Something I resisted doing for a very long time was weekly reviews. I had read about how useful they could be, and tried a few times, but didn't like doing them mainly because I tended to be overly critical about myself.
A few months ago I tried again and this time something clicked. Instead of berating myself over what I didn't accomplish, I do short journaling entries about the things I'm working on or tried that week. I make sure to write what went well and what I've enjoyed, not just where I fell short.
I've found that weekly reviews really help keep me on track because a week is long enough to have some impact but short enough that if I get derailed I can adjust course quickly without letting things go too long.
I don't try to fit any pre-prescribed structure or answer specific questions. I just write about what is relevant to me right now. This flexibility has been key.
Some examples of what I write about in my week reviews:
How am I doing with my nutrition and exercise? Am I eating enough fruit/ veg? What's my sugar intake been this week? Am I getting enough cardio and strength training? How do I feel?
How is my planning system working for me? Is there anything I can tweak or change that would work better? What am I liking about my system?
How much time did I spend on social media? What can I do instead when I'm feeling lonely or bored?
What were my accomplishments this week? What did I enjoy?
What lessons can I carry over to next week, how to get back on track, things to try.
Do you do weekly reviews?
And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything ring binder organiser related!
For very many years dating back to the 1980s, I always completed a weekly review. It was a key part of the Time Manager (TMI) system and I would spend Sunday evenings ironing my white shirts, pressing my suit trousers, polishing my shoes and sitting down with my Time Manager to review the previous week and plan for the week ahead. In those days everything was goal driven rather than less tangible “touchy feely” things. In particular, you had to review your ‘elephant tasks’. These were the big goals for the year that you had set yourself and needing to be achieved chunk by chunk over the year.
ReplyDeleteI don’t do a weekly review now but I always carry out a monthly review on the last day of the month. I review not only my goals and what was achieved but also how I felt the month went for me personally - fitness, health, family etc. I then print out a sheet of goals, aims and key dates for the next month and keep that at the very front of my organiser.
I don’t think I would go back to a weekly review now (I don’t now need to press trousers either!) but it’s a thought.