SWA Weekly Planner

Have trouble keeping your week organised or get overwhelmed thinking of all the amount of work you have on? 

This is for you. 

The way we keep our days productive (and stop ourselves from getting overwhelmed) is for each member of our team to use a simple weekly planning tool: The SWA Weekly planner. 

We have all manner of project management tools that handle the heavy lifting in the background but we find nothing beats an oldschool low-fi paper list for really getting things done consistently day by day.

Who is this most useful for?

This planning tool is designed for individuals but can be used within a team environment to keep aligned with wider goals.

How to Use The SWA Weekly Planner

1. Download and print the planner (A4 recommended)
2. At the start of your week (usually Monday morning), look at your longer term goals/projects/objectives and then think about your priorities for the week. Ask yourself: what are the three most important things that I MUST get done above all else this week? It is valuable to discuss your priorities with your team so you can align your own priorities with the wider priorities of the organisation. Write your priorities for the week at the top of the sheet. Add your team priorities too if you are working as part of a team.
3. Write the smaller tasks you think you need to complete alongside each day to achieve your 3 key priorities for the week. It is important to not over-commit yourself. Things will crop up during the week that you hadn't anticipated and if you don't leave room for flexibility, you wont have capacity to respond as they happen. We find that 3 or 4 key tasks per day is about the right amount. One or two big ones and some smaller admin tasks as time fillers.
4. On Friday towards the end of the day (usually over a beer or wine in our case), get together with your team and discuss what you achieved that week. Celebrate wins and discuss failures in the same conversation. There is a real sense of satisfaction on looking back on the week and seeing all of the things you have got done.
5. Share your priorities for the next week and critique each others as a team. Repeat the process each week!