What the weekly review is
It is not a meeting with yourself. It is not a list of accomplishments. It is maintenance: the systematic clearing of open loops, the updating of commitments, and the resetting of the decision-making surface for the coming week.
Five parts, in order
1. Clear the inbox. Process every captured item — email, notes, voice memos — to empty. Not to done, but to processed: each item is deleted, delegated, deferred, or added to an active list.
2. Review active projects. For each project, confirm the next action is still correct and assigned. If a project has no next action, create one now.
3. Check the calendar. Review the coming two weeks. What is coming that requires preparation? What should be blocked in advance?
4. Review the someday list. The list of things you might want to do eventually. Some become active projects; most remain. The act of reviewing keeps the possibilities visible.
5. Set the single weekly priority. One project or outcome that, if achieved, makes this week a success regardless of everything else. Write it at the top of your active list.
A complete weekly review takes 45-60 minutes. Each review prevents roughly two hours of decision overhead in the following week.
Steady wins.