Doing Weekly Reviews And A Simple Template

Have you ever come across a new process or system and thought, “Why aren’t I already doing this?” That’s exactly how I felt when I came across Marie Poulin's post, where she tours her weekly agenda, planning, and review process in Notion.

Marie’s connected databases blew me away. Although I’ve ultimately built my Notion to be different from hers (I keep my tasks in Todoist, not Notion), the weekly review system she set up alongside the daily agenda has been really powerful for me.

As with all new systems and processes, implementation and adoption took time; I learned about it in April of 2022 but didn’t get into a consistent routine despite setting it up. The system clicked for me when I went back to work in early September after my sabbatical.

This year, I’ve decided to do my weekly review every Sunday as a part of my goals for the year, and it has led to a lot of other habits falling into place.

This one change in choosing to use Sunday as a time when I’ll fill out my weekly agenda has turned Sundays into a time I cherish when I am intentionally planning for the upcoming week and reflecting on the last week.

Here’s more on doing a weekly review:

This is what the top of a page in my weekly agenda database looks like. You can see it links to my weekly journal and a database of quotes I like from around the internet and from books I read.

📝 Reflecting on the last week

I have a very simple database in Notion, similar to the one Marie Poulin demonstrates in her video. In that database, I plan every week, and at the end of the week, I spend time reflecting on how that week went.

I ask myself:

• What went well?
• What didn’t go so well?
• What do you want to do differently next week?

Those questions help me reflect the most.

I also check in with myself on a few of my goals with questions like:

• How many times did you do strength training this week?
• How many times did you do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu this week?
• How many times did you meal prep this week?

And a few more related to specific goals I have for 2023.

This only takes me a few minutes. I’m writing down whatever comes to mind, sometimes in sentences and other times in bullet points. It’s a quick check-in with myself to see how I’m doing and if I might want to change how I operate next week.

📆 Planning for the week ahead

After I reflect on the week that just ended, I kick off a new item in the database and start planning for the upcoming week.

That involves choosing a quote for the week and then setting priorities for myself for work, life, and side projects.

This is a process I’ve used for a long time in various ways, but Notion has been my favorite. I used to keep a journal on my desk where I would write out weekly priorities, but after years of pretending, I’ve learned I’m just not someone who keeps a notebook by my side, and it won’t get referenced.

It’s important to me to have this high-level overview of my week because the rest of the time, I would only be looking at my task list in Todoist, so this check-in allows me to take a step back from my to-do list and look at what I’m striving towards in a larger sense for the week.

I’ve really enjoyed having dedicated time to be more intentional about my preparation, my reflections, and checking in on my goals. I’d love to hear from you — do you do a weekly reflection? Do you use Sundays to prep for the week?