Want Incredible Weekly Reviews?

In Mind Organization for Moms, April Perry describes what is involved in “building your machine.”  This setup is designed to help you organize your mind, papers, and anything else that creeps its way into one of your inboxes.

If you have built your “MOM machine,” you have worked hard, and you should give yourself a giant pat on the back.  What an accomplishment!  If you were anything like me, you might have thought, “I can NEVER let it get this bad again!”  Is that possible?  Well, of course it is.

The way we maintain Mind Organization for Moms is through the Weekly Review.

April has already done a brilliant job of outlining the components of your weekly review.  My purpose is simply to remind you of those steps, impress upon you their importance, and motivate you to make them a habit.  Hopefully you will find some tips as well that will help you with the logistics of this process.

Are you ready to get excited about your weekly review?  All right then, here we go!

First, let’s remind ourselves of what needs to be done each week:

Key Points to a Successful Weekly Review (more details in MOM, p.11):

1. Fill up (and process) your Main Inbox.  Collect all papers and thoughts and process each item from the top.  Review your calendar, past and future, to see if you need to follow up or prepare something.

2. Review Current Projects Folder.  Determine if anything should be added or moved to your Someday Folder.

3. Identify Your Next Actions.  Decide if they are Immediate or Important and write them down in their designated spot.

4. Look at your Routines and Responsibilities Folder.  Adjust if necessary.  (See the MOM newsletter from July 2011 for some additional great ideas.)

5. Review Your Waiting List.  Write any necessary follow up on a next action list.

6. Review Your Goal Review/Personal Lists.  Remind yourself what is important to you.  It will only take a couple of minutes.

7. Look through your email folders.  Sort any emails in your inbox and review the “@” folders, especially “@Immediate” and “@Important.”

8. Look through your “off the brain” materials for new ideas.  Scan your Incubation or Someday folder to see if you can include any of those things into your week.

Got it?  I have found it to be helpful to have a printout of the “Key Steps to a Weekly Review” (Click on that link for your own printable PDF) so I remember what needs to be done.  I keep it in a visible spot in my workspace.  For many of you this has become a habit and that is terrific.  For others of you it is a bit of a struggle so let’s figure out what might be holding you back from having successful weekly reviews so you can enjoy all of its benefits.  Here are seven roadblocks you may be experiencing and ways you can overcome them.

1.  I’m busy, and this is just one more thing that needs to be done.  I don’t have time.

All moms are busy, and with five young children at home, I don’t always feel in control of my time.  I get that. For instance, one of my side “jobs” is reviewing different products and right now I am behind. My Play-Doh review and my TV soundbar reviews are due by midnight tonight. Part of the reason the weekly review is a tough pill to swallow for some is because it seems like extra work.  It feels like it’s just one more thing we have to find time to do.

Before I used Mind Organization for Moms, I was like many of you who had piles of paper on my kitchen counter.  I tried different systems for organizing them, but they weren’t reliable.  Those papers just stayed in piles in hopes that I wouldn’t forget about them.  Over time, toys and crayons would cover them until I knew someone was coming over, and I would end up shoving them in a drawer or the laundry room.  Have you ever been there?  Even though I stayed afloat most of the time, it was stressful worrying that I had missed something I needed to get done.  My mind was certainly not at peace.  When I would finally get to those papers, it would take me more time and cause more frustration because I still didn’t know where to put them.  So they just went back to the kitchen counter.

Processing our inboxes is not extra work that we have to find more time to do.  Those papers, emails, and thoughts were there before, only now you have a trusted system and place to store and retrieve them.  It might seem counter-intuitive at first but, because MOM streamlines your processing, your weekly review will actually save you time and will be a lot less painful than before.  When I was in high school, I had a boss who often reminded me to take the time to get organized before starting a project.  It’s the same idea here.

While the time required to do a weekly review will vary from mom to mom, If your “MOM machine” is built well and you are having consistent reviews, this process should not be gruelingly long.  Remember, unless you’re completing a few two-minute tasks, this is not the time to do things.  You are simply processing what needs to be done.  If you find that a task is taking more than the anticipated two minutes, write down your next action and move on.

2. I’ve missed a couple weekly reviews, and I’m so behind.  It’s hopeless!

Well, that is the problem that really inspired this article.  My kids just returned to school and, while our summer was heavenly, we certainly did not stick to our normal routine.  For awhile my paper tray could hardly stand the weight of the pile on top of it.  If you go on vacation, have a major life event, get sick, or otherwise enter survival mode, the flow of paperwork and emails does not stop. When life’s routines return, it will all be there waiting for you.

Obviously this is not the most ideal situation but it happens to all of us at some point.  During those times your weekly review can be viewed as one of your current projects because that is exactly what it is.  Hold an emergency review as soon as possible to process your main inbox, email inbox, and create your next actions lists. Put your paper tray on the kitchen counter and go through it as you get a minute or two or do it when your kids are in bed.  This might need to be spread out over a few days as you’re working on other responsibilities but, the sooner you can do this, the less likely you will miss something and the better you will feel.

Let me offer a word of caution.  Because a mother’s schedule can be unpredictable, your main inbox is not the best place to put your paper bills.  Instead I put them in one of my current project support cubbies.  That way, my bill paying cycle is never disturbed if my main inbox is overflowing.

There are a few important, but not urgent, components to the weekly review.  If you miss reviewing your goals for a week or two, your world will probably not come crumbling down.  I have realized that if I neglect this too long, however, I start to feel like I’m floundering a bit.  Since many of the steps to your weekly review only take a minute or two, it’s best to do them weekly when possible.

3. I simply forget to have a weekly review regularly.

Your weekly review needs to be included in your Routines and Responsibilities and a time should be designated to do this each week.  Experiment with different times so you know what works best.  If you choose to do all or portions of your review with your spouse, keep that in mind when scheduling.  Communicate with your family so they understand what you are doing and why.  This will also help you so you don’t feel guilty taking the time to do it.  When your husband and children see what a blessing this will be for the entire family, they just might remind you to get it done!

4. I’m not sure how to process everything or identify the next action.

Using MOM to process all your information might seem a bit awkward at first, but trust me on this one.  It is going to get so much easier with practice.  Before you know it, it will become second nature.  Do you remember the first time you drove a car?  There was so much you had to remember to do, but now, you hardly have to think about it.

To get you to that point, there are a few powerful tools and resources to assist you.  Remember the Mind Organization for Moms Flow Chart?  I strongly recommend you print this off and put it in a visible spot in your workspace.  (You will need to log in to www.powerofmoms.com before this link will work.)  The flow chart is especially helpful at taking the guesswork out of processing your information.  Initially it might seem silly to ask yourself so many questions about a single piece of paper or email, but it is a great tool for training you mind to think MOM-style.  Before long you’ll be cruising along without it but you might want to keep it handy in case you come across something tricky.
Every mom is unique, and no one can anticipate everything that will be in all of your inboxes.  That is why part of your MOM program is the support available online.  The MOM Sharing Center contains pictures and links offering additional ideas from the MOM community.  MOM Q&A lists frequently asked questions and their answers.  And did you know there are a few MOM Coaches out there just itching to answer your MOM-related questions?  Here are their email addresses so you can submit you questions directly to them.

Kristine Jones:  [email protected]
Chantol Sego:  [email protected]
Kelli Connell:   [email protected]

Please don’t hesitate to ask for help answering your questions, big or small.  The three of us met at a Power of Moms retreat and we are all giddy about using this system.  We are confident that it will work for any mom and we are determined to help you succeed.

5. I am overwhelmed by the amount of material I have to sort through.

When we first moved into our current home, our mailman warned us we would be receiving a lot of catalogs and other junk mail originally intended for the previous owners.  Boy, was he right!  I finally started calling the various companies and requested that I be removed from their mailing lists.  There are other steps you can take to decrease the amount of material coming into your main inbox and email inbox.  In the United States, you can go to www.optoutprescreen.com or call 888-567-8688 and opt out of credit card offers.  Another website you can go to is www.dmachoice.org.  It allows you to be selective about the mailing lists to which you subscribe.

Junk emails are just as much a problem but it is relatively easy to find the “unsubscribe” link in the fine print of many emails.  If you want to keep some advertisements, you could just transfer them to a separate folder so they are not cluttering up your inbox.  You can also create filters that automatically send certain emails to specific folders.  When you are ready to look through all those advertisements, you can simply review that folder.  In Gmail, login and look for the link at the top that says, “Create a filter.”

6. Even with a weekly review, I’m afraid I’m missing things.

If you find that your weekly review is not enough to keep all the balls in the air, perhaps you want to include multiple reviews into your weekly routine.  You could do portions of your weekly review at various times in the week or just empty your inboxes each day.  Hold your reviews as often as you need so you don’t feel like you are missing something.  Make your weekly review work for you.

You will probably still find it helpful to have a designated time for your primary weekly review.  This would be the time to really ensure all the steps are fully completed.

This method could be especially suited to moms who are extra busy, even if it is only for that week.  Moms with newborns might find it difficult to find any sort of  stretch of time but ensuring you are processing even a few papers or emails each day will decrease the chances of becoming totally swamped down the road.

April Perry explained what works for her when she said, “GTD and MOM both recommend doing a full review once a week, but that’s not always feasible for busy moms.  I try to do a thorough one each Monday night, but I usually end up emptying my inbox, re-doing my Immediate Next Actions list, and getting my head back in order about three times a week.  If you would like to break your review down into smaller steps, that would work just fine with the system.  You’ll just want to be sure you don’t miss any important areas.  Keep an eye on your calendar and Next Actions lists, and be sure you get your inbox all the way empty at least once a week.”

7. Having a weekly review isn’t very much fun.

I must be honest with you that I have a love/hate relationship with this process.  Reviewing my @Immediate Action email folder is not really my idea of a good time, and frankly, I don’t really enjoy processing my main inbox.  I’d much rather read a good book or watch a movie with my husband.  But the payoff…um…wow.  It sure feels good when I know all my bases are covered and nothing is going to fall through the cracks.  Think about that for a minute.  The feeling of peace you will get knowing you haven’t forgotten something far exceeds the time and trouble involved.  This is what keeps your head clear and helps you to rest easy, making it totally worth your efforts.

One useful method to make your weekly review more fun is to use a timer.  I have a friend who can fold a week’s worth of laundry for a family of seven in 45 minutes.  How is that possible?  Psych yourself up, set the timer, and go for speed.  If you want to try something different, the Pomodoro Technique is a fancy system of using a timer in 25-minute increments to get things done.

You could also turn on some music or do whatever it takes to motivate you to complete each task and make it as enjoyable as possible.  Since this is not inherently fun for most people, you have to make it fun.  Have a positive attitude, stay focused, and it will be done before you know it.  This will help you avoid procrastination the next time your weekly review rolls around.

At the bottom of my main inbox I have a little sticky note that says, “Clean, Clear, Current, and Complete!!!”  I get such a thrill when I see those words.  They are like music to my ears and motivate me to get my inbox to zero.

Ok, that’s my two cents worth.  Are you convinced that you need a complete and regular weekly review?  Do you feel armed and ready to tackle this process?  I am quite sure your effective weekly review is going to change your life and help you immensely.

Have you discovered anything that helps you?  Your questions, experiences, and advice are welcome in the comment section below.

CHALLENGE:  Identify any weaknesses in your weekly review.  Write down your next action to implement one or two of these ideas.

About Kristine Jones

Kristine stays home with her children, ages 3-11 years. With five children (and one on the way), she now feels she is the co-owner of a small business and needs charts and spreadsheets for everything her family does. She enjoys reading and sewing, and especially loves when a crafty idea solves an organizational problem. With a degree in microbiology, she often shudders as she navigates the germy jungle of motherhood.