Area of Life

WEEKLY REVIEW AND PLANNING- with examples- if you want to use this please download the other attachment

GLOSSARY:

Task: to-do item that can’t be finished immediately as it arises, but may not involve more than one or two ‘stages’.

Project: to do item that will involve more than one or two ‘stages’ a.k.a. ‘Next Actions’ in GTD and therefore could need a bit or maybe a lot of planning.

Goals: are not to-do Projects or Tasks flowing in during course of regular work or home activities, but these are ‘desired’ for achieving improvement or better condition in some area of my life.

Capture Tool: is the fulcrum of the system and records all Goals thought of or Projects /Tasks to be done. Consists of:

i)At work/home: Different colored sheets in my paper planner for each area of life such as Work, Home, Outside, Goal Thoughts (collectively called “Bucket” by me) for recording all Projects/ Goals/ Tasks as they crop up, whether because of external stimulus such as mails, emails, smss, phonecalls, ads,etc etc or because of an idea or thought cropping up in my head.

ii)On-the-go: This could be index cards/ cellphone, etc.

[I use my cellphone to quickly record Projects/ Goals/ Tasks. My phone is a pretty cheap touchscreen one where there is a facility for putting 'notepads' as tiles/ thumbnails on the wallpaper itself. If I have to 'capture' any Project/Goal/Task, I tap on the tile and type in the task. I find this faster than carrying and pulling out index cards and writing on them since the tiles are on my wallpaper itself and I can use one hand to type in. What I have done is to have three tiles on the wallpaper of different colors- blue @work, green for @outside and yellow for @home tasks, so it keeps the tasks sorted automatically. I just have to look at my phone, tap on the right colored tile and type in. I also use this to type in Calendar entries while on-the-go. It helps if I have reviewed my ‘notepads’ here and incorporated the Goals/Projects/Tasks in the paper planner Capture Tool daily/midweek and deleted the items thereafter from the cell.]

PROCESS FLOW OF MY WEEKLY PLANNING(takes me 3 hours on a Sunday morning usually):

Snapshot of materials needed:

My cellphone, loose index cards which may have been used as Capture Tools on the go, my physical planner, the printed out Form which features below, seven differently colored highlighters/ sketch pens, files containing my financial information, all loose papers (other than papers needing filing) at work including support or research material for Work Projects[1] and same at home and in the car, a punch for filing, scissors, a magnetic clipboard with notepad on fridge or, a bulletin board and pins; chequebook, laptop and pens.

I. COLLATE ALL PROJECTS/TASKS:

Check cellphone: - Check notepads for Projects/ Tasks / Goals entered on-the-go and record them in Bucket along with items that have been added @work or @home already. Check new smss also for Projects/ Tasks and record them in Bucket too.
Sync Calendar in paper planner with Calendar entries in cellphone for the week being planned. Highlight week’s events on Calendar in physical planner.
Check other on-the- go Capture Tools: Check index cards, etc if used as Capture Tools while on-the-go. For me, it’s usually only my cellphone.
Read through the Bucket. Delete or strike out completed Projects or Tasks from the Bucket.
Gather all loose papers at home, from work and from car:

-Check which ones are actually leading to Projects/ Tasks and record them in the Bucket.

-Check which loose papers are to be trashed and trash them.

-Check which loose papers are to be filed or are needed for financial review and keep them aside in a pile for now.

Review monthly habit tracker (features as a sheet in my planner) and see if anything in daily routine needs revision. Make such revision into a Task.
Review Bucket and mark as priority A all Projects/Tasks required to be done this week, and then the rest as B and C. [All Calendar items for this week are deemed to be A and will be done this week itself. If they not important, then send such of the calendar entries to next week and make calls to postpone / reschedule meetings or calls or trips if possible]. Some B items in the Bucket from last week will now become A. Last, all incomplete Projects/ Tasks from last week which were otherwise scheduled for completion, must also now be marked as A. [If 20 items are important this week, and 5 remained incomplete from last week, I do not mark 15 as priority A this week, and add to that 5 from last week. Instead, the total no. of items becomes 25- my method of keeping the motivation on for completing as much as possible each week and not to consistently miss deadlines.]

After this, park this segment and move on to the next.

II. GOALS IDENTIFICATION:

Look at Vision Statement (features on a sheet inside my physical planner)
Look at 3 year goals and six monthly targets for achieving those goals (features already on a sheet inside my physical planner). Otherwise good idea to make and keep this in the physical planner since it maintains the focus. Look at 1 year mid-term Goals.
Mindsweep and see if 3 year goals and six monthly targets set earlier and 1 year mid-term Goals are in sync with Vision Statement or need tweaking because of any new information during bygone week. Tweak them, if required.
Check Thoughts section of Bucket to add new goals to 3 year Goals or 1 year Goals, if and as may be deemed fit.
Also add to Goals, all life problems which have cropped up that need solving. In my experience, unless life problems are solved first, it becomes nearly impossible to focus with clarity on ‘desired’ goals, but will leave that to individual preference.
Delete/ strike out completed Goals / six monthly targets.
Select one 3 yr- Goal and 1 six monthly-target from within that Goal and one 1 yr Goal – this is a must for me to accomplish Vision.

Park this segment for now and move on to III.

III. STRATEGIZE:

Check which Goal/ Project has been avoided consistently in the last couple of weeks or is super-urgent. Think through and see if Goal/ Project is seeming too complex, taking up too much energy or has some sort of mental block/phobia associated with it that has caused a delay.
Think through (including doing lateral thinking, developing motivation/courage or breaking down the Goal or Project to steps to see if mental blocks break down) But don’t give up and delete the Goal/Project! If it was a goal to begin with, it must have been significant enough. Tap all mental resources to brainstorm or keep yourself motivated and brave. Take as long as necessary.[2] Write the solution down in the Bucket if the solution is complex or is in the nature of a Project itself/ Next Action for the Project.

Now move on to IV.

FINANCE REVIEW

Collect receipts/ financial information of the last week from the pile kept aside in I(G).
Update weekly expense tracker (I have a sheet in my physical planner for this as well as an online personal finance manager. Usually I update both- though it is totally unnecessary to replicate but the additional physical tracker personally gives me some psychological comfort)
Refer to budget checklist and make budget for the month, if budget not present already (I have a budget checklist where methodology to be followed for allocating expenses is written)
If budget for the month has been made already, check adherence to budget during last week. If budget has been overshot last week, write down steps to compensate and decrease from available fund for this week’s expenses. Make a mental or physical note as to how similar overshooting propensity will be dealt with in the future. If a physical note is made, place it at a visible place at home so that it serves as a daily reminder.
Check all emergency expenses expected during the week and month and how that affects planned budget. Adjust accordingly.
File all receipts for heavy purchase, all warranties, investment folios received during the week, etc. Update Financial Information file/ online personal finance manager with details about new bank/demat/ trading accounts and/or new investments/ insurances etc.
Plan investments, if any, for the week. If this is instead expected to happen in the next few weeks to months instead, post it in the Bucket and mark it B. If any steps should be taken this week for making the investment, post it in the Bucket in physical planner and mark it A.
Check bill/ insurance premium/maid, cook & chauffeur salary payment dates. Draw cheques or leave instructions accordingly. Record all these payments now itself.
Check cheques, funds received during the week from the day planning sheets and update all information accordingly in online personal fin manager or physical files.
Plan splurge expenses (does not include mundane expenses already covered by 4,7, 8) for this week. Check Wishlist in physical planner (yes I have a sheet for this, though it could be a bit of an overkill of organization for some others!!). Other than these planned expenses, any new items eyed during the week and seeming tempting should be noted in Wishlist and definitely not bought during the week- that’s the only rule I follow to avoid impulse buys.

V. FILL FORM:

After completion of Sections I, II and III above, I have all the Goals and Projects comprehensively. So I fill up the Form below to have the Goals and Projects that I would be working on during the week and the rough weekly schedule. Instructions for filling up the Form feature there itself.

MISCELLANEOUS:
Select all loose papers needing archiving from the pile made during I(G) and file them in relevant files.
Move to relevant Project folders all other papers that are relevant to active Projects.
Dispose/ delete all other loose sheets, index cards, smss, emails, previous week’s daily sheets and weekly review form, etc
Put cut-outs of daily home chores and weekly menu on the fridge.
Keep the marked out shopping list in the purse.
Fill out colored index card for ‘Trip Agenda’ for any upcoming trip during the week and put in a slot in the physical planner.
Then I do one or two of the following by rotation each week:
Update new contact info and backup cell info on comp.
Backup new info on comp to independent hard drive.
Call/ mail to remind anyone about return of any item if more than three months have lapsed.(Refer to the ‘on loan’ sheet in planner).
Organize files/folders in laptop
Update any IT installations required/ block spammers, etc.

And then I am done and ready for some indulgence!!

FORM

A.I cut/tear out this section on Home Chores out and put it up on the bulletin board/fridge. The Daily section is typed. Please modify as per your need if you plan to use this form at all.

------

HOME CHORES Daily:

Self Instruct Maid to: Instruct Cook to:
Make bed Dust/ Vacuum Cook as per menu
Wash dishes Clean microwave
Water plants Clean cooking hobs
Wash clothes Clean kitchen counter
Mop floors Fill jugs with water
Iron clothes Dispose trash / Weekend:

------

B.All italicized text & arrows are there only as examples/comments. Have also posted another blank form without them. I FILL THIS TABLE B BY HAND.

Obviously since this is a Word doc, you can reformat or lengthen the table as you wish.

To fill up the Goal Focus and Goal Projects, I refer to the Goal and Target selected from II(G) step in the Process flow;
To fill up the Calendar Items, I check the calendar items from the physical planner as worked on during I(F) of Process Flow; and I highlight them here.
All priority A Tasks & Projects marked in Bucket during step I(H) of Process Flow goes into the extreme left column; And I highlight all Must-do items
Then I fill up the full column of all Next Action Outline for all Projects;
Projects for Recreation section in this Table do not normally feature in Bucket. I think them up while filling up the section.
Lastly, I proceed to allocate a Day to the Projects/ Next Actions. Though it is contra GTD to assign a day, I think it helps me maintain some focus.
Then I highlight different days of the week with a different color (if I am not filling up Table C after this) since it helps quickly identify all Projects/ Tasks/ Actions associated with each day while scheduling that day during the week e.g all Mondays may be highlighted pink, all Tuesdays blue etc

GOAL FOCUS THIS WEEK: / e,g, Tone up! (1 yr Goal) and Become a Fabulous Painter (3 Yr Goal)
PROJECTS & TASKS / NEXT ACTION OUTLINE – Review all Project research/support materials to fill this / DAY

FOR GOAL ACHIEVEMENT

E,g. Tracy Anderson Total Mat Workout
Practise sketching / Buy DVD; weights and mat
Do workout
Buy a A5 sketchbook; Buy drawing pencils; Brush up on lesson notes from earlier;
Practise everyday after work / Today on Sunday
All days
Monday May 3
All days

WORK

Example: say a work project is
1. Opinion on negligence case
2.Research on money-laundering blah blah issue / My Next Action list for this Project can be:
-Read facts; Make list of issues based on facts; read caselaw on all issues;
- Draft outline; Draft full opinion
Check moneylaundering statute; Draw mindmap on all possible angles of issue; Check other blah blah statutes for related impact on this issue; Read all caselaw on this issue, Make note; Annex research matl.
[While actually working on a Project, I may keep a separate sheet and break down a Next Action further or add new ones. Although this outline of Next Action is not exhaustive, it helps me allocate a day to the Project, which personally for me is important to have an idea about how the week is going to shape up.
If you can envisage all Next Actions, you may either want to:
-skip/delete this column and just put in all Next Actions separately on a sheet for that Project OR
-record all Next Actions here itself, but in that case you may have to reformat this section of the form so that it elongates to a few pages.] / Monday May 3
Tuesday May 4
Tuesday May 4
CALENDAR EVENTS
E.g, Meet KSS
Call Neil
Nephew’s birthday party / Discuss appraisal; salary hike; resource allocation; provisioning of claim by MS Shops
Wish him on his birthday

Pick up gift; go to party / Mon May 3 12 pm
Mon May 3 1 pm
Wed May 5, 7 pm

MONEY

HOME RELATED

ERRANDS OUTSIDE

/ Pick up gift for nephew! / Wed May 5
ORGANIZE / Download tax forms
Track these daily habits on the Monthly tracker in planner: Workout/ 8 glasses of water/ Follow ideal diet/ Daily review of cellphone capture tool for Projects/ Tasks & record in Bucket / Monday May 3
All days
DELEGATE
Projects/ Tasks / Team Member Instructions
/ Day
RECREATION/ ENJOY

C. THIS TABLE IS OPTIONAL. Some weeks, if Table B gets very crowded, filling up this Table helps me see realistically what all Projects/Tasks I am assigning for each day of the week and how viable such allocation is. I might then prune this Table C and postpone some stuff. Accordingly, some Projects/ Tasks will be struck out from here and from Table B.

MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT / SUN
Daily home chores
Workout
8 glasses of water
Negligence opinion
……….
…………..
Meet KSS- 12 pm
Call Alan- 1 pm
……………...
Download tax form
Buy A5 sketchbook; Drawing pencils; Brush up on lesson notes from earlier;
Review cell capture tool & record in Bucket / Daily home chores
Workout
8 glasses of water
Negligence opinion
Moneylaundering research
…..
……………….
Review cell capture tool & record in Bucket / Daily home chores
Workout
8 glasses of water
……………
……………
Review cell capture tool & record in Bucket / Daily home chores
Workout
8 glasses of water
………..
……………
Nephew’s birthday party- 7 pm
Review cell capture tool & record in Bucket / Daily home chores
Workout
8 glasses of water
………………..
………..
Review cell capture tool & record in Bucket / Daily home chores
Workout
8 glasses of water
……………….
…………….
Review cell capture tool & record in Bucket / Daily home chores
Workout
8 glasses of water
………..
………….
Weekly review

I insert the filled in Table B (& Table C, if filled), in my physical paper planner and refer to them during day-planning everyday -slashes time for daily planning to max 10 mins.