Make a little room for your next twelve weeks
You probably have something you keep meaning to get back to. A draft, a launch, a bit more time for your health. A 12-week chapter gives it a place in your week, with room to adjust when life has other ideas.
Start with one outcome and a manageable first week.
Try these as you go. The ticks stay here until you leave or reload.
0 of 3 readyWhat a 12-week chapter gives you
The idea comes from The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington (Wiley, 2013). Give yourself twelve weeks to work towards a few outcomes, then plan and review one week at a time. It is a smaller stretch to think about than a whole year. You can keep the result in view without needing to know what every Tuesday will look like.
If you are still working out what you want to aim for, the guide on how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals can help you make it clearer.
- A few outcomes and a way to tell whether you are making progress. One is a perfectly good start.
- Weekly tasks that give those outcomes some time and attention.
- A weekly score to see how much of the work you planned got done.
- A weekly review to notice what moved, what got stuck and what you want to try next.
When a task slips, give it another look
Some tasks will not get done. That might mean the week was too full, the task was too big, or something else mattered more. It is worth finding out before you copy the same list into another Monday.
You can carry a task into next week, park it in Future planning, or drop it. Look at it alongside your other commitments and choose. A task can be unfinished without becoming a permanent member of your to-do list.
A simple rhythm for the week
Plan
Choose a few tasks that fit your week. Add an estimate and an XP weight for the effort involved.
Do
Work through the plan and mark tasks done as you go. The planner adds up the XP you earn.
Review
See what happened, think about what helped, and choose a useful next step before confirming.
Roll forward
Decide what to carry, park or drop, then make a plan for the week ahead.
- Outline the first chapter, planned
- Ask two readers for feedback, planned
- Revise the opening, planned
100 XP planned · 0 earned
Plan
Choose a few tasks that move one outcome.
Find room in your real week
Before you add another task, look at the time you have. Give the task an estimate, link it to an outcome and place it in an available work slot. The capacity check helps you spot a week that is already full. Leave some breathing room if you can; the rest of life rarely asks to be scheduled first.
This week's tasks
Publish a useful newsletter
4 tasks| Task | Status | Time | XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Done | 20m | 20 | |
| In progress | 45m | 40 | |
| Not started | 30m | 20 | |
| Not started | 25m | 20 |
What the planner helps you keep track of
- The work you did: each task has an XP weight. Earned XP divided by planned XP gives your weekly score and a green, yellow or red grade. Check your outcome measures too; doing the planned work does not always move the result.
- What happens to unfinished work: decide which tasks belong next week, which can wait in Future planning and which you can let go.
- How the weeks are adding up: chapter progress keeps your weekly scores together so you can spot patterns.
- Your weekly review: Progress, Reflect, Next step and Confirm give you a place to think through the week. Submit the review and you get a weekly ticket for your stub book.
- A second look from Planko: talk through the plan or ask for help with next week's tasks. You can read, edit and approve the suggestions you want to keep.
- Small Proofs along the way: clay milestone stamps mark task, review, target and chapter moments. They come with no extra XP and no streak to lose.
Give your first chapter a try
Start with your own plan, borrow a template or talk it through with Planko. Keep this week's work in Tasks, find time for it in Calendar and leave later ideas in Future planning. You can adjust the plan as you learn. The first version only needs to give you somewhere to begin.