According to David Allen, inventor of the GTD methodology, a project needs to be reviewed every seven days at the very most and produces an outcome completed in under a year in accordance to a multiplicity of steps. This is at least how I paraphrase the “project” entry from the glossary in the 2nd edition of the book (2015). His definition in alot more succint.
Which is why Agenda is perhaps the ideal tool for reviewing any project and for defining when the 7-day and the 365-day time periods begin and, just as well, when they end.
Which aspects of a project need to be reviewed on a weekly basis? All of them I say. These aspects are the project’s outcome, its programme, its steps and you can add others such as milestones, deliverables, etc. Of course, the more complex your project’s components are, the more time you’ll spend managing the project, as opposed to actually completing it. In my opinion, the more your project is simplified, the easier it is to complete it. I’d stick to reviewing the project’s outcome, its programme, and its steps but it should not hurt to include milestones as these are non-executable project elements.
When did you create a card in Agenda for the project’s outcome? Review it in no later than seven days forward from that day. Same goes for the end date of the programme: review it seven days later, at the latest, to determine if the day will be met as the day of the project’s completion. Same goes for the last card containing written and committed steps which at the moment remain incomplete: you either mark as complete, or you do them now, you archive them, you delete them or you defer (i.e., adjust their sequence) them. Depending on the situation of your steps, you adjust as needed for milestones.
Dated card “A” ⇒ count 7 days ⇒ New dated card “B” ⇒ add review reminder and add link to previous card.
The whole purpose of review is to always have your entire project fresh in your mind, with its aspects’ statuses current and easily accessible.
That’s where Agenda comes in.
Would appreciate your feedback.