The final week can dominate how you remember a project. One difficult day makes the whole effort feel unsuccessful. One good conversation makes it tempting to believe every part of the plan worked.
Open your starting note and the work you produced. Look at the period as a whole before deciding what it means.
Return to the original task
What did you want to do? What is now ready? Perhaps the conversation happened, the bills are organised or a draft has been sent. Name the result in terms someone else could recognise.
If the original task changed, write why. A new piece of information may have made a different action more sensible. You can acknowledge that without pretending the first plan was completed.
Include the cost
How much time, effort or coordination did the approach require? A detailed daily log might have helped at first and become cumbersome later. A shorter note might now serve the same purpose.
Results also have other causes. More money remaining this week could reflect a bill that has not yet arrived. A successful request might owe something to the other person's changing circumstances. Do not treat one favourable outcome as proof that a particular technique always works.
Choose what earns another trial
Keep two actions that were useful and manageable. Choose one to revise or stop. Perhaps preparing a request helped, while late-night work repeatedly failed. Keep the preparation and move the sessions.
Where a result is uncertain, call it uncertain. You can try the approach again in a suitable situation and see whether it remains useful.
Questions for the review
- What did I intend to finish?
- What became ready, and what remains?
- What else influenced the result?
- Which two actions were worth their effort?
- Which one will I change or stop?
End with a decision about the next period. The review should help you use what you learned, rather than require you to make the last six weeks look impressive.
