9 things I do every Friday during my weekly review

Time is so precious.

I believe that managing our time intentionally is a crucial component of success, and the good news is that it’s a learnable skill.

I’m passionate about productivity. I’ve been working on my system for more than 20 years. I’ve tested many tools and concepts, and only a few have resisted time.

I could summarize my productivity system in one sentence, four habits and five tools. The weekly review is one of my four habits.

I discovered it 19 years ago with “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. Since then, I do it regularly, and it helps me live more intentionally, get clearer, and achieve many projects that were close to my heart.

1. Review my life plan/my yearly target

I open my Mind Map file, read my yearly targets, and update what I’ve done last week on them. Sometimes I progress, sometimes I regress. But I confront myself with reality and try to improve the next week.

2. Review my calendars

In my Bullet Journal, I start to review my three main goals for the week.

Have I progressed as planned?

Then I check my calendar for the last week and the next two weeks to come. I capture in my Bullet Journal the main actions to plan for the next two weeks.

It encourages me to anticipate mentally and to make space, if needed, in my schedule

3. Review my Bullet Journal

I take all my notes when I’m in a meeting on a physical notebook.

It allows me to remain focused, avoid the distractions of a computer, and retain the information better.

Every day in the morning during my daily review, I capture the important points from my journal. So I close the week also by cleaning this inbox.

4. Review my emails

5. Drafts

An app that allows me to capture and take notes very quickly on my iPhone.
Capturing without a following is a waste of time, so I treat this inbox. I send to Evernote and tag what I want to keep and retrieve.

6. Evernote

My digital memory. I have around 11,000 notes. Everything goes there.
And here, I also have an arrival file and a cabinet file.
During the weekly review, my job is to review the arrival file, tag the notes, and move them into the cabinet file.
This process ensures that I can retrieve quit every data in less than 60 seconds despite the number of notes available.

7. Incoming physical mail

I have three physical files: Incoming, ongoing and to classify.
I review and treat all of them and scan the ones I need to keep to Evernote.
I throw away the paper.

8. Nozbe

It’s my personal task manager. If an idea becomes a project, it moves from Evernote, Drafts, or my Bullet Journal to Nozbe to be executed. It works on the GTD model (Getting Things Done).
I start my weekly review in Nozbe with a template where I follow the process described above. It keeps me focused and guarantees that I handle all aspects.
In the end, I clean my Nozbe inbox and move tasks to projects with a timeline.

9. Hurrah, I’m done!

The weekly routine encompasses the sign of a valuable activity.
Like before a workout or a run, it’s often hard to start, but you always feel better after.
This is the feeling I get after the weekly review.

Dror Allouche