Weekly Review Protocol (GTD-Inspired)

A comprehensive weekly maintenance protocol for keeping your personal and professional systems current, based on David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology. Schedule: 60-90 minutes, same day and time each week (Friday afternoon or Sunday evening are popular choices). The checklist: (1) Collect: Empty all inboxes — email, physical, notes apps, voicemail, scraps of paper — into one processing queue. (2) Process: For each item, decide: Delete, Do (if under 2 minutes), Delegate, Defer (schedule it), or File for reference. (3) Review all active projects: Is the next action clear for each one? Is anything stalled? (4) Review calendar for the past week: Capture any follow-ups or actions that were triggered. (5) Review calendar for the next 2 weeks: Prepare for upcoming commitments. (6) Review 'Waiting For' list: Follow up on anything overdue. (7) Review 'Someday/Maybe' list: Move items to active if the time is right, or remove items that no longer interest you. (8) Review goals: Are current projects aligned with quarterly and annual goals? The weekly review is the keystone habit of any personal productivity system — without it, every system degrades.

When to use it

Weekly, without exception, at a consistent time. Non-negotiable. If you skip the weekly review, your entire task management system becomes unreliable within 2-3 weeks. Particularly important during busy periods when the temptation to skip is highest (and the consequences of skipping are worst).

How it can help

Prevents the slow degradation that kills every productivity system: the creeping sense that things are falling through the cracks, that your lists are incomplete, and that you can't trust your own system. The weekly review restores trust by systematically ensuring every commitment is captured and every project has a clear next step. The 'Someday/Maybe' review is particularly valuable — it surfaces forgotten aspirations and pruned dead-weight commitments. After establishing this habit, most practitioners report a significant reduction in background anxiety.