12. Time Management Step #5: REFLECT and REFINE, then REPEAT

Spend a few minutes REFLECTING on how successful you were at managing your time over the past week. Be sure to note the things you did right as well as the things you did wrong. Think about whether there’s anything you can do in the upcoming week to improve.

Sometimes, your Weekly Review reveals a problem with your Time Budget or Weekly Schedule. Maybe you allotted one hour for your daily commute, but it really takes only forty minutes. Or maybe you allotted ninety minutes for your yoga session, but it really takes you two hours by the time you finish showering and changing clothes.

If you notice any discrepancies such as these, go back and readjust (REFINE) your Time Budget, Weekly Schedule and Tracking Form to reflect reality.

Whether you had to change anything or not, you should then create a new blank Tracking Form for the upcoming week, and repeat steps 3 (Following and Tracking) and 4 (Tallying and Reviewing) all over again!

  • What Others are Saying…


    If I had but one book to spend hard-earned cash on this year, [The Lifelong Activist] would be it, hands down. – Daily Kos

    People often ask how I manage to continue devoting myself to progressive activism (such as the free software movement) for years without burning out. The best way I can answer is by recommending…The Lifelong Activist. —Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software movement and
    MacArthur Fellow

    Global warming, poverty, homelessness, or other pressing problems; take your pick—and then use the organizing and time-management tools in The Lifelong Activist to change the world. — Adam Hochschild, author of Bury The Chains and King Leopold’s Ghost

    “[The Lifelong Activist] is about becoming more useful and effective as an activist or artist. I recommend that you take a look at it.” –Salon.com

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    "...The Lifelong Activist is incredibly important and has no doubt helped people make the world a better place. I first read it as I began to burnout a few years into my life as an activist. It helped
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