Weekly review — Patter

The case

The weekly review is the backbone of Getting Things Done — the ritual David Allen describes as the most important practice in the system. The idea is simple: once a week, you process everything that’s accumulated, review everything that’s active, and do a full sweep of your mind. At the end, nothing is floating loose. Your system is complete, current, and trusted.

Most productivity systems eventually break down because of what accumulates between sessions. Things get captured but not processed. Projects get added but don’t get next actions. Commitments get made but don’t get recorded. The weekly review is the maintenance that keeps the system from quietly becoming unreliable — and the moment you stop trusting your system is the moment your mind takes back the job of trying to hold everything.

Running this in Patter changes what the review actually feels like. The steps are long enough to be thorough and specific enough to follow, which means the review becomes a consistent process rather than a variable one. Some weeks you’ll move through quickly. Others will turn up things that need more attention. The structure is the same either way.

The value of the weekly review compounds. One review clears a week’s worth of accumulation. A consistent habit of reviews builds a system you genuinely trust — one where you know that if something matters, it’s in there, and if it’s in there, you’ll see it. That’s what Allen means by mind like water: not the absence of things to do, but the absence of the low-level anxiety that comes from not knowing whether your system is telling you the truth.

Weekly Review

Set aside the time and close the door. The weekly review only works with protected time — 60 to 90 minutes with no interruptions. If you're doing it in stolen moments between other things, you're not doing it. Block it in your calendar and treat it like an appointment you won't cancel.
Gather all physical loose papers and materials. Every inbox, every surface, every bag and pocket. Anything that hasn't been processed goes into one physical pile. Don't sort yet — just collect.
Process your physical inbox to empty. Work through the pile. Each item: what is it? Does it require action? If no — trash, reference, or someday/maybe. If yes — what's the next action? If it takes less than two minutes, do it now. Otherwise, defer or delegate.
Review your digital inboxes. Email, messages, notes apps, voice memos, anything that captures input. Process each to zero or to a deliberate holding state. Not just triage — actually decide what each thing is and where it belongs.
Review your previous calendar. Go back through the past week. Is there anything that needs a follow-up action? A meeting that produced a commitment you haven't captured? A name or number you meant to do something with?
Review your upcoming calendar. Look two to three weeks ahead. Is there anything you need to prepare for? Any action or project that should be on your list because of what's coming?
Do a full mindsweep. What's on your mind that isn't yet captured in your system? Worries, ideas, things you said you'd do, things you've been avoiding, things that feel unresolved. Write everything down — one item per line. Don't filter. The goal is an empty head, not a tidy list.
Process your mindsweep notes. Work through what you just captured. Same logic as the physical inbox — what is it, does it need action, where does it belong?
Review your Projects list. Read through every project. Does each one have at least one next action? Is anything stalled? Is anything complete that you haven't closed out? Add, update, or delete as needed.
Review your Next Actions lists. Go through each context list. Are the actions still relevant? Are any completed? Are any that have been sitting there long enough that you should either do them or delete them?
Review your Waiting For list. Is anything overdue? Does anything need a follow-up? For each item: do you still need it, and if so, what's the appropriate nudge?
Review your Someday/Maybe list. Read through everything. Does anything belong on your active projects list now? Is anything no longer interesting? Are there things that have been there so long they're more fantasy than intention?
Review your Reference material. Not everything — just anything recent or pending. Is anything filed in the wrong place? Is anything there that should have generated an action?
Review your higher horizons. Areas of focus, goals, longer-term thinking. Not every week needs to go deep here — but a glance at what matters at a higher level occasionally surfaces something that the ground-level review missed.
Get creative. With a clear head and a current system, ask: is there anything missing? Any project that should exist but doesn't? Any commitment you've made to yourself that isn't represented anywhere? Any opportunity you've been meaning to think about?
Confirm your system is complete and current. Everything captured. Every project with a next action. Every commitment visible. If you can honestly say that, the review is done.
Note the date and close. Mark it done. The value of a weekly review compounds — knowing you've done it consistently is part of what makes the system trustworthy.

Make it yours

The review is only as good as the system it's reviewing. If your lists are incomplete or you don't trust them, the weekly review surfaces that quickly — and that's useful information. The answer is to improve the system, not to skip the review.

Steps #5 and #6 — the calendar review — are the ones most people rush. The past week is where commitments got made and dropped. The coming weeks are where preparation should happen. Both deserve more than a quick scan.

The mindsweep at step #7 is the step that makes the rest of the review feel different. Getting everything out of your head before reviewing your lists means you're reviewing with a clear mind rather than a cluttered one. Don't skip it even when the week felt quiet — the things you don't think you're carrying are often the things most worth capturing.

Step #14 — the higher horizons — doesn't need to be deep every week. A brief glance is enough most of the time. But building the habit of looking up occasionally from the ground level is what keeps the work connected to what actually matters.

The review will take longer when you're establishing the habit and shorter once the system is well-maintained. Sixty to ninety minutes is normal at first. Forty-five minutes is achievable once it's running well. If it's regularly taking two hours, something in your capture or processing habits during the week needs attention.