My Weekly Review
Every Monday morning, there’s a one-hour blocker on my calendar called “Weekly Review”. The purpose of this one-hour block is to get on top of the flood of crap requests that come my way, and is not to be confused for my OKR, Metrics and Product reviews. Here’s how it looks;
Inbox(es) Review
Despite my best efforts, the number of channels by which people can reach me is growing. Multiple email inboxes, Microsoft Teams messages, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, snail mail (welcome to Germany.. ), voicemails… And with growing responsibility, the more each of these inboxes get flooded with requests. As I go through each item, the question I’m asking myself is “Where does this need to go?” Here are the possibilities;
Task Manager
Calendar
Read-Later App
Archive
Trash
And then I move it to that folder. If I can do something in less than 2 minutes, I do it on the spot. Otherwise, it goes into my task manager with the title “Read email: "[Copy Subject Line from Email]”
Calendar(s) Review
Next, I review all items on my calendar from the previous two weeks, note any open loops in my task manager, or setup follow-ups directly in calendar.
Then, I review the upcoming 6 weeks, noting down any tasks that need to be done to be best prepared. This could be anything from user interviews, to customer presentations, to steering committees. I also add these events to our team calendar so that everyone is aware of these.
People will also try to get on my calendar - often to the point where I am triple booked for a given time - so I ruthlessly cut through these too;
a working session with more than three people gets declined instantly
a blocker where my contribution is not defined gets declined
unclear agenda, or where the agenda is “as discussed”, also gets declined
Don’t get me wrong - there are certain rounds which the larger format makes sense, but I keep these to a minimum.
Local Files Review
There are two places that seem to be where all files go to die on my machine - my Desktop and Downloads folders… So once a week, I go through each of these files and do the following;
update naming conventions
move it to it’s actual home, or the trash can
Timesheet Review
A silly corporate process that I have to follow - submitting my timesheets. I use the opportunity to asses the ratio of time spent on Prio 1, 2, 3 & 4 tasks (see section below), with a view to spend as much time on the more worthwhile activities. This data is also used in my face-to-face with my manager… it’s always an interesting discussion!
Weekly Task Prioritization, Planning and Time Allocation
I use a simple Kanban system to manage my tasks, and tag everything according to importance and urgency. Then using the Eisenhower Matrix, anything that is Priority 1 and 2 gets added to the list of things to get done this week. I create time blockers for these tasks, and also for anything that is blocked and needs escalation.
My goal with Priority 3’s and 4’s is to remove them altogether, but if for whatever reason they cannot be gotten rid of, I delegate these out. (And since the emergence of AI tools, shamelessly use these tools where I can because sometimes these things aren’t even worth the delegation effort…)
Pro-tip: If you’re thinking about using this system yourself, make sure your tag colours and naming conventions are consistent across the apps you use i.e. if in your task manager Prio 1 tasks are coloured Green, match the calendar appointment colour as Green.