Weekly Planning in Notion inspired from the greatest productivity book of all time.
I have been doing this simple task consistently for last 3 years and it has given me outsized returns it terms of time saved.
I read about weekly planning 3 years ago in the OG Productivity book- “7 habits of highly effective people” and I have planned my every single week in advance since then without fail.
And there are just three simple steps to plan your week.
Step 1: 📝 Setting Priorities
Every Sunday, I open Notion and create a new page from a set weekly planning template(link below). Then I write my weekly priorities for that particular week. These priorities come from my Quarterly Roadmap and at the same time I also accommodate ad hoc tasks and changes that come along the way.
Step 2: 🗂️ Breaking Down Tasks
They are then divided into smaller tasks and these tasks are then distributed over 7 days. So, if my weekly priority is to complete a PRD then a task could be data analysis for discovery which I can chose to do on Monday.
Step 3: 🗓️ Deciding time and day
In the same page there are columns for all the 7 days of the week from Monday to Sunday where I need to put my tasks into. I keep my calendar open alongside, which helps me take into account things like meetings, holidays, appointments etc.
This whole activity takes me just 20 mins each day and in return saves 2–3 hrs of focus time every week.
Please find the link to the template here- https://anmolag.notion.site/External-Weekly-Planning-Template-94826aabde34439aba41831b8e60d733?pvs=4
The weekly planning works because-
🧠 Clarity over Chaos:
It reduces brain fog by separating planning and execution. Both planning and execution happen in their own time.
😓 Anxiety Reduction:
It reduces anxiety where there is a lot to do all at once. Thinking about all the different open projects, meetings and tasks that you need to do all at once creates anxiety. By planning the week in advance I know when I do I need to pick each task.
⏰ Taking Control:
It gives me control of my time. When there is no planning, I basically fill up your time with whatever comes up but when you take time to think you can truly prioritise tasks that are more important and delegate or say no to tasks that don’t make sense.
Since, I have been doing this for the last 3 years, I have a snapshot of each week of my life since Oct’2020 and I have enough data points to notice a pattern and answer questions like which day of the week I slack, what kind of work I usually procrastinate with and so on.
