Weekly Review Prompt Templates
AI prompt templates for weekly reviews. Reflect on progress and plan ahead.
Overview
Weekly review prompts help you step back from daily chaos and see the bigger picture. They're about more than tracking what got done. A good weekly review catches patterns, surfaces what's not working, and sets you up for a better week ahead. Most people skip this habit because it feels like extra work, but 30 minutes of reflection saves hours of spinning your wheels.
Best Practices
Schedule your review at the same time each week. Friday afternoon or Sunday evening work well for most people
Review your calendar and task list before you start. Memory is unreliable, and you'll miss important wins or lessons
Be honest about what didn't work. The review is useless if you only celebrate successes
End with concrete actions for next week, not vague intentions
Prompt Templates
1. Complete Weekly Review
Help me do my weekly review. Here's my data: Completed this week: [COMPLETED_TASKS] Didn't complete: [INCOMPLETE_TASKS] Key meetings/events: [MEETINGS] How I felt overall: [ENERGY_MOOD] Walk me through: 1. What were my biggest wins? 2. What didn't go as planned and why? 3. What patterns do you notice? 4. What should I do differently next week?
Completed: Launched feature X, 3 client calls, finished documentation Didn't complete: Blog post, expense report, gym 2 out of 4 planned days Meetings: Team retro, 1:1 with boss, 2 sales calls Energy: Started strong, crashed Wednesday, recovered Friday
Wins: Feature launch is huge. Three client calls is strong relationship building. Documentation is usually what gets cut, so finishing it shows discipline. Didn't go as planned: Blog post and expenses are recurring skips. This is the third week in a row. Gym fell off mid-week when energy dropped. Pattern: Wednesday crashes are consistent. Something about mid-week is draining you. Check your Wednesday calendar for patterns. Also, creative work (blog) and admin (expenses) keep getting bumped. Next week: Protect Wednesday afternoon, schedule blog writing Tuesday morning when you're fresh, batch admin on Friday when you're in wind-down mode.
Every week as part of your planning routine
- •Keep a running note during the week so you don't have to remember everything
- •Compare this week to last week's review. Are the same problems showing up?
2. Progress Check Against Goals
My goals for this quarter/month are: [GOALS] Here's what I accomplished this week toward each: [WEEKLY_PROGRESS] For each goal, tell me: Am I on track? If not, what needs to change? Be direct if I'm falling behind.
Goals: 1) Ship new dashboard by end of month, 2) Hire senior engineer, 3) Reduce support tickets by 20% Progress: Dashboard - finished backend, frontend 50% done. Hiring - interviewed 2 candidates, neither worked out. Support - implemented FAQ page, tickets down 8%.
Dashboard: On track. Frontend at 50% with 2 weeks left is fine if you protect your time. Risk: Don't let other priorities creep in. Hiring: Behind. Two interviews in a week is good activity, but zero viable candidates is concerning. Either your criteria are too narrow or your pipeline is weak. Action: Review job posting, expand to remote candidates, try a different sourcing channel. Support tickets: On track but tight. 8% is solid for week one. FAQ page is a good foundation. To hit 20%, you'll need another intervention. Consider: chatbot, better error messages, or proactive outreach to frequent ticket submitters.
When you have specific goals you're tracking and want honest accountability
- •Update this weekly even when progress is slow. Avoiding the review when things aren't working is exactly when you need it most
- •If you're consistently off track on a goal, question whether it's still the right goal
3. Energy and Satisfaction Audit
Looking back at this week: Activities that energized me: [ENERGIZING] Activities that drained me: [DRAINING] Moments I felt most satisfied: [SATISFYING] Moments I felt frustrated: [FRUSTRATING] What does this tell me about how I should structure next week? What should I do more of, less of, or differently?
Energized: Pairing session with junior dev, customer call where we solved their problem, morning writing time Drained: Back-to-back meetings Tuesday, debugging legacy code alone, status update meetings Satisfied: Seeing junior dev have an 'aha' moment, shipping the feature Frustrated: Waiting on legal review, meeting that could have been an email
Patterns: You get energy from teaching, direct customer impact, and solo creative time. You lose energy in long meeting blocks and solitary frustrating work. Satisfaction comes from visible impact and helping others grow. Next week structure: Protect morning writing time (don't schedule meetings before 10am). Batch meetings into 2-3 days instead of spreading them. Pair on legacy code instead of soloing it. For the legal review, set a deadline and escalate if needed instead of waiting passively. Bigger picture: You might want more mentoring in your role. That's worth a conversation with your manager.
When you want to understand why some weeks feel great and others feel exhausting, even with similar workloads
- •Track energy in real-time during the week. It's hard to remember how you felt by Friday
- •Look for patterns across multiple weeks, not just one
4. Quick Friday Wrap-Up
It's Friday. Give me a quick wrap-up for my week. Done: [COMPLETED] Carrying forward: [INCOMPLETE] Next week's priorities: [UPCOMING] In 5 bullet points or less: What should I feel good about? What's the one thing I should tackle first Monday? Anything I should let go of?
Done: Product roadmap draft, client renewal call, fixed 3 bugs Carrying forward: Performance review prep, blog post Next week: All-hands presentation, quarterly planning meeting
Feel good about: Roadmap draft is strategic work that often gets deprioritized. You did it. Client renewal call protects revenue. Three bugs shipped improves quality. Monday first thing: Performance review prep. It's the oldest carry-forward item and it's weighing on you. Block 90 minutes Monday morning, no distractions. Let go of: The blog post has carried forward 3 weeks. Either schedule it with a hard deadline, delegate it, or accept it's not a priority right now and remove it from your list. Half-committed tasks drain more energy than completed or deleted ones.
When you want a fast, no-frills review to close out the week and prep for Monday
- •Do this before you leave on Friday. Starting Monday with a clear first task is worth 10 minutes on Friday
- •Keep it short. This isn't meant to be a deep analysis
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Only reviewing what you completed. Incomplete tasks and why they stalled often teach you more than your wins
Making the review too long or complicated. If it takes more than 30 minutes, you'll stop doing it
Skipping the review when weeks go badly. Those are the weeks you learn the most from
Frequently Asked Questions
Weekly review prompts help you step back from daily chaos and see the bigger picture. They're about more than tracking what got done. A good weekly review catches patterns, surfaces what's not working, and sets you up for a better week ahead. Most people skip this habit because it feels like extra work, but 30 minutes of reflection saves hours of spinning your wheels.
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