Here’s my weekly review method for consistently crushing my to-do list

Your productivity system needs regular review to make sure you’re on track and moving toward your goals. Implementing weekly reviews can help you crush your to-do list and stay organized.

What is a weekly review and why you should do it

The weekly review is an effective productivity habit that helps you look back on the previous week, reflect on your progress, and use the insights to plan for the upcoming week. It means setting aside some time each week to review your goals, tasks and priorities and improve your workflow. Although popularized by David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) method, the weekly review fits seamlessly into any productivity system.

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Here are some of the benefits of making weekly reviews part of your routine:

• Weekly reviews help you analyze your week and spot recurring patterns.
• Weekly reviews help you recognize and celebrate successes.
• Weekly reports provide an objective view of the upcoming week and allow you to make better decisions about prioritizing tasks and resolving potential conflicts in a timely manner.
• Identifying bottlenecks or inefficient processes can help you improve your workflow and make each week run smoother than the last.

Weekly reports are highly customizable as you can customize them to fit your productivity system as well as your personal and professional goals. Here is my step-by-step weekly review process:

Choose a consistent day and time

Consistency is key when it comes to successfully performing weekly checks. Choosing a specific day and time will ensure that it becomes a habit and a seamless part of your routine. But more importantly, it fits your schedule and allows you to maintain consistency. Here are some suggestions to help you decide which day might be best for you:

Over the weekend: Sunday evening

I do my weekly review every Sunday at 6pm. Sunday offers a natural transition between resting from the previous week and preparing for the week ahead. Plus, with the week behind me, I have all the information I need to approach Monday with clarity.

End of work week: Friday afternoon

Friday afternoon can be ideal if your weekly review primarily revolves around work tasks or goals. Ending the work week with reviews allows you to reflect on what you’ve accomplished and look forward to what’s next, effectively wrapping up the week. Plus, it provides a psychological end to the work week, allowing you to fully disconnect over the weekend knowing you’ve already planned ahead.

Whatever your preference, make it a priority to do your weekly review on the same day and time each week. You can set recurring reminders for your weekly review in your preferred task management app. I organize my to-do lists and set up a review process in the Reminders app.

Clean up your digital workspaces

Digital workspaces (aka inboxes) can quickly become chaotic without a regular review process, and one of the most valuable parts of my weekly review is cleaning up these areas. My weekly overview allows me to go through all my digital workspaces and organize them to start the week with a clear mind.

This is how I review my digital workspaces:

emails

I’ll start with my email inbox. I’m going through my messages from last week to see if any of them can be turned into actionable tasks. This also includes answering emails that I may have missed during the week. Additionally, if you use internal communication tools like Slack, you can apply the same process to your messages there.

Calendar

Next, I look at my calendar, pay attention to follow-ups for past events, reschedule if necessary, and scan for upcoming meetings to make sure I’m prepared. Having a bird’s eye view of my schedule helps me anticipate what’s coming up and leaves fewer surprises during the week.

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My note-taking app includes everything from meeting notes to article highlights. I’m often in a rush when creating these notes, so they can end up messy. My weekly review might include sorting through action items from meeting agendas, organizing citations from articles and books, and reviewing notes I’ve made through an interstitial journal.

View project lists, backlogs, and long-term goals

A project is a set of related subtasks that work towards a specific goal. For example, a marketing campaign for a new product usually involves several sub-tasks, such as creating social media posts, designing graphics, and planning email campaigns.

During this part of my weekly review, I confirm that each project has at least one immediate next action, so there is always a clear path forward. If a project gets stuck—perhaps because a task depends on someone else—I set a reminder to continue at a specific time. This exercise ensures that my current projects support my long-term goals.

The Someday/Moybe list or backlog is where I capture ideas, projects, or goals that I’d like to pursue but aren’t ready to commit to yet. This includes any aspirations, interests or potential projects that do not require immediate action, such as visiting a particular place or learning a new language.

During my weekly review, I scan my Sometimes/Maybe list to see if anything seems relevant enough to move into active status. On the other hand, some items may no longer be relevant. Eliminating them helps me focus on what is doable now while ensuring I don’t lose track of potential future opportunities.

Manage your task inbox or task list

At this stage, my taskbox (my trusty space where I capture all my tasks before organizing them) is full of tasks collected from various digital spaces – email, calendar, Slack, and more. This step in my weekly review process helps me organize and plan these tasks effectively.

What is the next action?

I make sure that every task is clear and doable. If the task is vague, I’ll clarify what the next specific step is to avoid confusion. If a task is large or complex, I break it down into smaller, manageable tasks.

What is the priority level?

I use priority tags in Reminders to differentiate between urgent, important, and non-urgent tasks. This helps me prioritize my workload and ensure I focus on the most critical tasks first.

What project or area does this task belong to?

I move each task to the most relevant project or area of ​​responsibility so everything is organized by context and purpose. For example, my schoolwork would go to Education project, while all work tasks would go to Work project

What is the due date?

I add deadlines and set reminders for each task so I don’t miss any deadlines. If a task is better suited for someone else, I delegate it and set a reminder to get it done.

Once I have everything sorted, I use Smart Lists in the Reminders app to create them Today and This week lists to filter tasks for a given day and week.

This part of the weekly overview is flexible. You can use a similar process or your preferred productivity system to organize your tasks.

Think about what if it’s wrong or right

A key part of my weekly review is reflecting on what went well and what didn’t. This step allows me to assess my productivity and find ways to improve.

I start by asking myself: What worked well? This reflection helps me celebrate my accomplishments during the previous week and recognize any productive habits I can continue to use. Next, I look at what didn’t work—tasks I couldn’t complete or projects that stalled. What can I do differently next week to improve?

One potential solution is to schedule a specific task for a different time of day when I’m more focused or energized. This is why it is important to find your sleep chronotype and use it to your advantage. Another option is to delegate the task to someone else if possible. Sometimes the task itself may not be the problem. Trying a different approach might help me complete it more efficiently.

A weekly review process is a great way to improve your productivity and stay organized. When you take the time to review your tasks, goals, and processes, you gain valuable insights that you can use to improve and streamline your workflow.