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Anne Gennett
On the road with Weekly Review …
So you’ve been on the road for two weeks. Days full of meetings and phone calls, juggling unexpected issues back in the office (there are always unexpected issues back at the office!) and you’ve collected more paper than you know what to do with. You know you need a weekly review, you’ve committed yourself to do a weekly review and we’ve told you how important it is, but (and here you can pick your “but” of choice….) I’m not in my office; I don’t have ALL my stuff to collect and do a COMPLETE review so what’s the point; I’m too tired and I’ll do it later; or (my personal favorite and one I’ve chosen myself on many occasions) David doesn’t know what he’s talking about and I don’t really need to do a weekly review, right?
Well, I’ve been there, as have most of the people I work with and here are some suggestions to help you with the every changing “traveling” weekly review. First, planes and trains are great places to do reviews, as are airports, hotel rooms and just about anywhere else. All you need are your lists and whatever you have on hand to collect. You can do a mind sweep anywhere, right?
So, I first collect anything in my briefcase and bags and then my mind and drop it in my traveling “In” folder. I process everything into next action steps, catching bigger projects and noting anything I need in my reference section. I tag any paper I’ve dealt with and file into my traveling “Back to Office” folder, noting what needs to be done with it (like filing, forward to Jodi, drop into tickler for November, etc). This way I can just dump it into my in box when I get back into my office and I don’t need to rethink it. After I’ve processed what I’ve got on hand, I just work down my regular weekly review checklist; cleaning up my lists and marking off anything I’ve completed; checking my calendar backwards and forward, catching any action or follow-up; reviewing my projects and someday maybe lists and voila!, I’m done. It was short, sweet, I’ve kept my commitment, I know what’s going on and I can actually relax, knowing I at least processed what I could and am as prepared as possible. Now when I get back to my office, I repeat the process with what’s been waiting for me.
For me, the anxiety caused by not knowing what I’ve got makes me tired. It also makes me tired to completely put off a review until I’m back in my office because then my piles of “stuff” to process are bigger, and it takes longer, so it’s harder to get motivated. By breaking it down into two reviews, and by just identifying what I’ve committed to, my energy seems to go up.
As far as the weekly review goes, David really does know what he’s talking about. He’ll tell you to try this all out and see for yourself. I know I’ve tested, pushed back, and resisted, trying to make it all work with a monthly review (trust me, it’s not quite the same), but he’s right. But we’ll keep that just between you and I, okay?
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