Why Reviews Matter Series: Weekly Review

Welcome to another series, my friends! This is my third blog series and I’m really enjoying them. In this series, we’re going to talk about the importance of reviews. I’ve talked about monthly reviews before, but this series will focus more on why they matter. And not just monthly reviews.

We’re going to talk about a few different reviews: weekly, monthly, mid-year, and yearly.

I know, that sounds like a lot, but once you build a habit of doing these reviews, you’re going to see how beneficial they are to planning and setting goals.

For the first post in this series, we’re going to focus on weekly reviews.

Why do a weekly review?

Ask any productivity or planning expert and they’ll tell you that reviews are essential to seeing what works and what doesn’t work for getting things done. In fact, David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, highly recommends doing a weekly review.

And he’s not the only one. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, and Ryder Carroll, creator/author of the Bullet Journal Method, all comment heavily on the effects of weekly reviews. 

For me, weekly reviews allow me to see what I can do better in the coming week to either work towards my goals or stop doing things that aren’t working.

Say, for example, you wanted to write 15,000 words, but you only wrote 7,000. What kept you from getting to 15k? Did you spend too much time on social media? Were there obligations you forgot about?

We plan with good intentions, but we can’t always know how the week is going to go. That’s what weekly reviews are great for: helping you form a better plan for the new week ahead.

The questions I ask for my weekly review

#1 — What were my wins this week?

If you read my blog post about the questions I ask myself every month, you’ll recognize some of these. Basically, my weekly review is a mini version of the monthly review. I ask a few similar questions so when the time comes for my monthly review I can glance back at my weekly reviews for reference.

The first thing I write is my wins for the week. This can be anything, big or small, that I accomplished. And they don’t always need to be goal related. 

When I was planning to open my Etsy shop, a win I wrote every week was “made a printable.” Or “made two printables.” 

Some other wins I wrote in previous reviews include:

• Cleaned bedroom

• Added 10,000 words to draft #2 of manuscript

• Followed up with doctor regarding bloodwork

• Donated blood

• Decluttered laptop

As you can see, my wins are all over the place. That’s fine! I like to think of wins as something that gives you a sense of accomplishment. If it made you feel amazing, mark it down as a win.

I often keep the list of my wins to 5-8, but you can have as many as you think of. This is one section I encourage you to fill as much as possible because it’s important to see all we’ve achieved.

#2 — What’s the latest progress on my goals?

The next thing I think about is my goals and my progress toward them. I break most of my goals down into weekly tasks because it makes them more manageable. For example, when I was updating my website, I broke that down into weekly tasks and kept track of my progress in my weekly reviews.

I don’t write anything more than a sentence or two. You can even use bullet points if that’s more your style. Simply write your progress. Did you accomplish what you wanted? Did you complete one part but not the other?

By noting your progress, you’ll be able to figure out what you need to focus on next week. This is especially important for tasks that have deadlines. 

Don’t think you need to write a page's worth of progress notes — unless you want to. A sentence or two can capture what you’ve done or need to do.

#3 — What worked and what didn't work this week?

One of my favorite questions is this one: what worked and what didn’t work this week? Here is where I look back at my week ‌and figure out what habits or routines helped or hindered me.

For example, I’m working on setting better boundaries around my social media use. I have a time limit set on my Instagram for 90 minutes. Once I reach 90 minutes, I’m cut off. If I reach that limit too early in the day, that means I was on social media for too long. If I didn’t reach it before I go to bed then I did a better job at following those boundaries.

But what worked and what didn’t could be about anything. Perhaps you tried meal planning, and it worked really well. Note it down. Or you tried a different planning method that didn’t work out. Try something new next week. 

This question may take some reflection because we may not always remember what worked and what didn’t. But if you take 2 to 5 minutes to really think about it, you’ll come up with some stuff. I try to write at least three things per list. But if you only come up with one or two, that’s fine.

Finally, for the things that didn’t work, ask yourself: How am I going to change that for the coming week? You don’t have to write this down, but you can. It’ll hold you more accountable.

#4 — Personal check-in

One thing I do weekly and not monthly is a personal check-in. I divide this section into two parts: physical and mental. I ask myself how I’m feeling in both and note it down in a sentence or two.

For the physical part, I focus primarily on my movement and workout routine. How many days did I work out or get my body moving‌? If the week falls around “girl time” I note down my symptoms.

The mental section takes a little more reflection. I ask myself how I felt ‌during the week. Was I focused? Energized? Tired? Then I try to figure out why I felt those specific emotions.

Depending on my answers, I may plan to do more self-care in the coming week or do better at getting outside or working out.

If you’re new to reviews, I always suggest starting with a monthly review, though weekly reviews are good to add to your routine. 

As I noted before, weekly reviews are super helpful in planning the new week ahead. You also have fewer days to look back on, so you have a better chance of remembering things more clearly than if you only do a monthly review.

And know that you don’t have to answer these exact questions. I do always recommend including wins in your weekly review. Because we’re so often focused on what we didn’t get done, it’s important to have a list of all the things we finished.

If you’re interested in starting a weekly review, but need more help in getting started, feel free to message me or comment below. I’m happy to help in any way you need. And keep a lookout for the next series about reviews and why they matter.

You can also check out my other blog posts related to all things planning.