review.

(2) Your life is going to change in significant ways that will alter your current concerns about your projects. One major change in job title, career, health issue, etc. could completely alter your list. It's always good to keep this in mind so that you're not over-planning your Projects and Project Lists. Only keep enough on to keep it moving. The rest can stay in Someday-Maybe.

Combined with a review of David Allen's 30-50,000ft worksheet questions, I think this might help.
 
I think the opposite is true.

Joshua Moore;74175 said:
I think that it is hard to do the weekly review because I have no firm framework to accept/reject projects.
Click to expand...

I think the opposite is true:

It is hard to accept/reject projects when you are not doing the Weekly Review.
 
re: Migrating Projects

Thanks for every bodies responses! I appreciate your time. Maybe my biggest problem is that I am keeping to many projects on my active project list. From what I have read from every bodies comments it looks like I just need to prioritize my projects better and only keep a week or two of active projects. All projects beyond that should be moved to waiting/someday maybe list.
 
Simplify you system a bit. Go through you projects and eliminate as much as you can. Use the 80/20 rule etc.

Check out ZTD ebook by Leo Babauta.
 
I would say:

Now's the time to start looking at your higher levels (Areas of Focus, etc.).

Remember, you're not going to define every Area of Focus in your life right away. It's an evolving process. You can take a stab at it now.
 
accept/reject projects and GTD

Accepting and rejecting projects requires also:

1. Being able to ascertain the status of current projects and the resources they are expected to take.

2. Review of the SDMBs to see if any of them need to be activated.

3. Either enough experience with the type of prospective project or time to do enough initial research and planning to estimate resources the prospective project might require.

4. Time to research and reflect to see how the prospective projective fits in with higher level aspects.

5. A good handle of the amount of resources your routine tasks are taking and how well that is working.

I am probably missing something, but I don't quite see how the weekly review and the rest of GTD enables one to do these things, especially if you do not have a way of readily associating next actions with their projects, of recording the time you are spending on routine things.

Any thoughts?
 
Making it all work

Not yet...but after taking care of this great suggestions,
I think,
it could be the right time to read the next level book by David Allen " Making it all work"
...may be it could be better suffer a little bit more on the weekly review...
and try to get it, but personally I had a great help with this book.
 
Jamie Elis;74194 said:
Accepting and rejecting projects requires also:

1. Being able to ascertain the status of current projects and the resources they are expected to take.

2. Review of the SDMBs to see if any of them need to be activated.

3. Either enough experience with the type of prospective project or time to do enough initial research and planning to estimate resources the prospective project might require.

4. Time to research and reflect to see how the prospective projective fits in with higher level aspects.

5. A good handle of the amount of resources your routine tasks are taking and how well that is working.

I am probably missing something, but I don't quite see how the weekly review and the rest of GTD enables one to do these things, especially if you do not have a way of readily associating next actions with their projects, of recording the time you are spending on routine things.
Click to expand...

I would say that if you don't have these things, your system is broken.

1 and 2 are explicitly part of the purpose of the Weekly Review. Actually deciding whether to activate a SDMB is a judgment call, but you should have the necessary information at your fingertips.

3 and 4 may require a separate planning step outside the Weekly Review. Planning is discussed in Chapters 3, 10, and 13 of GTD.

5 is partly a tracking problem, but assessing "how things are working" is part of the purpose of the Weekly Review.

Katherine
 
Jamie Elis;74194 said:
Accepting and rejecting projects requires also:

1. Being able to ascertain the status of current projects and the resources they are expected to take.

2. Review of the SDMBs to see if any of them need to be activated.

3. Either enough experience with the type of prospective project or time to do enough initial research and planning to estimate resources the prospective project might require.

4. Time to research and reflect to see how the prospective projective fits in with higher level aspects.

5. A good handle of the amount of resources your routine tasks are taking and how well that is working.

I am probably missing something, but I don't quite see how the weekly review and the rest of GTD enables one to do these things....
Click to expand...

Well, part of the Weekly Review is to assess your current Projects and Someday/Maybe items, and skim through project support materials to ensure you're not missing anything (physically or conceptually). So, it seems to me that the Weekly Review helps you perform all of those steps, by re-connecting you to your Projects every week.
 
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