27. Staying on Track: Review your day and reset ready for the next day.
Includes printable review pdfs for weekly, monthly and quarterly reviews along with an evening routine sheet to get you started. For paid subscribers to download.
Hi there, I’m Val Spiers and I write and create my way through my life with joy and purpose.
27/1000 (7.1 - 2024)
In this week’s newsletter:
I go over how reviewing my progress works for me and how I use planning, habits and reviewing during my day and week. I have created review question sheets for week, month and quarter and a sheet to create your evening routine. These are available for paid subscribers to download.
Why I do a review
I review my days and weeks and plan ahead.
If I don’t plan or brain dump I get behind in my goal steps and I feel miserable.
If I don’t acknowledge that I am moving forward step by step each day and each week I feel like I never get anything done.
If I don’t tick off the action steps in my planner each day I forget to write down something I am grateful for. I have a gratitude section on my weekly planner page. This reminds me to add some photos to my gratitude journal and some special things I am grateful for.
How I started out about 10 years ago
When I started out planning I would make a note of things in my journal each day like a to do list. I would tick them off. At the end of each week I would go back and look at what I had ticked off and write about my week. I didn’t have a detailed breakdown of my goals written out anywhere but I did have goals written down. I was always reviewing my progress towards the goals.
In the beginning I did a lot of adjusting and deleting and rewriting of my goals. I used various documented methods for writing goals and I tried to break them down into many action steps. All this was good for thinking about my goals but I don’t think it helped me achieve them.
I found that instead of setting goals each year it was much better for me to list all the things that I wanted to have or achieve over the foreseeable future. I then sort them into 1 year, 2 years, 5 years and 10 years. I have done this for the last 3 or 4 years now. I write up my list each year then check it against the previous year. Sometimes I will add in something I missed or just move on.
There is probably no point in reviewing your day or week unless you have some goals written down that you want to achieve. Building my best life with goal setting.
What makes reviewing worthwhile?
By reviewing your day and week you set yourself up for success in achieving your goals.
If you have set some goals for the year and broken them down into smaller steps to achieve over a quarter or month then the only way you can tell if you are on your way to reach your goals is by checking on the direction you are heading.
When you do a daily review of the action steps you have or haven’t completed then you can easily see if you are on track or not.
The weekly review is a great time to list out all the little wins you had that week. It feels good to recognise how many steps you have taken towards your goal and you feel motivated to continue. If you are getting behind or losing interest in a goal the weekly review will make this obvious to you. You need to ask the hard questions about the goal not beat yourself up because you can’t find the motivation.
Is the goal aligned with your core values?
Is the goal aligned with what you are looking to achieve in your life areas?
Is the goal aligned with what you want or is it what someone else expects of you?
If the goal is not the problem then you need to look inside yourself and analyse your thoughts. Sometimes we have mind blocks that stop us being successful or happy or wealthy. Self-doubt and money are common blocks.
Everyone struggles
I struggled with thoughts about not being good enough to have a successful business or not deserving to be well-off or not believing that what I offer is worth anything. Thoughts like this still cross my mind because they are part of the culture I was brought up in. They are very deep seated. I sense those thoughts still, but they are like shadows of a past that is not part of me anymore. I am always looking forward and doing things that support the positive thoughts I have about myself.
That’s why a daily and weekly review are so important to me. I have a plan to follow. I have a record of all the things I achieve each day or week. I recognise my successes so that my self-confidence grows every day. What I do supports my positive thoughts about myself and my life. This makes the positive thoughts easier to believe so it gets easier to act in a confident way and feel motivated to achieve more.
I know that I can change how I think and I can change how I act because I prove it to myself every day. My confidence and my joy are fuelled by my decisions and my intentional actions. I believe deep down that I am in charge of my journey and responsible for my present moment. I wasn’t always like this. I am still learning and practicing to take charge of the things I can control and work around the things that are out of my control.
Planning and reviewing: A typical day in 2024
Morning
Even in the few weeks I have been refining this post I have made some changes to my routine. By reviewing each day I realised that I was neglecting my new quilting project because I didn’t feel like sewing after writing. Now I quilt first for however long it takes to complete a few blocks then I add my progress to my sewing blog and start writing for my newsletter. This takes me 2 or 3 hours from the time I get up.
I don’t need to check my planner before I start work because I know exactly what I am doing. I have my quilting table set up ready to start without thinking. I say I don’t check the planner in the morning but I know what is written there because I wrote it out the night before on my weekly planner page. I am already in the habit of walking onto my work room after getting up and now seeing the quilt project set out and ready I just get to work. Adding my progress to my sewing blog gets me to the computer and ready to work on my newsletters. I will write for as long as I need to get to a good stopping point. I don’t have a word count or set time to write.
As soon as I walk out of my work room I go and clean my teeth and do my exercise routine. Next I shower and get dressed and have a break. I will drink some water and think about breakfast.
My work times are not set in stone but I like to work just after I get up. After 2 or 3 hours of work I do my exercise routine, shower and dress.
Mid morning
I have a protein rich breakfast around 10am. Sometimes earlier , sometimes later. I will have my oats and some fruit and a cup of coffee and a high protein snack. My day is pretty relaxed even on work days so I drift a bit and watch the news or a favourite show or read or watch self-development videos on Youtube. I have lots of things that I do when I am not actually working and most of the time my work is a fun thing to do.
I check my plan a few times a day to make sure I am actually doing the things on my list throughout the day. It’s the little reminder that helps me get over procrastination. I have started adding some self-care and rest ideas to the plan. Things like have a cup of tea and sit outside or have a wander around my yard are things I write on my list. There is nothing like writing things down to make sure you will do them.
Afternoon
Around 3:30pm I go for a walk. I have an elastic walk habit written out. I have my last meal between 4 and 5pm. At 5pm I have just started a doll dressmaking routine so I have the alarm set as a reminder. Between 5 and 6pm I work on my doll clothes patterns.
Early evening
I need to review my day at 6pm or I forget. I tick off items and write up what I achieved for the doll dressmaking. (I am in the process of recording how much I can get done with just an hour a day.) I check what is on the agenda for the next day. I often add some tasks or notes to the To Do panel on my week. These are usually things like tidy my book shelf or buy peanut butter. I will do them if I am looking for something to do during any day.
Finally I like to write down something that I am grateful for in the Gratitude panel on my week. It’s usually just something ordinary like I am grateful the rain cleared up today. Doing this triggers me to look at my Gratitude Journal and write something more personal or add a recent photo that highlights something I am grateful for.
Evening
At 8:30 my wind down alarm goes to let me know I need to stop looking at screens and start to wind down. I will do the kitchen reset routine then I get ready for bed with my pyjamas and bathroom routine then read for a while. 9:30 is sleep time but that time is flexible up to 30 mins either way.
The sun is still coming up quite late so my wake-up alarm is set for 6:15 am. I turn it off then slowly wake up and get up to start my new day.
Downloads for paid subscribers
Weekly Review Checklist
Monthly or Quarterly Review Checklist
Evening routine
Cheers,
Val