Introducing the Weekly Planning Matrix.
Weekly planning is one of the most critical parts of any solid time management and productivity system. Knowing what needs your attention each week is how you stay ahead of any issues and avoid building up impossibly large backlogs.
Yet, scarcely any people do this. It’s as if all they want to do is survive the week with as few dramas as possible, and if they do get to the end of the week without too many mistakes, they feel relieved and repeat the process the following week.
The weekly planning session should not be daunting. It’s your chance to clear your head, reset and refocus your attention to ensure that where you put your energies each week is in the right place so the right projects are moving forward and you are taking care of the things that are important to you.
Recently, I have been looking again at this dilemma — encouraging more people to give themselves thirty minutes at the end of the week to plan the following week. And I have come up with a simple matrix that you can use to help refocus your attention on what matters.
The matrix — what I call; “The Weekly Planning Matrix”, is a simple four-grid system that covers the most critical parts of your day-to-day life.
Your core work.
Your core work is the work you are employed to do. At its simplest level, if you are a salesperson, you are employed to sell. If you are a teacher, you are employed to teach, and if you are a truck driver, your job is to drive a truck.
I see myself as a content creator; therefore, my core work is creating content each week. I write a blog post, produce two YouTube videos, a podcast, and two newsletters each week. That’s six pieces of content each week. Creating this content aligns with my purpose — to help as many people as possible to become better organised — and means producing this content is non-negotiable.
Your core work tasks sit in the top left box and don’t change on a week-to-week basis.
Projects / Issues.
What projects need your attention next week? We are only looking at the next seven days, so you will unlikely include all your current projects. Just the ones that require your attention next week.
In my case, it’s likely to be updating an online course or preparing a workshop. I have many more projects than just these, but if I am not working on them next week, they will not go on this list.
Personal.
This quadrant is about your areas of focus and any personal tasks you need to take care of next week. This could be arranging your next holiday, meeting with some friends, or something as simple as washing your car or cleaning up your garden.
We are only looking ahead seven days, and it gives you a chance to address any areas of focus you may have neglected or get some outstanding errands done.
Your radar.
And the final quadrant is your radar. This is for anything you need to keep an eye on or review, as it may be something coming up in the near future. For instance, there may be a project your colleagues are working on that you have oversight on. You may not have anything particular to do on the project, but as you wait for your colleagues to do their bit, you want to keep an eye on it.
Three of the four quadrants will change each week; only your core work will be fixed. Having your core work tasks written out and in the top left of the quadrant means that the first thing you need to do each planning session is ensure you have sufficient time on your calendar to complete your core work. Your core work is non-negotiable. It must be done.
(Quick tip: to ensure you look at this weekly planning matrix each day, cross off the tasks you have done from the list.)
I have a template of this quadrant set up in my notes app. Every Saturday morning, when I sit down to make my plan for the week, I open a new note with this template, give it that day’s date and look through my projects list. This will highlight any projects that need my attention. Then, I can add those to my projects in the projects section.
I can also write out any areas of my life I feel need attention. For instance, I need to get to grips with my sleeping — currently not consistent — and restart my exercise programme, which has not been good lately.
My schedule for April is on my radar as I am planning to do a workshop that month and looking for a half-marathon to enter in April/May this year.
Overall, this matrix gives you a simple place to look at each day to ensure your attention is focused on what requires attention.
The key to making this work is always to remember this matrix only concerns the week you are in. Next week is not relevant right now. Your focus and attention need to be on what you want to accomplish this week. With that mindset, staying on track and avoiding being distracted by the latest, shiniest object (or productivity app) is far easier.
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