How to do a Weekly Review in Under an Hour - Zen Habits

By Leo Babauta · Process your inbox daily, and review your next-action lists daily · Before your review (either that morning, or the day before) make sure your ... HowtodoaWeeklyReviewinUnderanHour ByLeoBabauta It’soneofthereasonsweputoffGTD’sWeeklyReview:becauseitcantakesodarnlong.Manyofmyreviewshavecomeinat2-3hours,andifIgetinterruptedanumberoftimes,evenlonger.Whensomethingtakessolong,andwearesobusywithotherprojects,nowondermanypeopleskipthiscriticalcomponent. I’mheretosaythatitdoesn’thavetotakethatlong. IrecentlypostedthattheWeeklyReviewisthekeytobothGTDandtoachievingyourgoals.Thatbeingsaid,ifyouareabusyperson,it’skeythatyouareabletogetthiscriticalcomponentdoneinunderanhour,oreven30minutesifpossible. Itcanbedone.Here’show: Processyourinboxdaily,andreviewyournext-actionlistsdaily.Trytogetyourinboxdowntozerobytheendofeachday—youdon’thavetodoeverythingintheinbox,butyoushouldgothroughitandforeachitem,trash,delegate,file,orputitonato-dolist(see3StepsToaPermanentlyClearDesk).Youshouldalsoreviewyournext-actionlistsatleastonceaday,checkingoffcompleteditems,addingnewthings,deletingunnecessarythings.Trytogetintothisdailyhabitifpossible.Ifyouneglectthisstep,donotstop—itwilljustmakethereviewalittlelonger,butyoucanstilldoitinunderanhour. Beforeyourreview(eitherthatmorning,orthedaybefore)makesureyourinboxisdowntozero.Ifyouhaven’tbeenkeepingitemptyallweek,wellatleastdoitthisonce,rightbeforethereview.Itwillsavealotoftimeduringtheactualreview.Thisincludesyouremailinbox,btw.(SeeEmailZen:ClearOutYourInbox) Clearoffyourdesk,ifyouhaven’talready.Aclearworkspaceisimportanttominimizingdistractions. Closealldistractions,andtellpeopleyouarenottobedisturbedforanhour.Closeyouremail(inboxshouldbeempty),yourblogreader,games,anythingthatisn’tnecessaryforthereview. Haveachecklistready.Iprintedabunchofchecklistsfortheweeklyreview—allthestepsofthereview,andthechecklistfortheminddump.(Seetheendofthisarticleforlinks.) Focusonthereview,andplowthroughit.Youneedtogetintothezone.TherearetimeswhenIamwritinganarticle,andIjustcrankitout.Therearetimeswhenthereare200+unreadblogpostsinmyGoogleReader,andIcancrankthroughthemin20minutes.Dothisforyourreview.Justcrank.Donotletyourselfgetdistracted.Justcrank! Rewardyourselfwhenyouaredone.Ahhh.Thesatisfactionofacompletedreviewisunmatchedexceptperhapsbythingsthatshouldonlybedonebyyoursignificantother. Update:Byrequest,herearelinkstothechecklistsImentionedinStep5above: WeeklyReviewchecklist:Davidco[freepdfdownload,butyouneedtoregister];alternatively,tryMineZonewiki[scrolldowntoWeeklyReview] MindSweeptriggerslist:43Folders[takendirectlyfromthebook] IprintboththesechecklistsoutformyWeeklyReview(Ihaveastackoftheminmydesk). Previouspost:Top10ProductivityHacks–#9 Nextpost:Top10ProductivityHacks–#8