Weekly planning

Set the week’s priorities and rough blocks before the week starts.

Why it works

A weekly view lets you allocate scarce deep-work time to what matters before the urgent crowds it out. Deciding priorities in advance, while calm, protects them from the in-the-moment bias toward whatever is loudest rather than most important.

How to do it

1. Reserve 20–30 minutes before the week begins.
2. Choose the 2–3 outcomes that would make the week a success.
3. Block deep-work time for those first, then fit everything else around them.
4. Reconcile against last week — what slipped, and why.

Evidence

Weekly planning combines goal-setting and implementation intentions, both with strong evidence for improving follow-through when goals are specific and time-bound. (rct)

Goal-setting evidence is strong for specific, committed goals; vague weekly intentions add little.

Sources

• Locke & Latham (2002), goal-setting theory, American Psychologist

Common mistake

Planning the week as a wish list with no time allocated, so priorities have no protected slot and lose to whatever is urgent on Monday.