David Allen, the creator of GTD, has said that the weekly review is the most important part of the whole system. Many people use GTD for years and still feel that the system does not run smoothly, usually because they skip the weekly review.
Why is it so important? Because execution is short-sighted. When you focus on the task in front of you every day, it is easy to lose the larger view: where you are going, and which important things have been ignored.
What do you do in a weekly review?
Fifteen minutes, six steps:
Step 1, 2 minutes: empty the collection buckets. Gather everything you captured during the week -- sticky notes, Quick Notes, loose fragments still in your head -- and put them into ToToday's Quick Notes.
Step 2, 3 minutes: review what you completed last week. Look at the completed task list. This is not for self-criticism. It is to create a realistic sense of what you actually did.
Step 3, 3 minutes: clean up expired and invalid tasks. Are there overdue tasks that were never completed? Are there tasks that no longer matter and can be deleted? Cleaning keeps the list trustworthy.
Step 4, 3 minutes: review Quick Notes. Look through the notes accumulated this week. Has any idea matured enough to become a real task? Promote what is ready, and leave the rest where it is.
Step 5, 2 minutes: confirm next week's focus. What deadlines must not be missed next week? Which important but not urgent work deserves protected time?
Step 6, 2 minutes: set next week's three frogs. What are the one to three most important things next week? Decide in advance so Monday morning can start with execution instead of more thinking.
How do you keep doing it?
Put the weekly review on your calendar as a fixed event, like a meeting that cannot be casually canceled. Many people choose Friday afternoon or Sunday evening: one cup of coffee, 15 minutes, closing the week and preparing the next one.
Use ToToday's daily push feature to send a reminder at your chosen weekly review time, so you do not have to rely on memory.