Weekly routine
“I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something.” – Edward Everett Hale
“Change might not be fast, and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.”
― Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
This is the third post in a series sharing my productivity rhythms.
Check out part one or part two.
My weekly routine is something that has come later in my journey. It is something that has had its ups and downs in my life. I struggle to do all the parts but do find it helpful. Some weeks I get it done swiftly, and other weeks it takes a little longer.
At the time of writing this post, I take time aside late Sunday night or Monday after my workout. This time allows me to see what I did this week and organize the coming week. There are four components to this rhythm.
1)Big wins from the last week, things thankful for, lessons learned.
I take a few minutes to look back over the week and ask what my wins were. This is hard for me. It is essential for me, especially I did not meet my goals or complete the task. It allows me to find something to be thankful for and not get cynical. The lesson learned is not always filled in, but I think it is an excellent question to ask.
2)Setting Big three and did I reach last weeks – what do I do now?
I first started this in my daily rhythm but started asking the question at the beginning of the week. By the end of the week, what are the three big things that need to be done?
Then it helps establish what is essential in my daily rhythm also where I set my big three for the day. My weekly big three end up driving my regular big three.
3)Review the task list and setting up
I find I have tasks that have to happen each week and task that come up due to current projects. This is a moment to review what was done over the week and what is a priority task for the up and coming week. At times, I will even assign the task to certain days. This may be scheduling time in the calendar or just adding it to my day task section. For the most part, however, I am just trying to figure out the top tasks that need to get done.
4)Review calendar coming week.
I take a look at my calendar and what is coming and where I need to be. This is a big picture time to help me know what my week looks like.
I am learning in this rhythm that it helps me know what is a priority this week.
In this process, I find it also helps to create an ideal week. The ideas is to look at your week and how would you organize all aspects of it. What would I do when? What is resulting as I work on this is that certain days I do certain things. This is important because other people are dependant on me to get things done so that they can do their job. There are challenges however to give margin in our weeks and not get to worry when a curveball comes. We have to keep it flexible.
What do you find helpful to stay focused in your week?
Check out the other post in the Series