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Intro to Bullet Journaling

Introduction to the Weekly Planning Meeting

The Weekly Planning Meeting is adapted from Kerry Ann Rockquemore's work, specifically on The Sunday Meeting (see: https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2010/09/20/sunday-meeting)

The goal of a Weekly Planning Meeting is to help you:

  • see what you have to do in the coming week
  • plan for how you will use your time

This can be a powerful tool in your bullet journaling toolkit -- it's one way for you to see how you are spending your time.

While the weekly planning meeting takes only a little time to do each week, it can take a lot of practice for it to feel natural. It's tricky to figure out how much time to give yourself for any single task, and that will come with practice.

And if this doesn't work for you right now, drop it. Maybe come back to it later. Maybe don't! Just like with anything bullet journaling related -- the items in your toolkit should work for you -- the you in this moment.

Materials to get started

You'll need:

  • Your calendar
  • A place to write down all your to do items

That's it!

You can use either a paper calendar or your google / outlook / digital calendar. Experiment with which version works best for you.

The Weekly Planning Meeting

Your weekly planning meeting should take about 30 minutes. Try to limit yourself to the times outlined below -- this should be as quick and painless as possible.

 
Weekly Planning Meeting Agenda:
  1. Skeleton for the week (5 minutes)
  2. Brain dump all you need to get done (15 minutes)
  3. Tasks meet time (10 minutes)
     

Weekly Planning Meeting Break-down:
  1. Skeleton for the week (5 minutes). This is your outline for the week.
    1. Open your calendar to the coming week. This should be the week you need to plan for.
    2. Block off the times for everything you MUST do this week. Going to class, travel times, appointments, meeting with your advisor, lunch with your friends -- everything that is scheduled.
       
  2. Brain dump all you need to get done (15 minutes). This is you quickly listing all the tasks you need to accomplish this week. (Learn more about brain dumping)
    1. Open your notebook to a blank page. You can also do this in a word document.
    2. Add the title "brain dump" (alternatively: "memory dump"; "thought overflow"; "knowledge transfer".. whatever!)
    3. Spend about 15 minutes writing down the things you need to do this week.
      1. Do it without any judgement -- the exercise is to get your ideas out there first and foremost.
         
  3. Tasks meet time (10 minutes). You'll be associating the stuff from the last step with actual time in your calendar.
    1. Add items from your list to your calendar. Estimate how long a task will take and block off that time.
      1. This will take a lot of practice, but it can help you learn more about yourself, too.
      2. A good rule of thumb is to give yourself two or three times longer than you initially estimate a task will take. Humans are terrible at guessing how long things will take!
    2. You may find you have too many tasks to fit into the time you have for the week. That's ok! This is normal! It means you should spend some time prioritizing and categorizing:
      1. What you must do: tasks you must accomplish this week (e.g., you've got a paper due!)
      2. What you need to do: tasks you could accomplish this week, but you've got a bit of wiggle room (e.g., a paper due next week)
      3. What you want to do: tasks that you don't have to do right now. This could be something you have a lot more time for, or maybe it's a project for a class you are more excited about, but it would be detrimental to another class (aka, productive procrastination).

Your weekly planning meeting should take about 30 minutes. Try to limit yourself to the times outlined below -- this should be as quick and painless as possible.

 
Weekly Planning Meeting Agenda:
  1. Skeleton for the week (5 minutes)
  2. Brain dump all you need to get done (15 minutes)
  3. Tasks meet time (10 minutes)
     

Weekly Planning Meeting Break-down:
  1. Skeleton for the week (5 minutes). This is your outline for the week.
    1. Open your calendar to the coming week. This should be the week you need to plan for.
    2. Block off the times for everything you MUST do this week. Going to class, travel times, appointments, meeting with your advisor, lunch with your friends -- everything that is scheduled.
  2. Brain dump all you need to get done (15 minutes). This is you quickly listing all the tasks you need to accomplish this week. (Learn more about brain dumping)
    1. Open your notebook to a blank page. You can also do this in a word document.
    2. Add the title "brain dump" (alternatively: "memory dump"; "thought overflow"; "knowledge transfer".. whatever!)
    3. Spend about 15 minutes writing down the things you need to do this week.
      1. Do it without any judgement -- the exercise is to get your ideas out there first and foremost.

         
  3. Tasks meet time (10 minutes). You'll be associating the stuff from the last step with actual time in your calendar.
    1. Add items from your list to your calendar. Estimate how long a task will take and block off that time.
      1. This will take a lot of practice, but it can help you learn more about yourself, too.
      2. A good rule of thumb is to give yourself two or three times longer than you initially estimate a task will take. Humans are terrible at guessing how long things will take!
    2. You may find you have too many tasks to fit into the time you have for the week. That's ok! This is normal! It means you should spend some time prioritizing and categorizing:
      1. What you must do: tasks you must accomplish this week (e.g., you've got a paper due!)
      2. What you need to do: tasks you could accomplish this week, but you've got a bit of wiggle room (e.g., a paper due next week)
      3. What you want to do: tasks that you don't have to do right now. This could be something you have a lot more time for, or maybe it's a project for a class you are more excited about, but it would be detrimental to another class (aka, productive procrastination).