Each Wednesday The Daily Saint hosts the GTD Cafe, focusing on David Allen's system for Getting Things Done. Today we look at a cheap hack that anyone can use to practice the weekly review.
Many folks have commented on how difficult the weekly review can be to practice over time. Last week, guest post Stephen Smith gave some great tips on how powerful the weekly review can really be. This week I'd like to share a simple- I mean super simple- hack that anyone can use.
All you need is a highlighter. Choose any color and have it handy. I have about 10 of them that I bought from Staples in the closest drawer to my writing space at work. Simple right? Here's how to connect it with the weekly review:
- As you go through your day and see something that you know you'll want to process for the weekly review (which I practice on Sundays), highlight it. Don't be bashful with this. You can simply highlight or you can circle, underline, star, whatever. Go nuts- it's your highlighter after all!
- A highlighted item could be any number of things: a phone number, an item that you're waiting for, or an unfinished project detail.
- Finally, as you then go through the weekly review, you'll save time by looking back at the week gone by and can just extract those items that you've highlighted, transferring them to the appropriate place (contacts list, to-do list, projects list, etc.).
It's that simple! I'd love to know which GTD hacks you've been able to implement over the past few months...
Resources for the Road
LifeHack & GTD hacks
Student GTD Hack & the Moleskine
Paperless Hack
Designing a GTD Office