Steady Beats
For too long, I focused on planning without reviewing first. I would focus on what I need to do moving forward without looking back and reflecting on what was done.
But planning in the absence of reviewing is like a weak heartbeat—it doesn’t generate enough energy into the system to work effectively. And a plan without a review risks misdirection.
So I learned my lesson and stopped planning without reviewing first. I leaned into the process and I call this pairing—the review and the plan—a “Pulse”. And now I create Pulses at every level: weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, and even when I complete a milestone or major project.
Pulses create steady beats that fuel continued growth.
I love this process so much I’ve been using it in my 1-on-1s with folks on my team this year. I have them do the exact same process I do for myself every Sunday.
Let’s talk about what it looks like.
Weekly Reviews
I believe a week is the perfect time unit for tracking progress. You have enough space to make measurable progress, but not enough to get off track.
— From Issue #11: Weekly Updates
How do you do a Weekly Review? It’s a simple three-step process:
- Wins: List out all the wins from the week.
- Learnings: List out 3 learnings from the week.
- Takeaways: List out 3 takeaways based on learnings.
Wins
What are you proud of this week?
- Finishing a book.
- Completing a project.
- Having a nice family moment.
The goal is to document as many things as you can think of. I recommend documenting your wins throughout the week to make it easy to remember them.
Learnings
What did you learn this week?
- I need more focus time.
- I want to read more biographies.
- My time is split across too many projects.
Keep your list to 3. This is important because the constraint forces distillation.
Takeaways
What are you taking away from each learning?
- I need more focus time: Audit my meetings and block focus time.
- I want to read more biographies: Start reading an interesting biography.
- My time is split across too many projects: Try the techniques in ‘Slow Productivity’.
Again, keep your list to 3. The important part here is that each of your Takeaways will match 1-to-1 with your Learnings. While reflection is important, we also want to create agency and bring our learning into tangible takeaways for the new week.
Weekly Plans
The Weekly Plan is the counterpoint to the Weekly Review. First we review, then we plan—we shift from reflection to experimentation and create compound growth.
How do you do a Weekly Plan? It’s (also) a simple three-step process:
- Goals: List out 3 goals for the week.
- Events: List out any important milestones.
- Experiments: List out 3 experiments based on takeaways.
Goals
What do I need to accomplish this week?
- Launch the next newsletter issue.
- Complete the Q1 planning document.
- Increase focus time by one hour every day.
If you have to expand beyond three goals, go for it, but three is a good target.
Events
What major milestones or deliverables are this week?
- Product Strategy Workshop • Wednesday
- Shaping Session • Thursday
- Cycle 2 Ends • Friday
Experiments
What assumptions can I validate from my takeaways?
- Audit my meetings and block focus time:
- Assumption: If I can create space in my schedule and block my focus time, I’ll be able to get more work done and manage all the projects on my plate more effectively.
- Test: Perform a meeting audit and block focus time.
- Start reading an interesting biography:
- Assumption: If I start reading an interesting biography, I will increase my energy, interest, and unlock more insights I can use in my newsletter.
- Test: Find an interesting biography and start reading it.
- Try the techniques in ‘Slow Productivity’:
- Assumption: If I can reduce my current projects to 3, I will be able to more effectively manage my workload, output, and focus time.
- Test: Follow the ‘do fewer things’ principle and limit projects to 3 total.
This is where the magic happens. For each of your takeaways in your review, you design a small experiment you can test. And when you do your next review, learnings and takeaways will surface based on your experiments, which fuel further experimentation. This cultivates an Experimental Mindset and fuels compound growth.
Most of my favorite new processes and systems were born out of this process. It creates a perpetual feedback loop of continuous improvement.
Level Adjustments
You can apply the same format to monthly, quarterly, yearly, and any milestone-based review you want to do. Wins, learnings, takeaways is perfect for each.
The plans are where you can make some small adjustments. For Monthly and Quarterly Plans, you can still do goals and events, but instead of experiments I recommend projects. I create monthly projects that map to my quarterly goals, but you can just list out the key projects you’re working on that month or quarter.
For Yearly Plans, I still do goals and events, but I replace projects with a theme. This is a singular word I’m using as the theme for the next year.
Test what works for you. Use your Experimental Mindset to find the right format that allows you to reflect, experiment, and grow.
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