Design Weekly Review

---
name: design-weekly-review
description: Use when closing out a work week to clear cognitive load, review progress, and prepare the next week for intentional execution
source: David Allen, "Getting Things Done" (2001); adopted at Google, LinkedIn, top consulting firms
tags: [goals, weekly-review, gtd, planning, reflection, system-maintenance]
related: [apply-time-log-audit]
verified: true
---

# Design Weekly Review

Conduct a structured 60–90 minute review every week: clear all inboxes, review active projects, capture next actions, and set priorities for the coming week.

## Why This Is Best Practice

**Adopted by:** GTD-certified coaches, Google SRE teams, McKinsey consultants, executive coaches at top MBA programs
**Impact:** Allen: the weekly review is the "master key" of GTD — without it, the system collapses within days as inboxes overflow, projects stall without next actions, and the mind re-absorbs the cognitive load the system was meant to carry

**Why best:** The brain cannot distinguish between a commitment you've captured in a trusted system and one you're holding in memory. The weekly review is the trust-restoring ritual: it proves to your subconscious that nothing has fallen through the cracks, enabling genuine cognitive rest and attention during focused work. Skipping it for two weeks reliably causes system abandonment.

## Steps

1. **Collect all loose papers and notes** — Physical desk, pockets, bags, whiteboards; route everything to the inbox
2. **Process inbox to zero** — Apply the two-minute rule and clarify next actions for every item; no item leaves the inbox unclassified
3. **Review the active project list** — For every active project, confirm at least one next action is captured on a context list; stalled projects need a decision
4. **Review the calendar** — Look back two weeks (capture anything missed or unresolved) and forward two weeks (prepare for upcoming commitments)
5. **Capture new next actions** — Anything that surfaced during review with a defined physical next step goes on the appropriate context list
6. **Review someday/maybe list** — Promote items that are now relevant; archive items that are no longer interesting
7. **Set top 3 priorities for the coming week** — Write three outcomes (not tasks) that would make next week a success; these anchor the week's block plan

## Rules

- Schedule the weekly review as a recurring calendar appointment — it must be non-negotiable, not fit in when convenient
- Do not skip two consecutive reviews — one missed review is recoverable; two creates a backlog that makes re-entry feel impossible
- "Inbox zero" means processed, not replied to — classify everything; replies are next actions on a list
- The someday/maybe review takes no more than 5 minutes — read fast, decide fast, do not re-read old items in full
- The three weekly priorities must be outcomes ("proposal delivered to client"), not activities ("work on proposal")

## Examples

**Good weekly review output:** All inboxes empty; every project has at least one next action; calendar conflicts for next week resolved; three written priorities for the week.

**Bad weekly review:** Scanning the inbox, replying to three emails, closing the laptop — this is email processing, not a system review.

**Three priority format:** (1) Ship authentication feature to staging. (2) Deliver performance review drafts to HR. (3) Complete literature review for research proposal.

## Common Mistakes

- **Treating it as email catch-up** — Email is one inbox; the review covers projects, calendar, someday/maybe, and all physical inboxes
- **Skipping the project review** — Without it, projects stall silently; you only discover the stall when a deadline arrives
- **Setting tasks not outcomes as weekly priorities** — "Write 500 words" is an activity; "complete draft introduction" is an outcome — outcomes survive schedule disruption, tasks don't
- **Doing the review on Monday morning** — Starting the week with a 90-minute review delays execution; Friday afternoon preserves the weekend for genuine rest