Are you having trouble keeping up with your daily to-do list?
Then you need to start incorporating a weekly planning session.
We all know that a to-do list is an essential tool that keeps us on track. With a to-do list in hand, we can knock off our tasks, errands, and deadlines with efficiency.
But despite our best intentions, life often gets in the way. Deadlines and assignments start to snowball. Procrastination and exhaustion set in. And before we know it, another week has passed and we’ve yet to make a dent on our to-dos. So what’s the solution? Adding more stuff to our list? Trying to do less?
The issue might have to do less with the list itself and more to do with your overall planning strategy.
If you’re looking to be more productive and efficient with your days, then you need to start conducting a weekly planning session. Taking the time to review your work, goals, and strategy can save you time and energy in the long run, and will help you plan for a more successful week. As a result, your daily to-do list will be more focused and reflective of what’s truly important to you.
Benefits of a weekly planning session
Here are just some of the reasons why a weekly planning session will improve the way you work.
Capture the big picture. Our day-to-day lives are so busy that it’s easy to lose sight of the overall picture. Do you know what your yearly and monthly goals are? Do you know what you're working towards? A weekly planning session can help you catch your breath and remind yourself of where you’d like to be headed.
Gain clarity on your top priorities. Once you get a sense of the big picture, you can start identifying your biggest priorities. These are the tent poles that you’ll want to be setting your sights on every month, week, and day. So if creating a sense of community is a big goal for you, then in your weekly planning session you would figure out how you would go about doing that the following week. You’d prioritize attending events, workshops, and meeting up with friends over tasks and obligations that don’t align with your overall goal.
Address any challenges. A weekly planning session can also help you address any challenges at work, home, or challenges you’re facing with your goals. It’s crucial to address these problems early on so that they don’t fester or get worse. And just because the problem is small doesn’t mean it’s not worth examining. Sometimes, remedying a small issue can make a big, positive impact on your goals. For example, if you’ve been skipping your morning workouts because you can never find your gym clothes, an easy solution is to prepare your gym bag the night before. Taking a look at your challenges can help you find solutions and guarantee success the following week.
Have a game plan for the week ahead. Now that you have a better grasp of what you need to do, you can create a solid game plan for the upcoming week. Your to-do list will be much more focused and carefully connected to your goals and priorities.
Here’s how to conduct your weekly review and planning session:
Some pointers:
- Set aside an hour or two at the end of the week to do this exercise.
- Gather your planner and calendar to help you examine your previous week and plan for the upcoming one.
- Use highlighters and pens to mark important deadlines and priorities.
Choose categories to focus on. It’s good to take stock of what’s going on in your personal and professional life so that you can have a comprehensive review of your week. You can focus on areas such as work goals, home/personal life, and health/well-being. You can also change it up week-to-week, depending on what you’d like to focus on. Maybe one week you can reflect on work and career development goals, and then another week on friendship and community.
Reflect on the previous week. Evaluating what went well and what didn’t go so well, will help you determine your next steps. For this example, we’ll focus on the categories of work, personal goals, and well-being.
Work
- What did I accomplish this week at work?
- What challenges did I face?
- What small things can I do to address those challenges?
- How am I doing on my career goals? Can I do anything this week to make progress? Example: sign up for a networking event, pitch a new client.
Personal goals
- How am I progressing on my personal goals?
- What can I do each day to ensure that I’m one step closer to my goals?
- What can I remove from my schedule so that I have more time to focus on my personal goals?
Well-being
- What stressed me out this week?
- What did I do to manage the stress?
- Did I take time to exercise or make myself nourishing meals?
- What can I do next week to make sure I decompress after work?
Plan for the upcoming week. With the knowledge and information you have gained from your reflection exercise, you can reset and create a solid plan for the next week. You should refer to your calendar to take note of upcoming deadlines, errands, appointments, client calls, etc. This will help you create a realistic schedule and ensure that you don’t overbook yourself.
Pick 3-5 daily tasks to focus on. Now that you know what direction you’d like to be heading in, it’s time to define your top 3-5 daily tasks. These are the things you’d love to accomplish each day.
Make sure to actually add the things you’d like to do that you didn’t get around to doing the previous week. For example, if you felt that last week was quite hectic and stressful, make it a priority to carve out solo time to decompress.
And remember: In order to make room for your priorities, you might need to remove tasks that are not important or time sensitive. Knowing what to eliminate from your to-do list will help you focus on your priorities and stay on track.
As you can see, taking the time to reflect on and plan for the weekly view will make your daily work that much more focused.
Written by JiJi Lee
