Not everything onto the to-do list. → Three goals for the week.
What are weekly goals?
Weekly goals are the three most important intentions You genuinely want to move forward in a week. Smaller than an annual goal, bigger than a single task – exactly the size You can take in and still move. A weekly goal isn't "answer emails", it's "finish the proposal for client König".
The difference to a to-do list: a list collectswhatever comes up. Weekly goals decidewhat counts this week.
Why the week is the right unit
The day is too short to plan anything substantial – and too tight when something gets in the way. The year is too far off to motivate You today. The week has the ideal length: manageable enough to act on, big enough to give direction. Six steps, one day of rest.
And You get 52 chances a yearto do something better – instead of one big New Year's resolution that fizzles out in February.
Tasks belong to the week, not to the day
It doesn't matter whether a goal is finished on Monday or Tuesday – what matters is that it is within the week completed. A day-by-day plan takes away the flexibility life needs. The week gives it back.
The weekview cascade: from the year to the week
Big goals are reached step by step step by step. Picture a staircase with half-metre steps – exhausting. At 20 cm You climb easily. That's exactly how weekview plans, in stages:
- Year → 4 quarters. Each quarter is a step towards the annual goal – and the quarter matters more than the year: four times the pace, four chances to correct course.
- Quarter → 13 weeks. The quarterly goal breaks down into workable weekly packages.
- Week → 6 steps. This is where Your three weekly goals land as concrete tasks.
Every goal pulls a Project along with it – a goal without a plan stays a wish. Since 2011 every weekview planner has had a goals page for exactly this, with four areas of life: Personal, family & friends, work, community.
Set weekly goals in 5 steps
Look at Your quarterly goal
Your weekly goals are the steps towards it – not just any tasks.
Pick exactly three
Not ten. Three are ambitious and achievable. More dilutes the focus.
Plan them onto the week
As concrete tasks, prioritised by A/B/C. Give priority B special attention – the important work that isn't on fire yet.
A · important + urgentB · important, not yet urgentC · if time allowsSet the order
The important things first. The painter can't come while the walls are still wet.
Close with reflection
Review on Saturday: what worked, what didn't, what do You take with You? Then a 24-hour break (Sat 6 pm – Sun 6 pm). Planning happens ideally on Sunday evening.
The most common mistakes
- Too many goals. Take on ten things and You'll do none of them properly. Three is the number.
- Appointments instead of tasks. A full calendar is not a plan.
- Only what's urgent. "Urgent" is usually not "important". Whoever only puts out fires never gets to B – and never gets ahead.
- No reflection. Closing a week without looking back is a mistake.
- Day-by-day planning. Sounds tidy, but it's rigid. Plan on the week.
| To-do list | Weekly goals · weekview | |
|---|---|---|
| Logic | collects everything | decides what is important |
| Horizon | today | the whole week |
| Priority | ✗ | A / B / C – with the emphasis on B |
| Link to the goal | ✗ | ✓ Step towards the quarter |
| Closing | tick off | Reflection & learning |
Plan Your week with the weekview weekly planner
Task book and appointment calendar in one: weekly goals, A/B/C priorities and reflection on a single double page.