Weekly Audit Routine
Today I’m sharing the weekly audit routine that I do every Friday afternoon. This helps me track my progress, identify what went well during the week, and pinpoint areas of improvement I want to work on during the following week. While I love goals and mindful living, I also don’t want to feel too regimented or weighed down by tons of to do lists and habits that take up too much time. This audit routine takes around 5 minutes, and while you could definitely add more structure to it, I have found I get the best results by keeping it “free flowing” and instinctual - whatever comes to mind first is typically the most honest and unfiltered. I include all aspects of my life, not just work - but you could always separate the two if you prefer. My audit is authentic to me, which is important as someone who tends to succumb to the comparison trap and feel “behind” compared to other people.
The weekly audit is truly focused on incremental progress and never feels overwhelming or discouraging. I think we all go through spurts where we want to tear everything down and restart our life, but the baby step progress is what leads to the biggest and most sustainable growth over time.
You could do this routine during your Sunday reset or as the starting point of your Monday morning, but I prefer Fridays so that I can hit the ground running on Monday. I find the workweek is freshest in my minds on Friday afternoon instead of Sunday, and as someone who works from home, this is my favorite way to end the week and transition my mind to weekend-mode.
In order to maximize the effectiveness of my weekly audit, I complete it on a larger sticky note - there’s just enough room to write what I need to without going overboard, and I then stick it to my desk so I can look at it each day.
That being said, here’s exactly how I do my weekly audit.
weekly audit routine
list out your wins and the best parts of the week
In bullet point fashion, I like to list out the positives of the week. Write down what first comes to mind - not just what relates to your goals. For example, sometimes my list will include a random phone call from a friend, spending extra time outside, or getting extra sleep one night. It doesn’t have to include things you did daily/ consistently - you just want to see what your mind identifies as the “highlight reel” of your last week.
Typically, I list out anywhere from 3-7 things, but don’t have a minimum or maximum number that I have to hit. I don’t follow a list of categories (like health, career, money, etc), it’s just whatever comes to mind, but you can follow a template if it’s easier to or you want to inventory all aspects of your life. If you want that, the categories I use for my goal-planning sessions are:
health
money
relationship
family and friends
personal growth
fun
home
career and blog
Lastly, don’t feel like you have to fake positivity; some people may say you aren’t thinking as positively as you could be, but some weeks are tough and that’s normal. There have been times when I could really only think of two things, which showed me that it was a hard week, and being aware enough to acknowledge counts as a win (and great practice in mindfulness).
list out your losses and the lows of the week
Next, I bullet point a few things of the hiccups and hardships of the week - what didn’t work, where I fell short, and what derailed me. Some of these are goal oriented, like not managing my time as well as I could’ve, but you can also use it to identify energy-drainers, like traffic. Everything on your list will end up being action-oriented, so don’t filter yourself by trying to not vent or dwell. The only person that will see this list is you (unless you share it), and no one likes to feel bad, so the more honest you are about what actually felt bad this week, the better you can address it and make changes for the future.
If more things come to mind, I won’t stop myself from writing them down, but ideally, this list will be slightly shorter than the “win” list (even if it’s just by one bullet point). This is a little psychological trick I use to remind myself there are more positives than negatives, but you also want to get all of the negatives out now so that it doesn’t take up extra space in your mind. You’ll know the right balance for you, and can adjust as weeks go on and you get used to the audit.
write down your focus points for the next week
Lastly, I finish with my focus points for the week. Instead of bullet points, I use arrows (→) as a little psychological trick that keeps me forward-thinking and helps jumpstart momentum. Again, there’s no set number here but I typically stick to around 4-7, just enough to feel attainable but not so many that I can’t remember them or it becomes a full to do list in itself.
One thing you might notice as you get more familiar with the weekly audit routine is that your action steps become future “wins.” One major reason why I love the weekly audit routine is that it shows that you’re actually making progress towards your goals and the things you want to work on; it makes progress more attainable and synthesizes your goals into your daily life.
On the other hand, it can also reveal detrimental patterns or habits that require more attention. If I find myself writing down the same negative point week after week, I know that I need to take a deeper look and figure out how to intentionally address this source of negativity in my life. For example, if I’m always tired but going to bed too late, I’ll decide to start my night routine 15 minutes earlier so I don’t procrastinate bedtime. If someone in your life is unavoidable yet you hate spending time with them, you might find the best plan of action is to create a decompression routine you can complete after you interact with them.
why the weekly audit routine works
The weekly audit routine helps you problem solve your life as it is, identifying what makes the biggest impact on your life (good and bad), then strategically coming up with a handful of action steps that reduce the bad, increase the good, and improve the overall quality of your day to day life.
Many of us love to plan and set goals, but the follow-through is always the hardest part, especially when it comes to long-term goals. Taking the time to reflect on the highs and lows of how your week actually went with what would feel better sets you up for crucial small wins and lasting success. This personal inventory helps you bridge the gap between reality and the ideal each week by taking it a few steps at a time, and this momentum ultimately pushes you towards your larger goals, too.