Building & learning
A weekly review that ends with a next step
Four questions for turning a busy week into a lesson, a decision and an action.
A week can be full without moving the thing you care about forward. A short review gives you a chance to notice that before starting another one.
The template on this site uses four sets of questions. You can answer them on paper or in whatever notes app you already use.
1. What happened?
Write down what moved forward, what slipped and what surprised you. Keep this factual. A list of what actually happened is more useful than a verdict on whether you had a good week.
2. What did you learn?
Look for an assumption that changed. Perhaps a task took longer than expected, a conversation answered a question, or something you thought mattered turned out to be unnecessary.
3. What matters next?
Choose the one outcome that would make next week meaningful. Then ask what you can stop carrying so it has room to happen.
4. What will you commit to?
Turn the outcome into an action you can schedule. Include room for health and relationships alongside work.
An illustrative example
Imagine you're making a small website. You spent the week adjusting the design, but you still haven't published the page that explains your project.
- What happened: the homepage looks better; the project description is still unfinished.
- What I learned: polishing the layout was easier than deciding what I wanted to say.
- What matters next: make the project understandable to someone seeing it for the first time.
- What I commit to: draft the four-sentence explanation on Monday, ask one person to read it, then publish it.
The review has done its job when it produces a decision you can act on.