How to plan your week in 15 minutes

Quick answer

Most people who try weekly planning give up because their plan gets too long or too detailed. The people who stick with it for months usually describe something short: a few minutes on Friday or Sunday to look back, pick a few priorities and check the calendar. Here's what they say works.

What 125x is: 125x is a web app at 125x.app. You connect your YouTube subscriptions, and it gives you a feed of the latest videos from the channels you follow, each with a summary: a verdict, the 5 key takeaways, and the spoiler, plus Actionable and Lessons tabs with more tips. You read that and decide what's actually worth opening.

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A simple weekly plan

Look back for two minutes. What went well last week and what didn't? People say this is the step that stops them repeating the same mistakes.
Empty your head. Write down every open loop, from work tasks to errands, so nothing is only in your memory.
Check the calendar for the coming week and the last week or two. Per Todoist's weekly review guide, looking back at recent meetings is how follow-ups get caught.
Pick three priorities. Most people who keep this habit say three is the right number, and they include at least one personal one.
Block time for those three on your calendar, and leave open space for things that come up.

When to do it

Friday afternoon works for people who want to switch off for the weekend. Several say a Friday brain dump means they stop thinking about work on Saturday.
Sunday evening works for people who like to start Monday knowing what matters. Some do a Friday review and a lighter Sunday check of the calendar.
Monday morning is fine too. The same Todoist guide says the day matters less than doing it at the same time every week.

When the week falls apart

Move just one priority and keep the other two. People who keep planning say they expect at least one day to go off plan.
Do a two-minute midweek check on Wednesday to see what's still realistic.
Keep the review short. The Todoist guide warns that when a review grows to two or three hours, people start putting it off.

Agree or disagree: plan every hour of the week

Some people swear by scheduling every hour. We partly disagree.

It suits people with lots of meetings, but most people who stick with weekly planning say a few blocked priorities plus open time lasts longer than a full grid. More in our take on whether time blocking is too rigid.

Our own tips

Our unusual tip: before you pick next week's priorities, look at last week's three and give each a plain grade: done, half done or not started. Anything that was 'not started' two weeks in a row either gets broken into a smaller first step or comes off the list, so the same priority doesn't haunt you for a month.
Keep your plan on one page. If it doesn't fit, it's too long.
Put the planning session on your calendar as a repeating event so it's already decided.
Clear your Watch Later and saved articles once a week during the review, so they don't pile up.

Where 125x fits

On 125x, every video in your subscriptions feed comes with a summary: a verdict, 5 takeaways and the spoiler, plus an Actionable tab with steps and a Lessons tab with the bigger ideas. During your weekly review, the verdicts help you clear a backlog of saved videos in minutes. See our weekly YouTube review and our summary of Procrastinators Get Stuff Done for when a priority keeps slipping.

FAQ: questions people ask

How long should weekly planning take?

Many people keep it to 15 minutes. A longer review can work, but if it takes hours, most people stop doing it.

What day is best for weekly planning?

Friday afternoon, Sunday evening and Monday morning all work. Doing it at the same time every week matters more than the day.

How many priorities should I set for the week?

People who stick with weekly planning usually pick three, including at least one personal priority.

What should a weekly plan include?

A quick look back at last week, a list of open loops, a check of your calendar, three priorities and time blocked for them.