The GTD guys say that if you are not doing a weekly review you are not doing GTD. That is true – you cannot downplay the importance of a regular weekly time (for me it takes about an hour) where you get Clean, Clear and Current. Here are the things that I do in my Weekly Review:

1. Review Planner: I look through my Mission, Roles and Goals (the three key features of my weekly planner) and ensure that I am living my mission.

2. Process Paper: I make sure that my physical inboxes are empty. I process all my receipts and file them and any other items that need to be kept in my filing system.

3. Process Notes: I work through my paper journal and review any notes that I have taken in the past week, looking for items that  need to be followed up on.

4. Review Calendar: I look back at the last week and identify calendar items that need to be moved forward to the coming week. I also fill in my weekly planner for the coming week at this time – I create calendar items for my goals for each role and also transfer items from my electronic calendar to my paper calendar at this point.

5. Mind Dump: I spend some time dumping anything that is on my mind – any thoughts that have not yet being captured and transferred to my system, I walk around and see if anything is out of place in my world, I think about each person in my family and whether there is anything that I need to follow up with them or do for them, I do the same for people in my work environment and I look at anything that needs to be done in the home – this is not the time to do it all, but to make a note of it and create next actions.

6. Review Lists: This is the critical part – I go through my Projects list and check off any completed items, create new items and check off completed projects. I go through my Next Actions list and check off anything that is completed, I look through my Agendas List and see if there is anything that I need to raise with people that is not listed, I look at my Someday/Maybe list and see whether there is an items that needs to move into my Project or Next Actions list, I look at my Waiting For list and see what I am waiting for from others and whether I need to do anything about it, and I look at my Prayer list and make sure it is up to date.

7. Review Email: I look through my email to see what action needs to be taken, I look at the Waiting For items and see what is lurking in my to Read folder. I keep my email up to date on a daily basis so it is never a major feature in my Weekly Review!

8. Preview Week: I briefly look ahead at my week to ensure I have enough down time and family time scheduled and I identify what are my weekly priorities and things I have to get done in the week.

9. Review Habits: I think through my effectiveness in handing my time and projects and I evaluate my work and rest balance and the state of my daily devotions.

10. Review Learning: I go through books that I am reading and check on progress and flag books that I need to be reading, I also burn a new CD of podcasts to listen to in my car and I look through the articles in my Read folder on my laptop.

11. Review Entertainment: I think through the movies, books, and TV shows that I want to consume in the coming week. I also look out for areas of imbalance where I am consuming too much in any of these areas.

12. Review Diet: I briefly think through whether my current diet is ensurng that I get enough fibre, vegetables and fruit, not overdoing my sugar intake and getting the vitamins I need to stay sharp and focussed.

13. Review Character: I spend some time checking on the fruit of the Spirit in my life (including love, patience, kindness, joy, etc), I evaluate my practise of spiritual gifts, and I evaluate whether I am being Christlike in my speech, attitudes and behaviours.

14. Review System: I spend a bit of time looking at the big picture of my GTD system – to check that I have all the lists  that I need and I make a note of areas that I need to improve in.

15. Enjoy Reward: This is the best part – I make myself a cup cuppachino as a reward.