End-of-week structured reflection

It is Friday evening and the week is already blurring into the next. Make a drink, find somewhere quiet, and spend twenty minutes working through it: not a to-do recap but the texture of the week, what went well however small, and what you are carrying into the weekend. You close the week properly instead of letting it dissolve.

Do this on Friday evening or over the weekend before the new week begins. It takes about 20 minutes. Make yourself a drink, find somewhere quiet, and work through each prompt in order.

1. WHAT HAPPENED: Summarise the week in three to five sentences. Not a to-do list recap, a narrative. What was the texture of this week?

2. WHAT WENT WELL: What am I genuinely pleased about from this week, however small? What did I do that I want to repeat?

3. WHAT WAS HARD: Where did I struggle, fail, avoid, or fall short? Write without self-punishment, just honest observation.

4. WHAT SURPRISED ME: What happened that I did not expect? What did I learn about myself, another person, or a situation?

5. WHAT I AM CARRYING: Is there anything unresolved, emotionally, practically, relationally, that I am dragging into next week? Name it.

6. WHAT I WANT FOR NEXT WEEK: Not a task list. One word or phrase for how I want to feel. One thing I want to protect. One thing I want to start or continue.

7. ONE SENTENCE: Complete this: "This week I learned that I..."

Close the journal. The week is done.