A week on your terms: three columns for a small personal review

Imagine your last week happening again. What would you keep, and what would you arrange differently? You do not have to rethink your whole life to answer. Take a piece of paper and look at a few specific days.

Write down what actually happened

Start by naming events without grading them. “I stayed late at work on Tuesday.” “I met a friend on Wednesday.” “I spent two evenings on household tasks.” You do not have to record every hour or anything you would rather leave unwritten.

If writing does not suit you, just think it through. The three columns are a suggestion, not a required format. This is neither a diagnostic questionnaire nor a productivity assessment.

Keep, reduce, try

Divide the paper into three sections. In the first, write something you want to keep. In the second, something you want to give less space to. In the third, one new thing to try.

• Keep: for example, breakfast together on Saturday or a call with someone close to you.
• Reduce: for example, optional extra tasks you do not want to take on this week.
• Try: for example, agreeing on an evening without visitors or preparing one thing in advance.

The examples do not define a good week for you. Your columns can contain entirely different things. Leave out anything you cannot change by your own decision, or note who needs to be part of the agreement.

Choose one change

Look at the third column and choose a single experiment. Describe it clearly enough to know what you want to do. “More time for myself” could become “I will keep an hour after dinner on Wednesday free of planned visits.”

If the plan involves someone else, tell them about it. A free evening in a shared household may require agreement about care or chores. Your note is not a finished agreement on everyone's behalf.

Allow for what you cannot control

Not every week leaves the same room for choice. Work, care responsibilities or an unexpected event may limit your options. If the experiment does not work out, you do not have to turn that into a judgement about your personality.

At your next review, ask: do I want to try this again, make it smaller or put it aside? All three answers are possible. This exercise is intended to help you name your choice, not create another list of failures.

The AboutHer blog has more topics about your relationship with yourself. For today, three headings on paper and one small change of your own choosing can be enough.

Source and editorial approach

Inspired by AboutHer's question about the past week, published on 8 September 2025; caption and date checked on 29 September 2026. We have developed the original reflection prompt into our own worksheet. The product ritual mentioned in the caption is not required, and we do not repeat a promise that it will resolve life's questions.