Weekly Review Template: Copy-Paste Markdown Checklist

A weekly review template is a reusable checklist you run once a week to close open loops: empty the inbox, check every project, refresh next actions, chase anything you are waiting on, and look ahead at the calendar. The template below is copy-paste markdown. Duplicate it, run it, repeat next week.

# Weekly review, 2026-W34
- [ ] Inbox swept to zero
- [ ] Every project has a next action
- [ ] Waiting-for items followed up
- [ ] Calendar scanned, next two weeks
- [ ] Top three outcomes picked

That is the shape. The full GTD weekly review checklist with all six sections is a few scrolls down, ready to paste into Obsidian, VS Code, or any editor that renders checkboxes. The thinking behind the review itself is covered in our guide to Getting Things Done as a digital practice; this page is the artifact, plus the timing and habit rules that decide whether the review actually happens.

What is a weekly review?

A weekly review is a scheduled pass over everything that has your attention, done once a week, with the goal of making your task system trustworthy again. David Allen made it the backbone of Getting Things Done: capture everything, then review weekly so nothing slips and your head can let go.

The review is not planning and it is not doing. It is maintenance. You are not deciding what to work on this afternoon; you are making sure the list you will plan from is complete and current. That distinction is why the template below ends with a shutdown step instead of a to-do list.

The GTD weekly review checklist in markdown

Here is the full weekly review template in markdown. Paste it into a new file, one file per week, named by week number so the files sort themselves.

# Weekly review, 2026-W34

## 1. Inbox sweep
- [ ] Process capture inbox to zero
- [ ] Clear email inbox to zero or to flagged
- [ ] File loose downloads and desktop screenshots
- [ ] Empty pockets, bag, and wallet of receipts and notes

## 2. Projects review
- [ ] Read the project list top to bottom
- [ ] Every active project has one written next action
- [ ] Stalled projects: keep, delegate, or drop
- [ ] New projects from the week added to the list

## 3. Next actions
- [ ] Check off actions that are done but not marked
- [ ] Rewrite vague actions as concrete verbs
- [ ] Do anything that takes under two minutes, now

## 4. Waiting for
- [ ] Every delegated item has a name and a date
- [ ] Follow up on anything older than seven days

## 5. Calendar look-ahead
- [ ] Scan the past week for anything unfinished
- [ ] Scan the next two weeks for deadlines and prep
- [ ] Block focus time around the heavy days

## 6. Shutdown
- [ ] Pick the top three outcomes for next week
- [ ] Write down anything still on your mind
- [ ] Close the file and stop working

A few decisions baked into the template. The inbox sweep comes first because every later section depends on a complete picture, and it is capped in practice (more on that below). The projects review forces a next action per project, which is the single GTD rule with the highest payoff. The waiting-for section exists because delegated work is the easiest work to forget. The checkbox syntax itself, including the spacing rules that keep these rendering, is covered in the markdown todo list template post.

One file per week is deliberate. Last week's file is a record of what you actually reviewed, and flipping last week's x characters back to spaces is a ten-second setup for this week's run.

How long should a weekly review take?

A weekly review takes 30 to 60 minutes for most knowledge workers, once the habit is established. The first few runs take longer because the inboxes are fuller and the project list is stale. If your review regularly runs past 90 minutes, the bottleneck is almost always the inbox sweep, and the fix is better capture during the week, not a longer review.

Timebox the sections if the review sprawls: ten minutes for the inbox sweep, ten for projects, five each for next actions and waiting-for, ten for the calendar, five for shutdown. The caps feel aggressive the first time and generous by the fourth.

What belongs on the waiting-for list?

The waiting-for list holds everything you are expecting from someone else: delegated tasks, promised replies, deliveries, approvals, and anything where the next move is not yours. Each item needs two things, the person's name and the date you handed it off, because "waiting on Maya" without a date is unreviewable.

The seven-day rule in the template is a default, not a law. Client work might deserve a three-day follow-up cadence, a slow procurement process might deserve fourteen. What matters is that every item has a cadence you decided in advance, so the review section is mechanical: scan the dates, send the follow-ups that are due, done.

Why does the template end with a shutdown?

The shutdown section exists so the review produces an ending, not just a state. Writing down anything still on your mind and picking three outcomes for next week converts the loose anxiety of an open week into a closed file. Without a deliberate end, the review bleeds into the weekend and the habit starts feeling like unpaid overtime.

The shutdown step is also what makes Monday easier. Three named outcomes, chosen Friday, beat a fresh scroll through the whole task list on Monday morning. The GTD weekly review guide covers the psychology of this in more depth; the template just encodes it as three checkboxes.

How do you make the weekly review stick?

The weekly review sticks when the inputs are cheap. A review is heavy when the week was captured badly: loose thoughts in five apps, receipts in pockets, half-remembered promises from meetings. A review is light when everything landed in one inbox during the week, because the sweep takes ten minutes and the rest is reading.

That is the part quik.md handles. You speak loose thoughts as they happen, walking between meetings or mid-commute, and the AI organize step files each one into the right project with a next step written. By Friday, the inbox sweep is a confirmation pass instead of an excavation. quik is a PWA, the free plan covers a daily AI-organize cap with browser speech recognition, and Pro is $14.99 monthly or $69.99 yearly with a 7-day trial, or $99.99 once for lifetime. The pillar on AI task managers explains the routing model if you want the mechanics before trying it.

Pricing shown reflects plans at the time of writing. Check quik.md/pricing for current rates.

FAQ

How often should you do a weekly review?

Once a week, at the same time every week. David Allen's GTD method treats the weekly review as the non-negotiable maintenance pass that keeps the whole system trusted. Most practitioners block 30 to 60 minutes, with Friday afternoon and Sunday evening as the two most common slots.

What is the difference between a weekly review and daily planning?

Daily planning picks what to do today from a system you already trust. The weekly review is what maintains that trust: it empties inboxes, confirms every project has a next action, and surfaces deadlines before they arrive. Skipping reviews is why daily planning starts feeling like guessing.

Do I need an app for a GTD weekly review?

No. A weekly review is a checklist, not a tool, and a single markdown file works: duplicate last week's file, reset the checkboxes, and work top to bottom. Apps help at the edges, for example capturing loose thoughts by voice during the week so the inbox sweep stays short.

What if my inbox is never empty by review time?

That is normal, and it is what the inbox sweep section is for. Set a ten-minute cap on the sweep during the review itself, process only what fits, and carry the rest as a next action for the coming week. A review that waits for a perfect inbox never happens.

What should you do if you miss a weekly review?

Run a shortened version as soon as you notice, even fifteen minutes covering inbox sweep and calendar look-ahead. Do not skip two in a row, because the second missed review is usually when the system stops being trusted and loose ends move back into your head.

What should you read next?

• Getting Things Done as a digital practice, the method behind the checklist.
• GTD weekly review guide, the deeper walkthrough of each review step.
• Markdown todo list template, five more copy-paste lists in the same format.
• AI task manager, where AI routing fits with a GTD-style system.

References

• What is GTD?, David Allen Company.
• GTD Weekly Review checklist (PDF), David Allen Company.
• GitHub Flavored Markdown spec, GitHub.