Weekly Review Challenge (October 2014)

[Oogiem]

WR # 4 finished

Work is still really busy. All sheep but the ram lambs are in off pasture, so I have to activate a bunch of fall tasks, repairing and storing the fences for winter, getting the irrigation shut off, building some more hay feeders etc. Plus we are setting up with the USDA for this year's sheep experiment in AI and I had a disaster today. A ram lamb crawled under the gate and got in with the ewes and was attempting to breed them. No clue how many he successfully bred, and no clue if they will settle but it sure puts a significant wrinkle when planning a scientific experiment in reproduction! And then there are the chicken tasks, bring the chicken tractor chickens in for the winter, paint the chicken tractor, get the barn cleaned out before all of the above and so on.

My presentation for the Livestock Conservancy meeting next month is done, still practiciing and fine tuning but it's doable as is if I can't get any more done. Still need to harden some of the hardware and ship it ahead before the demo but at least that project is moving well.

 

[Barb]

WR #3

I just went back to the beginning of this thread and read everyone's comments again. I had missed a few somehow, so got a kick out of Oogie's "measurements" of rams.

Anyway, I have just 3 projects teed up for the week. These projects are the most critical for me at this time. I also have a few more "just one action left" projects that I think I can fit in to the empty spots. I have major project/doing time blocked off on my calendar.

Thanks for sharing, everyone. If you can get one more review in before the end of the month it will not only increase your chance of winning the October drawing, but the big quarterly prize as well!

 

[ArcCaster]

How about a non-review? I have been spending my life in the air lately, but it is getting harder to do a review on the plane -- seems like there is less elbow room than usual. So I started the review, then switched to pure listening mode -- old podcasts, including slices of life with TesTeq and Oogie -- made me feel like a total dilettante in comparison -- I am going to buckle down and do this stuff right!

 

[DenaDahilig]

Well, I've missed most of October already, so I think I'm out of the running for the coaching, but today is my third review of the month... and what a month! What a year! Oh, by the way... HELLOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Yes, I know I've been running stealth for months now, but I was busy changing careers and becoming an empty-nester and running a Kickstarter campaign and, and, and... and getting out of a few habits. But I missed you all, and my review routines suffered and I was better with you than without you, so here I am.

 

[MikeP]

WR #3

I finally got a Weekly Review in. This one started with a Friday AM review of email and calendar before taking the afternoon off to spend with my youngest daughter. That was followed by a beautiful weekend that I had to take advantage of so the list review steps didn't happen until Monday. There were a number of items I checked off and quite a few more that I added (except for the ones I did before I got to my WR!). I haven't seen the "Get Creative" section of my WR checklist September.

I'm not happy with my Weekly Review record lately but the volume of projects and actions (and meetings!) in my life has increased lately and it isn't going to slow down any time soon. I know I can handle it if I keep (restore / enforce) my Weekly Review discipline. A David Allen quote I'm keeping in mind right now is "The better you get, the better you'd better get."

I did find time today for the Connect webinar "The Bridge Horizon - Areas of Focus" which I really enjoyed. I worked up a nice mind map of my Areas of Focus during the July webinar but haven't spent much time with it since then. With all the changes going on I need to refresh it and work it into my WR somehow.

Mike

 

[Barb]

Well, I've missed most of October already, so I think I'm out of the running for the coaching, but today is my third review of the month... and what a month! What a year! Oh, by the way... HELLOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Yes, I know I've been running stealth for months now, but I was busy changing careers and becoming an empty-nester and running a Kickstarter campaign and, and, and... and getting out of a few habits. But I missed you all, and my review routines suffered and I was better with you than without you, so here I am.

Welcome back, Dena! We're so glad you're back to keep us all laughing!!

 

[S-Tolland]

Seconded - welcome back! Sounds like you have been seriously busy....

 

[S-Tolland]

WR#3 for October
This one was on Friday last week, shifted deliberately from my usual day of Thursday. To be honest, I felt quite pleased and relieved that I managed to do the review as normally if I shift it, I miss it. But it was blocked out in my calendar and I could hear David saying "don't break appointments with yourself!" - and he is quite right!
As it turned out, it was a great review. I really cleared the decks and got to grips with some of the lists that I had left hanging in the air when I left to have Amy. Obviously a lot of the stuff on those lists was completely out of date and no longer relevant, but it felt good to check and cross those off. More importantly, there were some things on there that still need to be on my radar. So plenty to ponder, add to "not yet" lists and add to active lists. And despite having to add quite a few new next actions to my lists, I still felt relaxed and in control when I had finished - the power of GTD and the weekly review!

 

[hikerpa]

Weekly Review #2

I've been missing the past couple of weeks. Work got the better of me but today I got back on track! I got my projects back on track and completed some of my more important next actions. I missed doing my weekly review. I feel more in control now.

 

[Jenn]

WR # 4 for October (# 37 of 2014)

The last two weeks have been very busy and although I knew I desperately needed a weekly review for sanity, I just couldn't fit it in until yesterday. It definitely helped and I went home feeling like I knew what was on my plate. I will need to spend some time this weekend renegotiating commitments and getting some of my actions done as there is simply too much going on right now.

Thanks for all of the feedback on the Someday categories. I am going to try this on the weekend as well as my @computer list is up to 135 items. Simply not manageable right now.

Happy Halloween everyone, enjoy the Trick or Treating!

Jenn

 

[CJSullivan]

WR #4
I'm going out of town on Sunday, so I did a quick WR last night so I'd have plenty of time to pack, etc. I don't do a lot of business travel these days, so I don't have a routine down (but I DO have my handy-dandy Travel Checklist!!)... In addition to making sure my lists were up-to-date, and that I knew what things I needed to get done before going away, I took a quick look at my Areas of Focus and had a big a-ha (for me, anyway!)... I've been feeling "responsible" for a bunch of things in my role as co-owner of the business my husband & I run. Consequently, overwhelm has set in, and I haven't executed as well as I've wanted to on ANY of my Rosewalker-related next actions. Husband & I had a discussion, and I finally realized that, although there are many aspects to the business, I only need/should be concerned with a limited few. We redefined my role, I have much more clarity, and it's much more doable, given that I also have a 40-hour/week day job! This kind of thing is so obvious when you're looking at a large company, but when you're a company of 2 + a casual worker, it's so easy for the lines to become blurred. So glad to be finally applying some GTD principles to the running of the business as well as my own life! And I can go out of town knowing all is tied up with a bow, plastic travel folder by my side!

 

[FrDavid]

WR#4 (Oct 2014)

Great review today--I was reminded in a coaching session that I'm not using outcome thinking in the creating and naming of my projects. I went through and cleaned up my project list to make sure they were, in fact, projects!! The result was a much leaner and cleaner project list--much more attractive to me.

I'm still trying to use contexts in my system--that continues to be a growth edge for me. I have a richer context list now, so I am hoping to utilize that more in my system in the coming weeks.

 

[MikeP]

WR#4

I started this Weekly Review Friday and completed it Sunday afternoon but I'm counting it as an October WR.

Things continue to be busy which is a natural thing for this time of year but it has been compounded by still unresolved changes at work. Regardless of the final outcome I have taken the approach that I will behave as-if the changes will end up as I envision them and have taken on new roles, reports, and assignments appropriate to my vision. For this reason, and because my lists have been getting a bit stale and out of date, this WR needed to be more thorough and consequently took longer. I now feel like I have a better handle on what I need to accomplish this week and in the weeks to come.

I also noticed that my calendar is finally opening up a bit so I blocked off some time to work on a few things that I need uninterrupted time to focus on.

Mike

 

[John Forrister]

Congratulations to our Weekly Review Challenge winner for October . . . (drum roll) . . . CJSullivan! Thanks, CJ, for the amazing participation in the WR Challenge. I'll send you an email about how to select your prize.

 

[Barb]

YAY! CJ!!