The post underneath this one, dated Apr 25 2023 I just got reacquainted with a few times from people who kindly commented on it. Truth be told , I have been lost like a ship without a rudder on many levels - I have strayed so far from myself, in fact, that when the like comment come up in my email and I read it, I thought, wow, this is really interesting and insightful… 😳… I did not recognize my own voice- holy cow what a strange and disembodied feeling. It really helped snap me out of my funk and start to take the necessary climb out of the ruminating anxious place of purgatory I have holed myself up in towards creative freedom and life once more - thank you thank you for this space to express, help and heal 🩷💜
I love seeing posts like this. I especially love the drawing of what's happening in your world. Things like this help me to not feel 'weird' about how I go about getting things out of my head. I have all your books and I truly love your work! Thank you for all of it!
I do a weekly and monthly review, but I’ve only been using my planner for reference. I like the idea of checking into other areas of my life, such as writing and my notebooks. Since my mind needs compartmentalization, I wonder where you do/keep your reviews?
I think it is important to acknowledge the late Dr. Stephen Covey and Roger A. Merrill. They co-authored 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as well as First Things First. Both books predate Allen's GTD, both discuss Weekly Review/Plans. However Merrill's Quadrant 2 book was published before all the aforementioned books, and tackles Weekly Planning as well: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201098.Connections
Yes, yes, yes! I love the mind map. Weekly reviews and Monday planning create these wonderful brackets to my week (no matter what has happened in that week).
I put a slight twist on things by having three big priorities/values I'm focused on at any time and I categorize how I've spent time towards each value. So, if "spending time with family and friends" is important to me, I need to see some actions I've taken to do so.
This helps me see I'm actually doing things to support what I say is most important.
The weekly review is my core habit. I started doing it consistently in 2018 using The Full Focus Planner. Even my email freebie is a weekly review template I created because I believe more people should do it. Every week, I set three priorities to focus on next week, then review those of the past week along with the wins and challenges I had. It is a reset button for me, super important for my sanity, and a secret to achieving my goals. I love doing it so much. After I do my weekly review, I have a 1-hour phone call with my accountability partner where we share our reviews and goals.
Love this! I have a similar weekly process at work. Every Monday morning, I look at my list, notes, and calendar from the previous week, carry over any unfinished tasks, then add new ones for the week. Works great.
I have tried doing this for my personal life, but it just hasn't worked. Will have to try the mind map format and see how that goes!
I have identified that I need to be doing a weekly review, but have not started doing it. I’m super inspired by your mind map diagrams. I rarely do mind maps, but something about the visual beauty of this sings to me! I have been thinking about doing collage/ painting artwork with my plans, timelines, schedule, and this feels like a similar integration of different parts of the brain.
Weekly review is always the hardest thing for me to implement. In the best weeks, I do it Monday *and* Friday. Still working on making it a consistent practice.
I need to start this. I also need to focus in on my purpose. Prioritizing what is really important to me. I think I'm afraid of the review because I would be disappointed with where I put my attention. I do keep a night gratitude journal which often includes accomplishments for the day and occasionally a note or two of ideas that slip onto my mind as I'm processing. But a focused review will likely help me focus my daily efforts.
I am seeing possibilities in this weekly review idea, and I love brain maps, but always forget to use them. I feel like this process might help me keep track of my many interests and projects. Thanks Austin.
So, fun, not so fun fact;
The post underneath this one, dated Apr 25 2023 I just got reacquainted with a few times from people who kindly commented on it. Truth be told , I have been lost like a ship without a rudder on many levels - I have strayed so far from myself, in fact, that when the like comment come up in my email and I read it, I thought, wow, this is really interesting and insightful… 😳… I did not recognize my own voice- holy cow what a strange and disembodied feeling. It really helped snap me out of my funk and start to take the necessary climb out of the ruminating anxious place of purgatory I have holed myself up in towards creative freedom and life once more - thank you thank you for this space to express, help and heal 🩷💜
this is an evocative practice. thanks for suggesting it.
I love seeing posts like this. I especially love the drawing of what's happening in your world. Things like this help me to not feel 'weird' about how I go about getting things out of my head. I have all your books and I truly love your work! Thank you for all of it!
I do a weekly and monthly review, but I’ve only been using my planner for reference. I like the idea of checking into other areas of my life, such as writing and my notebooks. Since my mind needs compartmentalization, I wonder where you do/keep your reviews?
Okay, I need to know more about Laura Lippmans Bubble List. (I live by mind maps. They help me with overwhelm by nature of necessary simplicity.)
I think it is important to acknowledge the late Dr. Stephen Covey and Roger A. Merrill. They co-authored 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as well as First Things First. Both books predate Allen's GTD, both discuss Weekly Review/Plans. However Merrill's Quadrant 2 book was published before all the aforementioned books, and tackles Weekly Planning as well: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201098.Connections
Yes, yes, yes! I love the mind map. Weekly reviews and Monday planning create these wonderful brackets to my week (no matter what has happened in that week).
I put a slight twist on things by having three big priorities/values I'm focused on at any time and I categorize how I've spent time towards each value. So, if "spending time with family and friends" is important to me, I need to see some actions I've taken to do so.
This helps me see I'm actually doing things to support what I say is most important.
The weekly review is my core habit. I started doing it consistently in 2018 using The Full Focus Planner. Even my email freebie is a weekly review template I created because I believe more people should do it. Every week, I set three priorities to focus on next week, then review those of the past week along with the wins and challenges I had. It is a reset button for me, super important for my sanity, and a secret to achieving my goals. I love doing it so much. After I do my weekly review, I have a 1-hour phone call with my accountability partner where we share our reviews and goals.
I am loving your choice of mind maps.
Love this! I have a similar weekly process at work. Every Monday morning, I look at my list, notes, and calendar from the previous week, carry over any unfinished tasks, then add new ones for the week. Works great.
I have tried doing this for my personal life, but it just hasn't worked. Will have to try the mind map format and see how that goes!
I like Kevin’s envelope he posted in the chat: https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1000,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fmedia_upload%2Fcomment%2Ff7a6b27f-77d2-409d-9a35-7b629bd0e514%2F4a7d9661-2875-4b8e-827f-609e839ee338.jpeg
I have identified that I need to be doing a weekly review, but have not started doing it. I’m super inspired by your mind map diagrams. I rarely do mind maps, but something about the visual beauty of this sings to me! I have been thinking about doing collage/ painting artwork with my plans, timelines, schedule, and this feels like a similar integration of different parts of the brain.
Weekly review is always the hardest thing for me to implement. In the best weeks, I do it Monday *and* Friday. Still working on making it a consistent practice.
I need to start this. I also need to focus in on my purpose. Prioritizing what is really important to me. I think I'm afraid of the review because I would be disappointed with where I put my attention. I do keep a night gratitude journal which often includes accomplishments for the day and occasionally a note or two of ideas that slip onto my mind as I'm processing. But a focused review will likely help me focus my daily efforts.
I am seeing possibilities in this weekly review idea, and I love brain maps, but always forget to use them. I feel like this process might help me keep track of my many interests and projects. Thanks Austin.
I like to apply Hansei, a Japanese word for self-reflection, to David Allen’s weekly review. It means to acknowledge mistakes and ponder improvement.
If David Allen’s weekly review becomes too corporate and complex, Leo Babauta wrote a neat critique and simplification: Zen to Done. https://zenhabits.net/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-productivity-system/