The Simple System for Productivity and Purpose
I hope you’ve been taking some time to rest and renew this summer! However, as we chug closer to a change of seasons, I’d like to introduce you to a third essential “R” – Review. The “three R’s” of rest, renew and review are three practices that help me keep my life aligned, balanced, and intentional. I’ve shared about rest and renew in previous blogs, but as a quick recap:
Rest usually includes activities that replenish your energy.
Activities that renew us typically generate new and different energy.
So what is “review?”
Review is all about noticing our energy. It’s about intentionally looking back and noticing things like how we’re spending our time, where we’re spending our energy, where we’re gaining energy. In short, it helps us keep a pulse on what is (and is not) life-giving for us.
Review (especially the weekly – or even daily – sort) doesn’t have to be long. And it’s not hard. It’s a few minutes of “getting onto the balcony of your life” and taking an honest look at what’s going on. It’s amazing what happens when we get intentional about noticing.
Last week I shared this quote from James Clear’s Atomic Habits: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” Review is one of those systems that keeps me on track – and gets me BACK on track when (not if) I get off-track. It is the most important system I have for being both productive and purposeful.
An example of noticing…
My weekly review is a part of my planning for the coming week. At least, it is now. I’ll be honest that a couple of months ago, I realized that something was off. I was doing my weekly planning and trying to follow it, but I was struggling with a lot of negative thinking and emotions that were getting me off-course. I’d try the following week to “plan better” but the results were the same. I realized that I was missing a crucial step: Review.
When I started to add a few minutes of review at the beginning of my planning time, I felt a shift. Reviewing gave me a chance to simply notice what had been going on during the week and what I’d been thinking and feeling. It felt like stepping off a treadmill that had been going a little too fast for me. It allowed me to breathe and acknowledge the thoughts and feelings, instead of fighting them. It gave me information about how my energy was helped or hindered by certain things, and it helped clear the decks so that I could plan for the coming week more effectively, making some intentional choices based on what I’d noticed.
How does review help?
Noticing what brings us life and what sucks the life from us – especially when done over time – can help us identify patterns in our life. Maybe we’ll see something about our work responsibilities that we’d like to change. Maybe we’ll notice a relationship that we’d like to invest in more – or invest in less. Maybe we’ll start to notice habits that are holding us back from the kind of life we’d prefer to live.
Review can also help us to celebrate accomplishments - big and small, maybe especially those that are small or more private. If you’re anything like me, you struggle to truly celebrate what you’ve done. C’mon, what does that really mean, anyhow? Am I supposed to take myself out for ice cream?
For me, simply reviewing my week allows for the kind of “celebration” that is helpful for me. I pause and acknowledge things I’ve done that I’m happy about, maybe even a little bit proud of. Maybe it was simply forging ahead and making a phone call I’d been nervous about. Maybe it was the way I responded in a particular conversation. These “accomplishments” aren’t always tasks I’ve checked off the list. Regardless of how large or small or who else knows about it, I’ll allow myself a few moments of feeling good about that step or feeling proud that I showed up for myself in that way. When I jot it down in my planner or journal, that’s even better. It generates even more positive energy and momentum for the coming week.
Review also has a benefit toward productivity. Remember your desire to handle the next 90 days of life like a boss? Review is essential for that. Part of my review includes reviewing project action plans: checking off what’s been done, figuring out if any steps need to be added, and noting what needs to be done in the coming week. (My Achiever strength LOVES this!)
How to review:
I like to review in two key ways: weekly and quarterly. Sometimes a monthly review is helpful, too, but usually my weekly reviews and longer quarterly reviews are the pattern that’s most impactful for me.
Weekly review is part of weekly planning, which is about a 30 minute block of time each week (for me, usually on Sundays). I look back (review), and then look ahead (plan).
If you took the time to create a 90 Day Plan, then weekly review begins with looking over that plan and reminding yourself about your intentions for this season. Then look at the past week and notice how you moved closer to or further away from those intentions. Decide how you’d like to respond to that in the coming week. Celebrate what was accomplished. Then review your action plans and create a schedule for the coming week that includes time for self-care, time for the people you want to invest in, and time to tackle some action steps for projects.
Quarterly reviews are similar – they are part of my 90 Day Resets, where I look back and then plan for the next 90 days.
This rhythm of weekly and quarterly review helps keep me on track. Does it make every week (or any week) perfect? Nope. There’s no such thing. But it does help me make every week matter, and by cumulative effect, every season matter. And all of those seasons build up to a life that matters, a life lived on purpose.