The Weekly Review Booklet

Long time ago, GTDConnect (You can get a 14 day trial) had a Magazine that they produce called the GTD Journal. Sadly they stop it, but in the 3rd issue, there was this article for me and my weekly review booklet. I ask the DavidCo people and kindly they allow me to republish here.
I choose to copy the text as well as the 2 images on the original formatting (that was really cool) , and also add the PDF version at the end for you to downloaded.

The Weekly Review Booklet

For many people, one of the most difficult things to understand the value of – and therefore to develop as a habit – is the Weekly Review. When I started working with GTD, I didn’t fully comprehend the importance of it. But once I discovered how essential the Weekly Review is, I decided to find ways to improve my system.
After many trials (it seems I found 1,000 ways how not to do the Weekly Review), I created what I call “The Weekly Review Booklet.” This booklet allows me to go through the review process page by page, keeping my focus and concentration at the same time. The booklet also helps to remove the overwhelm factor that a lot of us feel during this time. This is how it works:
Here is a copy of the Weekly Review Template Handout that’s available inside GTD Connect. I have numbered it to correspond to the steps I’ve outlined.
Each item on this list will have its own category and at least one page, for capturing content specific to it.
Now let’s begin the Weekly Review.
Step 1: Collect Loose Papers & Materials.
I have a page with all my collection systems. It is a checklist to make sure I am not missing any collection point. (Power Tip: Process the inbox the day before your Weekly Review to jump into the fun faster!)
Step 2: Get IN to zero.
David says, “Process completely all outstanding paper materials, journals and meeting notes, voicemails, dictation and emails.” You already collected materials from all your sources in Step 1.
Step 3. Empty your Head.
David states, “Put in writing and process any uncaptured new projects, action items, waiting fors, someday maybe’s, etc.” For this step, you will want to make sure that you’ve placed the Incompletion Trigger List (which includes personal and professional triggers) inside your booklet. The trigger list is available inside GTD Connect.
Step 4 thru Step 8.
These steps involve interaction with your GTD System – your Action Lists, Calendar, Waiting-for List and Project List. Make sure you have a page for each step; that way you know you cannot go faster than the step you are on.
Step 9: Review Relevant Lists
In my case, there are currently 17 lists. This number varies over time.
My current lists are as follows (again, one page per list):

  • Weekly Checklist
  • Weekly Call List
  • Work Checklist
  • Cleaning Routines @ Home (5 Lists depending on the week of the month)
  • Monthly Routines
  • Quarterly Routines
  • 20k Areas of Responsibility
  • Family Roles – Friends
  • 30k 1-2 year goals
  • 40k 3-5 year goals
  • 50k Mission
  • End of the Year Checklist

Step 10: Review Someday/Maybe
This is when the fun begins. After my entire system is in check, I now go to the last pages, the Someday/Maybe lists. At this time, there are around 20 pages for this section of the booklet. As I said before, this number will vary.

  • Presents for my Wife
  • Things to buy for me
  • Things to buy for our home
  • Games to buy
  • Book lists
  • Music & movies to buy
  • Ideas
  • Fun Stuff to Learn / Activities to Engage
  • Things to fix in our cars
  • Trips we want to do
  • Things to research
  • S/M Personal Projects
  • S/M Home
  • S/M Work Short Term (less than a month)
  • S/M Work Long Term – Clothes
  • Fun places to go
  • S/M Daughter
  • Things to buy for Daughter

Going through this booklet page by page while I am doing my Weekly Review has allowed me to make sure the habit stays and I am on the top of my game.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact me in the GTD Connect Forums: apinaud.

The Original Article:



The full PDF: Augusto’s Article GTDJournal03

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Augusto Pinaud

Augusto Pinaud es Coach de Tecnología de Productividad Bilingüe, Especialista en Nozbe Teams. Augusto trabaja con dueños y gerentes de pequeñas empresas, ejecutivos y profesionales en productividad, tecnología y mejora de procesos utilizando una variedad de tecnologías de productividad.

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