How to do a 10-minute weekly review

Why review once a week

Even if you use your list every day, you mostly look at what is due today. Meanwhile, items you finished but never checked off, items that no longer matter, and items with a deadline creeping closer slowly pile up. Once you stop trusting the list, you stop looking at it.

So once a week, look over the whole list from top to bottom. In Getting Things Done, David Allen calls this the "Weekly Review" and treats it as essential to keeping the whole system working. His full version is longer; here it is condensed into something you can do in 10 minutes.

Four steps in 10 minutes

1. Empty what you jotted down (about 2 minutes). Gather the notes from the past week: notebook pages, sticky notes, notes on your phone, papers you were handed. Move anything you need to act on into your list. Write down anything still nagging at you, too. Then throw away or file the notes you have emptied.
2. Clear what is done and what is no longer needed (about 2 minutes). Check off items you finished but never marked. Also look at items that no longer need doing and items you have not touched in weeks. If something has sat there for a month or more, decide whether you will really do it or whether it can go.
3. Check against your calendar (about 3 minutes). Look back over last week's calendar for anything left unfinished or any follow-ups that came out of it. Then look at next week and add anything that needs preparing: documents, things to bring, people to contact. If you are waiting on a reply from someone, check on it here.
4. Give next week's tasks a time (about 3 minutes). For each task you plan to do next week, pick a day and a time when you are actually free, not one that clashes with a meeting or a commute. Turning "later" into a set time covers how to choose.

Some weeks you will not get through all four in 10 minutes. That is fine. Steps 1 and 4 alone make the coming week much clearer.

Look back at what you finished

Spend one last minute on what you got done this week. If you keep a done list, just read it. If not, look at the items you checked off and at your calendar.

When all you see is what is left, it is easy to feel that nothing moved. Looking back often shows you finished more than you thought. You may also notice patterns, such as "this took longer than expected" or "that time slot always gets taken", which help you choose better times next week.

The key to keeping it up: a fixed, repeating time

A review you plan to do "when I have time" rarely happens. The simplest fix is to put it on your calendar as a repeating event on a set day and time.

• Sunday evening or Monday morning works well. Reviewing at the turn of the week makes it easy to line up with next week's plans. Friday afternoon, as a way to close out the work week, is another good option.
• Make it repeat weekly. In the iPhone Calendar app, set the event's Repeat option to Every Week. A weekly reminder works just as well.
• Decide on a place, too. "Sunday at 9:00 PM, on the sofa, after making tea" is easier to start than "sometime on Sunday".
• If you tend to miss notifications, use something that keeps ringing. A notification that sounds once and disappears can let the time pass unnoticed. See how to make a reminder that rings until you stop it.

If you skip a week, do not dwell on it. Take 10 minutes the following week and the list is usable again.

Weekly review checklist

A short version to keep at hand:

• Gathered notes, sticky notes and papers, and moved tasks into the list
• Wrote down anything still on my mind
• Removed finished items and items no longer needed
• Looked back at last week's calendar for loose ends
• Looked at next week's calendar and added what needs preparing
• Checked on anything I am waiting for from others
• Gave next week's tasks a day and a time
• Looked back at what I finished this week

Summary

A weekly review is 10 minutes that makes your list trustworthy again. Empty your notes, clear what is done, check against your calendar and set times, then look back at what you finished. Repeat it at the same day and time each week and the list stays much easier to use. Start by adding a 10-minute repeating event for next Sunday evening.

Sources

• David Allen, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (revised edition, 2015) — publisher's page (Penguin Random House)
• David Allen Company, "The GTD Weekly Review" — gettingthingsdone.com