What does your monthly/yearly review look like?

[SoResolute]

Hi everyone,

After doing GTD for 4 months, I noticed that the only way I manage to do the weekly review consistently is when I don't take too long. As soon as it takes more than 1,5 hours, I get demotivated to do it every week and postpone it, which makes that the system does not really work anymore. I'm ok with that, after trial and error I now have a nice checklist for my weekly review that let's me do it within 1,5 hours. But I also realize that I should have a reliable monthly and yearly system to let it work. I would love to know what your systems look like to get some inspiration for my checklists.

Things that I'm thinking of:

• Taking a good look at my Later/Maybe list, getting rid off the tasks and projects that I no longer want to do. (In my weekly review I only briefly check if there's anything that should be transferred to current projects)
• Taking a good look at my Areas (Family, Friends, Students, Marketing, Creative projects, etc.) to see if I should add or remove any areas.
• Maybe doing a little brainstorming/mindmapping on where I'm at in life and where I want to go. This feels like something I should do once or twice a year.

I'm looking forward to your input!

 

[Wilson Ng]

I distributed my weekly review throughout the week. I would do 20-30 minutes of inbox clearing from my various inboxes (emails, social media DMs, physical inbox, post office box, etc.).

During my weekly review, I would note certain tasks as 2-minute tasks and list them down. I don't do it during the weekly review because I might go down new rabbit holes and won't get back to the weekly review. Every day, I'll set a time block just to work on a bunch of 2-minute tasks.

The weekly review sets me up for the next week. I look at all my projects and checklists and assemble a plan of tasks/projects that I want to work on next week. I choose 2 Big Rock projects and a 5-15 tasks that I want to complete next week.

It was the inbox processing and the 2-minute rule that was making my weekly review extraordinarily long. Cutting those up into time blocks every day helped to cut into the backlog as well as start to process new projects/tasks/work.

I look at currently active projects during the weekly review. The maybe/later projects are looked at once a month for me. If I finish a current project, I can quickly scan and activate the next project that was in the maybe/later list.

During the monthly review, I do look hard at these "on hold" projects. Some projects may have finally died of neglect and are no longer relevant. Some may need a new time block for me to flesh out with more planning, refinement, goal re-adjustments, etc. Is it still important? Did the goals change? Is there a time period where I can fit an on hold project in? Most importantly, it's important to delete projects that are no longer important to me.

 

[mcogilvie]

I think the problem with scheduled monthly and yearly reviews is that as your horizon widens, it gets harder to find a routine that reliably produces insights. I recently realized that one of my larger projects was actually a 2-year goal and was much easier to handle that way. I don’t know how to schedule that insight. That said, there are lots of yearly review protocols floating around, so I would pick something that speaks to you now. Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t work as well the following year.

 

[Wilson Ng]

One thing I like to do is to create a checklist. I looked at the official GTD weekly review and adapted it for my own situation. Use an outliner, spreadsheet, or word processor and create a checklist for yourself. Over time, I found that I was skipping some items in the weekly review because I didn't need to see them every week. Some of the items moved on to my monthly review.

I reflected on creating a checklist to help automate my weekly and monthly review. I don't worry if I missed a step. I just go down the checklist every week or every month. This helped speed up my review.

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[Oogiem]

Things that I'm thinking of:

• Taking a good look at my Later/Maybe list, getting rid off the tasks and projects that I no longer want to do. (In my weekly review I only briefly check if there's anything that should be transferred to current projects)
• Taking a good look at my Areas (Family, Friends, Students, Marketing, Creative projects, etc.) to see if I should add or remove any areas.
• Maybe doing a little brainstorming/mindmapping on where I'm at in life and where I want to go. This feels like something I should do once or twice a year.

I do regular quarterly reviews at the solstices and equinoxes.

Mine is based on a conglomeration of tips from MacSparky's Personal Retreat, the 12 Week year, Some stuff from Mike Schmidt on Personal Retreats, some things from the Menwar Book Black Sheep and GTD Higher Horizons. I start mine on the solstice/equinox and figure it will take the week.

First day is reading my Personal Statement of Purpose and reviewing what my core values are. I sometimes update my eulogy (what I want to be known by or for) or other exrecises. I have a stack of things that sort of fit into this are and I just pick out and do the ones that resonate with me at that time. I think about the future and try to map out a perfect week 1 5 and 10 years in the future.

Next couple of days is where the real work begins. I look at my areas of focus and make any adjustments to them. I typically start with one AOF and first look at if it is still important. Then if it is I reflect and document on how I did in that area last quarter, what I want to do in that area next quarter and how I want that area to look like in light of what I see as my perfect week in the future times. I have a document that has each AOF, overall goals for that AOF, specific time goals and a bunch of someday/maybe things related to that goal. Some of the S/M things may go away and others might get added. I have 8 main AOFs with several related sub areas. For example Community Involvement is an AOF and there are sections for the Historical Society, the Ditch Company and so on in it. I look at wht I accomplished in each are and then look forward to what i want to accomplish. This part usualy takes 2-3 days.

Then I go through my task manager system. I have quarterly sets of projects that can only be started in a specific quarter so I first make sure that last quarter's projects got done. If not I try to pinpoint why and either make them a high priority for me to finish or decide they can move into Someday/Maybe. Some projects are parts of ongoing larger outcomes but need to go into hibernation for the next quarter. Those ones I document and then move them and all their project support materials back into my reference system. In my reference system I have a bunch of S/M lists based loosly on AIFs but also that have expanded to cover specific areas. I read every single one of them and delete projects I no longer care about, of the ones that I do care and that can be done in the coming quarter I decide if I will really have time to work on them or not and if so I move them into my task manager with their supporting reference material. I do this individually for each AOF. This usually takes 1-2 days.

Then I go back through and look at the plan. It's always much more than I can realistically do. So I look at all the things I want to start or work on and decide which ones will get moved back into the someday/maybe pile. I comfort myself knowing that if I really get everything done on my lists I can always add more so I try to be as ruthless as possible in this pass. I try yo make detailed measuremnts on no more than 2-3 areas per 12WY stuff and decide what AOFs will be on maintenance mode this season. This takes about a day. The final step in this section is to be sure that the final set of current active projects have specfic next actions and are really ready to go.

Then I go back over and read and reflect on the process. I clean up my notes and file them for next time. I reaffirm my statement of purpose.

Now when I say a day or days I am not working on the project all day for that time. I spend 2-3 hours each day during this review. I know people who actually go to someplace different and basically do the same process over 2 very intensive days but that has never been possible for me.

 

[SoResolute]

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your replies. I read them, reread them a few times to let things sink in and I found some very useful input, so thank you so much!

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Thanks for your input. I do have some nice checklists for daily and weekly reviews, and just like you I found out that the 2 minute rule does not really work for me during these reviews, so I mark items in Things3 (the task app that I use) as "less than 5 minutes" and do them when I have a bit of time in between appointments and such.
What I want to ask you: you mentioned that you choose a few "rock projects" and some other tasks during your weekly review. I've done this in the past as well, but it feels a little contradicting with the GTD-methodology, which I believe is less about assigning tasks to certain weeks/days, but more about a natural flow of working with the tasks that are in your system, based on context etc. I just feel a little overwhelmed by how much there is in my system, so something in me wants to do it like you, but in the past this did not work too well for me since it left me with a constant feeling of "not doing enough" since I would always choose more tasks than I would be able to do, also because other urgent things would pop up during the week. This is why GTD felt like a good solution. How do you deal with this?

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I get what you are saying. I'm not necessarily looking for a supervised checklist for the quarterly and yearly review, but more for something that I can use as starting point and that I can adjust to my needs at the time. For example, my weekly review checklist has also changed throughout the months, but without it I would not have done a weekly review.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to write this thorough reply! I really had to read it a few times, and I retrieved a lot of valuable input from it. I googled "The twelve week year", and although I did not read the book, I did read some valuable blogposts on it and was able to make a draft set up for my quarterly review. Also, taking a week to go over everything and set up new goals, awesome idea! I love how you go back to your plan and have a realistic look at it, since I often make the mistake of expecting too much in too little time.

 

[SoResolute]

So, based on everything that was in my mind and the awesome input from the replies, I came to the following draft checklists (from long term to short term). Love to hear if you have any feedback on this.

Yearly review

1. Review Areas of Focus: should I change, add, combine or remove any areas?
2. Reflect on last year, with the help of quarterly reflections (see next checklist).
3. Think about the future: write out the perfect week in 1, 5 and 10 years from now, with areas of focus in mind.
4. Go Through Later/Maybe lists and do a deep review: which of these tasks, projects and ideas are no longer relevant and should be removed?
5. Clearing Archive and Reference materials

Quarterly review

1. For each Area of Focus: reflect back on the last quarter and set goals for the new quarter. Use Later/Maybe lists for this step as well.
2. Put projects and tasks in Things3 (my task manager), according to the goals for each area.
3. Look realistically at the list with projects and tasks, and remove some back to Later/Maybe (or maybe even to a specific list with bonus projects/tasks for this quarter, if it turns out that there is time left to pick up other projects/tasks).

Monthly review

1. Reflecting on the quarterly goals. How is it going so far? Are the goals still realistic, given the remaining time in the quarter? This also depends on unexpected projects that might have popped up. If necessary, remove some projects/tasks back to Later/Maybe (or the specific list with bonus projects/tasks for this quarter that I mentioned above)

Weekly review

1. Collect all paper forms, letters, etc. and scan them into my digital archive. Add an action if needed in Things3.
2. Look at calendar, last week and next week, and put any actions that might pop up in Things3.
3. Check "Waiting for" tag to see if I should send out any reminders or put actions in Things3.
4. Go trough all projects and actions that are active right now, check if everything is still lining up with quarterly goals. Remove projects/tasks to Later/Maybe if they are not relevant right now.
5. Also check deadlines and mark any tasks that have to be done this week as "urgent". (I try to be really strict with this, so my rule is: only actions that absolutely have to be done this week because otherwise I'll get in trouble, are urgent. So payment deadlines for example, but also getting a present for my friend who's birthday is coming Thursday.)

Daily review

1. Look at calendar for today and coming days
2. Clear all (digital) inboxes
3. Check Things3 to see if there are any tasks that must be done today
4. Look at my daily routine. (I need a lot of structure in daily life due to mental health, so I have a written out daily routine that I look at every day, and that I adjust about once per month based on my personal needs)
5. Write journal entry on how things are going in general (I use this one more for personal goals, as a little trigger to keep my focus on the right things.)

 

[Wilson Ng]

. I've done this in the past as well, but it feels a little contradicting with the GTD-methodology, which I believe is less about assigning tasks to certain weeks/days, but more about a natural flow of working with the tasks that are in your system, based on context etc. I just feel a little overwhelmed by how much there is in my system, so something in me wants to do it like you, but in the past this did not work too well for me since it left me with a constant feeling of "not doing enough" since I would always choose more tasks than I would be able to do, also because other urgent things would pop up during the week. This is why GTD felt like a good solution. How do you deal with this?

I use GTD as a guideline. This is the system that worked best for David Allen. I tried many of the GTD principles and tweaked it to fit my personality/work style/whatever-you-call-it. Take the general principles and see what fits you. Some people are all-digital. I work better with a hybrid using analog and digital. It doesn't mean it's wrong and it doesn't follow GTD "canon." There are things in David Allen's workflow that might not apply to me.

I used my task manager, OmniFocus, as my second brain. It holds all of my projects and tasks. I'll look at it during my end-of-day daily review and choose 3-5 tasks to work on tomorrow. I put that on an index card for tomorrow. If I can get at least 3 tasks done tomorrow, I'm a happy person. I do realize some days/weeks will just be a complete Charlie Foxtrot and I won't get anything done. That's just life. I get back on the horse the next day.

I use the monthly review to set 3 outcomes (Big Rocks)I'd like to realize or want to happen in the next month. I create my projects with all the next actions for each Big Rock project if I haven't done so already. More often than not, I'll have a bunch of Someday projects that I'll want to put on the front burner. Everything else are back burner projects and are set to "Someday" mode. I'm not working on them but I'll consider working on these projects someday.

Sometimes I'm not working on a "context" such as "communications" (communicating with other people through different media) or "office" (anything that I need to do while I'm at my desk). I might decide to focus time on a Big Rock project. I focus on the next action that is in a Big Rock. It might be something like "Complete my 1040 taxes by April 15th". I'll have to go to my pile of receipts and scan those into PDF documents. Then I'll need to call my tax preparer to see if there are any new documents he may need from me. Next, I'll go back to my computer and create an Excel sheet listing all of my expenses. I'll have a whole bunch of next actions just for this one Big Rock. I'm not concerned about the other Big Rocks during this time block.

GTD-methodology, which I believe is less about assigning tasks to certain weeks/days, but more about a natural flow of working with the tasks that are in your system, based on context etc.

This is where GTD hasn't helped me. Time blocking my tasks has helped me tremendously. I have a 90 minute time slot open on Monday mornings. I'm gonna look at what is in my task manager and decide to do a whole bunch of communication tasks that includes phone calls, replying to email, video chatting people, and replying to social media DMs. If time blocking doesn't work, something else might fill in the gaps which GTD doesn't take care of. I'm also a fan of Pomodoros where I work in 30 minute bursts until time is up.

I just feel a little overwhelmed by how much there is in my system, so something in me wants to do it like you, but in the past this did not work too well for me since it left me with a constant feeling of "not doing enough" since I would always choose more tasks than I would be able to do, also because other urgent things would pop up during the week.

I'll never get enough done. But if I choose just 3-5 important next actions for tomorrow's MIT (Most Important Tasks), I'll consider it a successful planning session. If I can get least 2-3 MITs done tomorrow, I'll feel good. I choose just this small number because Life has a propensity of getting in the way of all our plans. My wife suddenly came up with a "brilliant" idea that gets added to my "Honey Do" list. Suddenly, that's the most important task despite my chagrin.

Or I might have to pick up my kid from school because she threw up during lunch because she ate some bad food at the cafeteria.

I have to make room and allowances for the things that Life throws at me.

There might be days when it's a complete Charlie Foxtrot and I can't even get to my 3-5 MITs. I'm OK with that. S#!t happens sometimes. I'll do my end-of-day daily review and recalibrate for tomorrow.

As long as I'm chipping away every day at my tasks and projects, I'm good.

 

[SoResolute]

I use GTD as a guideline. This is the system that worked best for David Allen. I tried many of the GTD principles and tweaked it to fit my personality/work style/whatever-you-call-it. Take the general principles and see what fits you. Some people are all-digital. I work better with a hybrid using analog and digital. It doesn't mean it's wrong and it doesn't follow GTD "canon." There are things in David Allen's workflow that might not apply to me.

I used my task manager, OmniFocus, as my second brain. It holds all of my projects and tasks. I'll look at it during my end-of-day daily review and choose 3-5 tasks to work on tomorrow. I put that on an index card for tomorrow. If I can get at least 3 tasks done tomorrow, I'm a happy person. I do realize some days/weeks will just be a complete Charlie Foxtrot and I won't get anything done. That's just life. I get back on the horse the next day.

I use the monthly review to set 3 outcomes (Big Rocks)I'd like to realize or want to happen in the next month. I create my projects with all the next actions for each Big Rock project if I haven't done so already. More often than not, I'll have a bunch of Someday projects that I'll want to put on the front burner. Everything else are back burner projects and are set to "Someday" mode. I'm not working on them but I'll consider working on these projects someday.

Sometimes I'm not working on a "context" such as "communications" (communicating with other people through different media) or "office" (anything that I need to do while I'm at my desk). I might decide to focus time on a Big Rock project. I focus on the next action that is in a Big Rock. It might be something like "Complete my 1040 taxes by April 15th". I'll have to go to my pile of receipts and scan those into PDF documents. Then I'll need to call my tax preparer to see if there are any new documents he may need from me. Next, I'll go back to my computer and create an Excel sheet listing all of my expenses. I'll have a whole bunch of next actions just for this one Big Rock. I'm not concerned about the other Big Rocks during this time block.




This is where GTD hasn't helped me. Time blocking my tasks has helped me tremendously. I have a 90 minute time slot open on Monday mornings. I'm gonna look at what is in my task manager and decide to do a whole bunch of communication tasks that includes phone calls, replying to email, video chatting people, and replying to social media DMs. If time blocking doesn't work, something else might fill in the gaps which GTD doesn't take care of. I'm also a fan of Pomodoros where I work in 30 minute bursts until time is up.




I'll never get enough done. But if I choose just 3-5 important next actions for tomorrow's MIT (Most Important Tasks), I'll consider it a successful planning session. If I can get least 2-3 MITs done tomorrow, I'll feel good. I choose just this small number because Life has a propensity of getting in the way of all our plans. My wife suddenly came up with a "brilliant" idea that gets added to my "Honey Do" list. Suddenly, that's the most important task despite my chagrin.

Or I might have to pick up my kid from school because she threw up during lunch because she ate some bad food at the cafeteria.

I have to make room and allowances for the things that Life throws at me.

There might be days when it's a complete Charlie Foxtrot and I can't even get to my 3-5 MITs. I'm OK with that. S#!t happens sometimes. I'll do my end-of-day daily review and recalibrate for tomorrow.

As long as I'm chipping away every day at my tasks and projects, I'm good.

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailes reply. I like how you describe how you tweaked GTD to your own personal needs. I first read GTD about 12 years ago, when I was still a student. I implemented a lot of great things from it, but last year I felt like optimizing my system. I read the new GTD version and I felt like I should go "radical" with it in order to make it work. But after a few months of practicing GTD again, I can say that that just does not work. It is exactly like what you are saying: GTD might be a 100% fit for David Allen, but every human is different. So after a few months, my weekly review is already different from what GTD prescribes. So yeah, thank you for pointing out that it's ok to make the system work for you instead of holding on rigidly to a system that is not a 100% fit.

Also, I really like your mild approach to your goals, assigning 3-5 tasks to your day and still keeping in mind that life has a way of not going the way you thought it would and accepting that. Great inspiration that I will implement in my checklists, thank you.