Every Sunday night I sit down for 15 minutes and answer 5 questions. It's not journaling. It's not meditation. It's a review of the week that just happened and a plan for the week ahead. I've done it almost every Sunday for two years and the weeks I skip are noticeably worse.
The idea comes from Getting Things Done by David Allen, but his version is 11 steps and takes an hour. I have kids. I adapted it to 5 questions and 15 minutes. Here it is.
Download the weekly review template
Available as a Notion template or Google Doc. 5 sections. Pre-formatted. Just duplicate and start writing.
Get the template (free)The 5 questions
1. What went well this week?
Write 2-3 things. Don't overthink it. "Finished the client proposal." "Took the kids to the park on Wednesday." "Slept 7 hours three nights." This isn't gratitude journaling. It's pattern recognition. Over months, you'll see what consistently goes well and what doesn't. The wins reveal your systems that work. Protect those.
2. What didn't go well?
Write 1-2 things. Again, not self-punishment. Pattern recognition. "Didn't exercise at all." "Snapped at the kids Thursday night because I was exhausted." "Missed a deadline because I procrastinated." You don't have to fix everything here. You just have to notice it. Patterns become visible over 4-6 weeks of writing these down.
3. What are my top 3 priorities for next week?
Not 10 priorities. Not a full to-do list. Three things. The three things that, if you got them done, would make the week a win regardless of everything else. Write them as specific outcomes, not vague intentions. "Submit Q1 report to boss" not "work on Q1 report." "Schedule 3 client calls" not "do more outreach."
These three things go on your calendar as time blocks before anything else gets scheduled. They're the main event. Everything else is supporting cast.
4. What's on the family calendar?
Look at the shared calendar for the coming week. Doctor appointments. School events. Birthday parties. Date night. Anything that requires prep, travel, or scheduling. Flag anything that conflicts with your top 3 priorities and resolve it now, not at 7am Monday.
This question prevents the "I forgot we had that thing on Tuesday" scramble. It takes 2 minutes and saves hours of reactive fire-fighting.
5. What's one thing I want to do differently?
One thing. Not five. One specific, small change to try this week. "Go to bed by 10:30 instead of 11:30." "Eat lunch away from my desk." "Say yes to one thing the kids ask me to play." "Don't check email before 9am."
Small experiments. If it works, it becomes a habit. If it doesn't, pick a different one next week. Over a year, you'll have tried 50+ small improvements. A handful will stick and compound into real change.
When and how to do it
When: Sunday evening, after the kids are in bed. Pair it with your Sunday reset. Physical reset first (clear surfaces, plan meals, set out clothes), then the mental review. Total time for both: 30 minutes.
How: Open the template. Answer the 5 questions. Don't write paragraphs. Bullet points are fine. 1-3 items per question. The whole thing should fit on one page. If you're writing more than that, you're overthinking it.
Where: Notion works great because you can duplicate the template each week and scroll back through previous weeks. Google Docs works if you prefer something simpler. A physical notebook works if screens bother you at night. The format doesn't matter. The consistency does.
What happens over time
Week 1-4: You're figuring out the habit. Some weeks you'll forget. Some weeks the answers feel forced. Keep going. You're building muscle memory.
Week 5-12: Patterns emerge. You notice you never exercise when you don't plan it on Sunday. You notice that the weeks with clear top-3 priorities feel more productive. You notice that "didn't go well" often involves the same trigger (staying up too late, not saying no to a meeting, skipping lunch).
Week 13+: The review becomes a steering wheel. You start making decisions during the week based on what you wrote on Sunday. "That's not one of my top 3, it can wait." "I said I'd try going to bed earlier, so I'm putting the phone down now." The review stops being something you do and starts being something you live by.
Don't combine this with everything
The review is separate from your monthly money check-in (which happens once a month with your partner). It's separate from your household labor rebalancing (which happens quarterly). It's separate from goal-setting (which happens when it happens).
Keep the weekly review light. Five questions. Fifteen minutes. If you try to cram everything into one weekly session, you'll start dreading it and stop doing it. The power is in the simplicity.
Get the template
Notion or Google Docs. 5 questions. Pre-formatted. Duplicate it every Sunday and start writing.
Download now (free)