David Allen calls the weekly review the "critical success factor" of GTD. He's right. Without it, your system stops matching reality within a few weeks and you stop trusting it. And once you don't trust the system, you start keeping things in your head again — exactly what GTD is trying to prevent.
The trouble is that the by-the-book review takes one to two hours. On a Friday afternoon that's unrealistic. Here's a 30-minute version.
The rule: short, and every week
A 30-minute review every week beats a perfect review once a month. If you don't even have 30 minutes, do 10 — just go through your projects. The worst review is the one that doesn't happen.
Put it in your calendar as a meeting with yourself. Friday around lunchtime works well: the week is still fresh and the weekend ahead is clear.
Phase 1: Get clear (10 minutes)
The goal is to get everything into the Inbox and then empty the Inbox.
- Gather loose papers, receipts, meeting notes. Anything that needs action goes into the Inbox.
- Scan your e-mail and messages: is there a task in there that isn't written down yet?
- Empty your head. Spend two minutes writing down whatever comes to mind. Don't filter.
- Process the Inbox. For each item decide: do it now (under two minutes), assign it to a project, defer it, or delete it.
Tip: the Inbox doesn't need to be organised. It's a mailbox, not an archive. The goal is for it to be empty at the end.
Phase 2: Get current (15 minutes)
Now go through your projects. Not tasks — projects. Ask three questions of each:
- Does it have a next action? Every active project needs at least one concrete, physical action. "Sort out the website" isn't an action. "Ask Jana whether she has the assets" is.
- Is it still active? If nothing has happened on it for three weeks, put it on hold or drop it. Dropping a project isn't failure — it's a decision.
- What am I waiting for? Go through your Waiting for list. Chase anything that's been hanging for more than a week.
Then look at your calendar: one week back (what came out of it?) and two weeks ahead (what needs preparing?).
How many projects fit into 15 minutes? With 40 projects that's 20 seconds each — and that's enough, because for most you're only confirming they're fine. If it isn't enough, you have too many projects.
Phase 3: The view from above (5 minutes)
This is the part most people skip, and it's what turns the review into more than maintenance.
- Look at your goals for the year. Does each have at least one active project?
- Look at projects without a goal. Are there many? Are you living reactively?
- Ask: What would matter most next week? Flag it.
Five minutes. No more. This isn't annual strategic planning, just a course check.
What to skip
- Reorganising. The review isn't the time for new tags and folders. If the structure bugs you, write it down as a project.
- Doing tasks. Two-minute items from the Inbox are the exception. Everything else waits for Monday.
- Perfectionism. A project you didn't get to, you'll get to next week.
How an app helps
A review goes better when something guides you. AltoFocus has a guide for the weekly review: it shows one project and its problem at a time — no next action, a missed due date, a task waiting on someone for too long. On the Altitude plan, AI also suggests a clean-up (complete what's done, cancel what's stale), but deletes nothing without your confirmation. At the end it checks the gaps between your goals and projects.
Without AI it works the same; you just ask the questions yourself. The tool matters less than the rhythm.
A checklist to print
- Gather papers and notes
- Scan e-mail and messages
- Empty your head (2 minutes)
- Process the Inbox to zero
- Go through projects: next action, still active, waiting for
- Calendar: one week back, two ahead
- Goals: does each have a project?
- Pick 1–3 priorities for next week
Thirty minutes. Every week. In a month you won't understand how you managed without it.