A common question we’re asked is, “What’s the best day to do a GTD Weekly Review?” Friday is certainly the most common day, but truly, whatever day works for you to get clear, current and creative is the best day!
What’s your favorite day to do your Weekly Review? Take a quick poll:
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I love Mondays so I can get clear and fresh on everything needed for the upcoming week.
Fridays for me and in the morning – always leaves the afternoon to pick up any loose ends.
I do my real weekly review on Mondays and a mini one on Fridays as a way of capturing any straggling thoughts that are kicking around in my head before I switch gears for the weekend.
I like Friday’s at 3 p.m. Most people are gone from the office by then and their are few distractions. Good time for review, reflection and planning.
I always try to do my WR…on Sunday nights..gives me a great jump on the week.
Monday at 7am, get a fresh start on the week before anybody else gets into the office, then the team can hit the ground running.
The last day of the working week suits me best. I am living in UAE, so this is Thursday and for some reason has to be in the morning, maybe because my energy levels are higher.
Friday 4pm, just before the weekend. I schedule an hour in my calendar, marked as out of office and private. This prevents people from overruling this 🙂
Friday late afternoons, so that I am relaxed and clear for the weekend…
Hmmm… you didn’t include Daily!
I do my weekly review on Wednesday morning.
For me, energy levels are good, enough of the week has happened to have a good handle on the immediate and on what is shouting loudest, plus time in the week to make course adjustments as required.
Also Wednesday seems to be low crisis day
Sunday evening is my personal review, though I try to make sure to clear the decks before leaving work on Friday so that I’ll have what I need for Sunday.
Our brood also has a “Family weekly review” on Sunday after lunch to update our family Google calendars and to set next actions for the week. (there’s a little more to it!) Our teenagers kinda moaned when we started this 2 years ago, but now ask for it because they’ve learned that if it’s not on Mom’s or Dad’s list/calendar–it does not exist.
I always try to do it early on a Friday afternoon, but if I have work to complete on a deadline I move it to early Sunday afternoon.
Wednesday works really well.
Monday is always hectic, and a lot of really loud things demand attention on Mondays for some reason. Friday is all about trying to put stop points on work for the weekend so they are in the right holding pattern.
Wenesday just marks a good mid point in terms of whats happeneing. Plus for some reason, big crisis stuff doensnt blow up as often on a Wednesday, Mondays and Fridays are the days for those things.
Plus it gives me something to look forward to – a break for an hour or 2 just me and my work blocked off to get together and sort – its real space to think that I value.
Friday around 5pm… many colleagues have leave the Office.. I can freely prepare my job for the next week
Sunday, at home, for the ‘personal’ process. That’s the one I’m most regular about.
At work, where it arguably would bring even greater benefits, I haven’t got my system working with enough clarity. Partly, that’s because I can’t get a regular weekly review going at work! When I do, I try to make it Thursday morning or Friday morning.
Hi Julie Ann Knott:
You wrote: Hmmm… you didn’t include Daily!
That’s because the GTD Weekly Review is weekly, not daily. A daily review is a different process–usually much less thorough and rigorous. The Weekly Review is an 11-step process defined by David Allen in the book.
Fascinating point — a couple of you say that Wednesdays have fewer crises. My subjective impression is that more crises happen on Monday and Friday, but I’ve never seen any documentation about that. Please chime in if you know of a study. Maybe it’s a variation of Pareto’s 80/20 rule, where 99% of the crises show up on 40% (two out of five) weekdays.
— John
I prefer to do my WR on Friday mornings. If something shows up than I have a day of to reach people and organizations who work at office hours. If I know in advance that I can’t make it I will shift this to thursday evenings.
But since Saturday is a full working day for me my fridays might be like thursdays for someone else, a small flaw in this test. Not all working weeks are alike…
I don’t spend time on a weekly review but start every Monday with preview of what I need to get done. That might seem to be just a small turn of the perspective but I consider it important because I can focus on what’s next with a positive connotation.
I just don’t have time during the week, and when I schedule it for Saturday, it almost always ends up slipping to Sunday.
Back when I was a teacher and lesson plans were due every Monday I made it a point to do it on Thursday. Each day I procrastinated the job seemed to take longer. 45min Thrusday 1:30 Friday and by Sunday it would take me 3+ hours to do the same work. So now I do my GTD review around 10am on Thrusdays. Once I am done I usually have a list to delegate and I can send that our Thrusday afternoon instead of Friday when everyone has the weekend on their minds.