180: Do This for a Productive Week

Dave Stachowiak: Coaching for Leaders In the book Getting Things Done*, past guest David Allen first popularized the practice of a weekly review. In this episode, I share my own process for the weekly review, so that you can incorporate the actions that best work for you. Key Points 1. Block Time I complete my weekly review either Sunday evening or early Monday morning. Pick a time that will work consistently in your schedule. 2. Record What Worked I don’t have an issue remembering what didn’t work, so I discipline myself to write down what did work last week. That way, I recognize strengths. 3. Review Goals I do a full read of the annual goals I created at the beginning of the year, so I know where I am headed. 4. Determine Next Actions I decide the next action for each annual goal to advance me closer. 5. Flag 3-5 Actions I pick the 3-5 actions (fewer is better) than I will commit to complete this week. I leave the rest of them for another week. 6. Remove Flags from Last Week If there are still flagged items remaining from last week (often the case) I remove them if they are not already on this week’s list. This is an administrative step. 7. Review Projects in OmniFocus I review all my projects in OmniFocus* for important tasks that might need to be added to the week. 8. Review Habits and Set Focus I review my daily habits on Coach.me for the last week to see where I did well and where I fell short. Then, I pick a focus habit for the week so I can realign with one I’ve been missing. I write it on my office board. 9. Review Calendar for 14 Days Looking ahead to just this week isn’t good enough and I won’t think to look to the following week until Friday. Reminding myself to do this is key. 10. Review Tasks for 7 Days I review all my tasks in the OmniFocus* forecast view, just to be sure I’m aware of busier days ahead. 11. Block Time I schedule or block time that I need to be doing something (like a client meeting) if not already booked. I work hard to minimize this to only things I must do at a certain time. Download My Weekly Review Checklist Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.