How To Do Weekly Planning And Review

How to weekly plan and do a week in review

I started planning using a paper planner and wall calendar I kept using it for some years before I stopped

then started using just a plain notebook to plan my year & month & day.

I can’t remember if I came across a digital calendar or not but either way,

I am sure that I didn’t digest the idea of using a digital calendar at first.

while using a to-do list for daily & weekly planning first did it on paper

after that, I used a digital one

until I switched completely to using a digital calendar to time block my days

while I still use a notebook to plan the month, the quarter and the year

It was an evolution that started when I was in college and kept developing

no matter where you are and what you use to plan you can always improve if what you do doesn’t work for you

Now as I said I use a digital calendar to block my time and a notebook

applying a method called power planning that I learned from Sam @perfectionsm project on IG & podcast

through her group coaching program called PGSD

What is a weekly review & weekly planning?

Is the process in which you sit down at the end of each week

to assess the previous week,

to understand what happened in it

to make changes in the following week

also, is Preparing for the upcoming week

so you are ready to hit the ground running as Monday rolls in

Why is weekly planning & review important and you must do it

It serves as a guide, as data that will help you improve instead of trying hard without data

reflecting on what happened and not going to help you collect data

about yourself and the business and,

with it you can make changes and try new ways to improve, try new ways to reach your goal

How to weekly review

here are the journaling promotes I use to do mine and you can adopt them in any way you like

1-what did work 

not only list the things you did but also Write the thoughts that lead to doing that

Example: I started the live training series to launch my coaching program even though when the time come I was tired.

I was thinking that” I am doing it no matter what, I am not backing in in my word no matter who shows up or not “

2- what didn’t work

not only list the things you did but also Write the thoughts that lead to not doing that

Example: I didn’t get to engage on social media as I planned which is to do it 5 days a week when I think about it.

it’s because I kept pushing doing it to later in the day, doing other tasks in its time

(maybe I need to change when I do it and try different times to find the best time to do it for me) 

3-what will you do differently next week to improve

 Practical items to help you get better and get things done

Example: try doing the engagement around 4-5 pm when I wake up from the nap,

increase my stamina to work by scheduling two tasks back to back

Tools & Software you need:

1-pen

2-notebook

3-digital calendar

4-Your monthly planner (to review your goals and what you need to get done and place it to the week

5-timer (if you need accountability and constraints, highly recommend it)

How to weekly plan

The following are the 10 Steps to planning that are based on the planning method I follow which is power planning created by Sam @ perfectionism project

Note: this process can take up to 1 hour or 2 so block 1 hour or 2 hours to get started

1-brain dump the tasks that you want to do next week

Write everything that you want to do don’t filter preferably do it on paper

2-identify the needle mover tasks

eliminate,delegate,automate

-eliminate non-needle mover, delegate tasks to others on your team or to yourself next week, automate using software and batching to repeated tasks

-look at the list which one is important, which one you’ll not do, which one you’ll delegate,

which one isn’t important at all, and which one you will do at another time/week

(clue: needle mover tasks are the scary tasks)

tip: Categorize tasks into long, quick, short

so, you can batch similar tasks together when scheduling if you choose to batch

which I highly recommend

to improve mental focus by reducing mental friction that happens as a result of switching between different tasks

3-turn the tasks you chose into action and result-oriented items and make them as clear and precise as possible

Example: work on a website (which is vague, confusing, overwhelming and no clear action to take)

instead change that into:

choosing a theme for the website & buy it, write the about me page, fill the home page

4-what other commitments in life that you have

when planning take into consideration other things that happen in your life

eg. your job, your family, your downtime, your hobby time, workout time, meals time…etc.

Place them/schedule them on the calendar first before you schedule the business tasks

5-place the business tasks into the calendar now

after you’ve done that, now is the time to plan your biz tasks.

but before you do that take some time to think about your energy during the day

and how it fluctuates during the day note this then start scheduling according to that

6- don’t forget to add clean rest

schedule specific time on your calendar that you dedicate to rest, relax, take a break

my coach says to schedule more than I would but I schedule two slots for it as of now maybe in the future I’d increase it who knows

I know you would say there’s no time for that but from experience,

you’ll need it otherwise you’ll take it in the form of procrastination

the benefit is you can scroll IG, and watch youtube without guilt

then get back to work recharged

7-identify obstacles that may come up whether they are external or internal and write solutions to when it happens what will you do

Use the previous week as a clue to know & if it’s your first time>>> guess if you ask yourself the question your brain will give you an answer

so, don’t skip it!!!

Examples of external obstacles: family emergency, someone coming up without notice, someone sick

Examples of internal  obstacles: these are thoughts that lead you to procrastination, overthinking, confusion, overwhelm

eg.” I don’t feel like it, I don’t want to do it now,…etc”

solutions would be like: a different thought you can think of instead or specific action that you will do like adding buffer time on your calendar

8-look at your calendar and ask yourself if is it workable/doable

Meaning= is the time I chose will be sufficient?, is this slot of time the right one for this task

or for me in terms of energy?, am I going to be able to do it at this time or not?

Project yourself into that day and see if where you placed things,

the way you planned them now will you be able to do it or not at that time

and that includes

making things workable day to day through making changes to your calendar as the day goes by

We tend to focus on things being ideal when we plan

that’s why making changes and observing your behaviour as you go in each day is important

to get better at planning and getting things done as a result

9-time blocking/scheduling with flexibility 

meaning don’t be rigid with your plans. move things around on your calendar

as the day goes and make changes as you see fit when at the moment of each day

being open to making changes to your schedule and adjusting instead of throwing the towel

10- commit to getting everything done

Set your intention, say or write them on paper:

i commit to doing everything I planned while being kind to myself too” or something similar

or you can ask yourself if are you committed to getting everything done. then affirm that by your answer

Now you’re done, yay!!!

This process is simple but it will need commitment and patience

and work to be able to do it and apply it to your life.

It will take time because your brain will find it too much at the beginning but you’ll get used to it.

take it step by step

To your success

Wafaa

References

Episode 342: How To Plan Properly As A Perfectionist Using Power Planning