How to take stock of the week to double your productivity
Miscellaneous / / December 10, 2021
A total of four questions and one table will help you assess the past seven days.
To be productive, it's not enough to just cross completed tasks off your to-do list. It's important to keep track of which direction you are heading and set the right goals. To do this, regularly summarizing the results of the week is ideal.
It may seem like a waste of time, but don't jump to conclusions. Taking a look at the past seven days is a great opportunity for introspection. This approach will allow you to get rid of the desire for productivity for the sake of productivity, as well as build a clear and understandable path to goals.
What methods are worth trying
Table of the week
The main goal of this method is to figure out what went well and what, on the contrary, did not work out in the last seven days, as well as make a plan for the next week. A simple table is suitable for this:
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A list of everything that has been accomplished. | Events that didn't go as we wanted. | Tasks to tackle next week. |
Try to fill out the table regularly. This will help you identify productivity weaknesses and work on them.
Questions of the week
In addition to the table, use a small “survey” - before the beginning of each week, ask yourself four questions that will help you monitor your stress levels and progress in self-development:
- What is difficult for me to deal with now?
- What do I want to learn by the end of this week?
- What can I try to get out of my comfort zone?
- Who can I ask for help this week?
How to make debriefing a habit
As is the case with many other good habits, it can be difficult to turn the analysis of the results of the week into a full-fledged ritual. A few simple steps will help you with this.
Set a specific day, time and place
Consistency is the key to learning new habits. Don't randomly carve out a good time to take stock every week - plan it ahead of time and forever. For example, every Sunday at 21:00 in your room. So you get rid of unnecessary randomness.
Be kind to yourself
Do not scold yourself if the week has not been very successful, and you have not reached even half of the goals that you set for yourself. The results of the week should be not only a glance at the past, but also a glance into the future. Rather than self-flagellation, ask yourself what went wrong and why, and how these mistakes can be corrected in the next seven days.
Continuously improve the new ritual
If things don't go the way you want, just change the order or way of summing up the week. Try new methods or combine them.
Is a new habit taking too long? Pick a method quickly. Is it too dry and trite? Connect your imagination and add a little creativity, for example, get a notebook with funny stickers for the results of the week, or create a board where you will attach stickers. There are a huge number of tables and other tools on the Internet for evaluating the past week. The main thing is to choose the system that is right for you.
When you start using it, you will immediately notice that the week rarely turns out the way you would like. And there is nothing wrong with that. Gradually, you will see how your weeks get better and more productive. It is from these weeks that life is formed.
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