Review
Stage 4: OTD extends GTD's Weekly Review into a dual rhythm — daily and weekly.
Why review matters
The system doesn't run itself. Flows surface Actions, but someone has to ask whether those Flows are still the right ones. Projects advance, but someone has to check whether they're heading toward the right goal. Someday items wait, but someone has to decide when to activate them.
That someone is you, during Review.
Without Review, the system decays in a predictable pattern:
- Inbox fills up without getting processed
- Active Flows surface Actions that no longer reflect current priorities
- Projects stall without anyone noticing
- Someday grows without being reconsidered
- The system feels stale and you stop trusting it
- You stop using it
Weekly Review is the maintenance that prevents decay. Daily Review is the daily calibration that keeps Today honest. Together, they're the habits that keep everything alive.
Daily Review
Every morning. 5–10 minutes.
This is not a deep audit. It's setting the stage for the day.
Steps:
1. Check what's in Today. Each active Flow's first uncompleted Action surfaces automatically. Look at what's there. Confirm it all makes sense for today.
2. Add anything missing. Is there something not surfaced yet that needs to happen today? Pull it in manually. Did a Review Action just arrive (an AI output, a colleague's reply)? Add it.
3. Check capacity. Before moving on: is Today realistic? Can you genuinely complete everything in it today? If not, remove something — move it back to its Flow or push it to a future date. A Today you can't finish isn't a Today. It's a wish list.
The automatic surfacing from Flows is calibrated to your active work. Trust it. Manual additions are intentional overrides — make them sparingly.
4. Adjust if needed. Does anything in Today feel wrong for today? Move it out. Is the sequence of Mode-based execution (Review → Delegate → Do) already clear? Good.
5. Begin. You've spent 5–10 minutes. Today is set. Start working.
Daily Review is deliberately short. Its purpose is not to think deeply about your system — it's to confirm that Today contains the right Actions for the day and that nothing urgent was missed. Deep thinking happens in Weekly Review.
When Daily Review breaks down
If you skip Daily Review, Today doesn't get curated. You either work from whatever the system surfaced automatically (which might be technically correct but not what you actually need today) or you don't know what to work on at all.
Missing one Daily Review is fine. Missing a week means you've been working reactively — responding to whatever arrives instead of designing your day. Principle 2 erodes.
Weekly Review
Once a week. 30–60 minutes.
This is the full system audit. Same purpose as GTD's Weekly Review.
Checklist:
Inbox zero
Process any remaining captures. Nothing unprocessed should be sitting in Inbox after Weekly Review.
Review every Area
Look at each Area from above. Is anything being neglected? Are there Areas where nothing has moved in weeks? That neglect is information — either something important is being avoided, or the Area isn't as active as you thought.
Review every active Project
Is each Project progressing toward its goal? Is any Project stalled across all its Flows? A Project that hasn't moved in three weeks probably needs attention, re-scoping, or a move to Someday.
Review every active Flow
Is each Flow progressing? Is there any Flow where the current Action has been in Today for multiple days without being completed? That's a stuck Flow — investigate why. The Action might be too large, too vague, or blocked on something.
Review Await items
Anything that's been in Await too long? For delegated work: follow up or re-delegate. For external dependencies: is there anything you can do to unblock it, or do you just wait?
Review Someday
Anything ready to activate? Anything you'll never actually do that should be deleted? Someday should never just grow — it should be pruned.
Review Goals
Look at your active Goals. For each one: are there Projects currently advancing toward it? Is anything blocked or missing? This doesn't need to be deep — two minutes scanning the list is enough. If a Goal has no active Project, consider activating one.
Review calendar
Upcoming commitments in the next 1–2 weeks that need preparation? Any conflicts between Today-type work and time-bound commitments? Create Actions now for preparation you'll need.
Quarterly Review
Once every three months. 60–90 minutes.
The Weekly Review keeps the system running. The Quarterly Review keeps it pointed in the right direction.
Checklist:
- Review each Goal. Is it still relevant? Update the wording, retire Goals that no longer apply, add new ones that have emerged.
- Map Goals to Projects. For each Goal: which Projects are currently serving it? Are there Goals with no active Projects? Activate one. Are there Projects that don't serve any Goal? Consider moving them to Someday.
- Look ahead. What's coming in the next quarter that needs preparation now?
- Update Someday. Anything in Someday that's ready to activate given current Goals?
The Quarterly Review is where Goal ↔ Project alignment happens explicitly. Weekly Review checks it briefly. Quarterly Review does the proper audit.
Annual Review
Once a year. A few hours, unhurried.
Pull out your Vision and Purpose from Reference. Ask the honest questions:
- Do my current Goals reflect where I actually want to go?
- Is the way I've been spending my time consistent with my Purpose?
- What do I want the next year to look like?
Update your Goals list for the coming year. Adjust if your Vision has evolved. The Annual Review is not a task-management exercise — it's a life-orientation exercise. The system serves it, but it happens above the system.
What happens when Review breaks down
Weekly Review is the single most important habit in the system. Here's what happens when it slips:
Week 1 missed: Someday gets a bit stale. A stuck Flow goes unnoticed for a week. Minor.
Month without Weekly Review: Inbox accumulates. Several Flows are stuck but still surfacing stale Actions. A Project that should have moved to Someday is still active and generating noise. Your Areas haven't been looked at, so a neglected domain keeps being neglected.
Quarter without Weekly Review: You've stopped trusting the system. You're maintaining a parallel mental model of what actually matters because the system has drifted from reality. You've essentially reverted to the state before OTD — carrying things in your head because the system can't be trusted.
The decay is real and progressive. One missed Weekly Review is harmless. A habit of missing them is a silent failure.
Making Weekly Review stick
Fix the time. Not "whenever I have time on Sunday." A specific day, a specific window. Treat it as a commitment on your calendar.
Lower the bar when needed. A partial Weekly Review is infinitely better than none. If you only have 15 minutes, do the most important parts: process Inbox, check stuck Flows, scan Someday. The full checklist is the ideal. The partial checklist is the minimum viable version.
Notice the reward. After a good Weekly Review, your system is clean. Today feels trustworthy. You know what's active and why. That feeling is the reward — and it's a reliable one. Systems people who have a Weekly Review habit reliably report it as the most satisfying part of their practice.