How I Cut My Weekly Planning from 2 Hours to 30 Minutes
The simple weekly review routine that freed up 90 minutes and helped me focus on high-impact work.
I used to dread Monday mornings. Not because of the work itself, but because of the planning overhead. I'd open Notion, stare at a blank page, and slowly piece together my week. Two hours later, I'd have a decent plan — but I'd already burned a chunk of my best creative energy.
Turns out, the problem wasn't planning. It was starting from scratch every time. So I built a template that pre-fills my weekly review with recurring tasks, project milestones, and a simple priority matrix. Now I spend 30 minutes on Monday: review last week, adjust priorities, set three key outcomes. Done.
The trick is to separate 'planning' from 'thinking.' The template handles the structure; I just fill in the specifics. If you're spending more than 45 minutes on weekly planning, you're probably overcomplicating it. Try a template that forces you to focus on what actually moves the needle.