# Periodic Review > Structure weekly, monthly and annual reviews with goal tracking and retrospectives. Use when running weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual life reviews. - Skill: `poorvith-mp/periodic-review` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add poorvith-mp/periodic-review` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/poorvith-mp/periodic-review/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: poorvith-mp (https://skillmd.com/u/poorvith-mp) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/poorvith-mp/periodic-review --- # periodic-review ## Core Philosophy Personal and professional systems decay into chaotic reactive firefighting without intentional, structured retrospectives. A periodic review is not a guilt-ridden audit of uncompleted tasks; it is a strategic recalibration loop designed to align daily actions with long-term objectives, purge zombie commitments, and protect cognitive runway. By nesting reviews across Weekly, Monthly, and Annual cadences, you maintain clarity while minimizing administrative overhead. --- ## 3-Tier Nested Review System ### Tier 1: The Weekly Tactical Calibration (45 Minutes) - **Cadence**: Every Friday afternoon or Sunday evening. - **Step 1: Get Clear (Inbox Zero)**: - Empty physical notebook notes, download folders, browser tabs, and Slack/email starred messages into backlog. - Reconcile calendar: Review the past 7 days for unlogged commitments and review next 7 days for meeting preparation. - **Step 2: Get Current (Project Health Check)**: - Open active project list. For each project, ensure there is exactly *one* concrete next physical action defined. - Review waiting-for list: Follow up on blocked items or delegated tasks. - **Step 3: Get Focused (Rule of 3)**: - Define the Top 3 Non-Negotiable Outcomes for the upcoming week. - Schedule dedicated deep work blocks on the calendar for those 3 outcomes before meetings claim the space. ### Tier 2: The Monthly Strategic Pulse (90 Minutes) - **Cadence**: Last weekend of every month. - **Step 1: Goal & Metric Audit**: - Review Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), personal net savings rate, and physical health benchmarks. - Assess OKR/milestone progress: Are projects on track, delayed, or dead? - **Step 2: The "Hell Yeah or No" Cull**: - Audit open commitments: Identify projects that have lingered for $> 30$ days without progress. - Ruthlessly apply Derek Sivers' rule: If a project does not elicit a "Hell Yeah!", formally kill it or archive it to "Someday/Maybe". - **Step 3: Financial & Subscription Sweep**: - Scan bank/credit card statements for recurring SaaS or lifestyle subscriptions that provided zero value in the last 30 days. Cancel immediately. ### Tier 3: The Annual Life Architecture Review (Half-Day) - **Cadence**: Late December or early January. - **Step 1: Past Year Energy Audit**: - Walk through the entire past calendar month-by-month. - Categorize events/people into: - *Energy Drivers*: Activities and relationships that generated profound joy, energy, and growth. - *Energy Drains*: Obligations, toxic relationships, and friction points that depleted reserves. - **Step 2: The 8-Pillar Wheel of Life Assessment**: - Score each dimension from 1–10: Career/Craft, Finances, Physical Health, Relationships, Intellectual Growth, Environment/Home, Play/Creativity, Mental/Spiritual Health. - **Step 3: Theme & Constraint Formulation**: - Set 1 overarching theme word for the year (e.g., "Consolidation", "Focus", "Expansion"). - Formulate 3–5 high-leverage annual objectives paired with explicit anti-goals (what you will deliberately *not* do). --- ## Deliverable Format: Periodic Review Template (`PERIODIC-REVIEW.md`) ```markdown # Periodic Review Framework & Log ## 1. Weekly Review Template (Run Every [Friday/Sunday]) ### Get Clear - [ ] Digital inboxes cleared (Email, Slack, Desktop, Downloads). - [ ] Past week calendar audited; uncompleted follow-ups captured. - [ ] Upcoming week schedule reviewed; deep work blocks locked. ### Get Current - [ ] Project list audited: Every active project has a clear next action. - [ ] Blocked/Waiting-for list reviewed and nudges sent. ### Top 3 Priorities for Next Week 1. [Priority 1 - High Leverage] 2. [Priority 2] 3. [Priority 3] --- ## 2. Monthly Review Dashboard: [Month, Year] - **Net Revenue / Savings Progress**: [$X vs target] - **Major Milestone Delivered**: [Key win] - **Projects Killed / Archived**: [List of purged zombie projects] - **Subscriptions Cancelled**: [Tools removed] - **Focus Area for Next Month**: [Core strategic theme] --- ## 3. Annual Retrospective & Anti-Goals - **Year Theme**: [e.g. "Ruthless Execution"] - **Top 3 Energy Drivers (Do More)**: [Driver 1, Driver 2, Driver 3] - **Top 3 Energy Drains (Eliminate)**: [Drain 1, Drain 2, Drain 3] - **Explicit Anti-Goals**: - Will not accept unpaid speaking gigs requiring travel. - Will not start new projects until existing flagship product hits target ARR. ``` --- ## Worked Example: Engineering Leader Weekly Calibration - **Inbox Sweep**: Processed 14 saved Slack messages into 3 Linear tickets and 1 personal calendar reminder. - **Project Calibration**: Realized the "New Personal Website" project was stalled for 3 weeks; downgraded it to "Someday/Maybe" to preserve focus on shipping the core open-source library. - **Top 3 Scheduled**: 1. Finalize v3 API migration documentation (Blocked 3 hours Monday morning). 2. Run quarterly performance reviews for 4 direct reports (Blocked Tuesday). 3. Merge PR #142 fixing distributed trace latency (Blocked Wednesday). - **Outcome**: 100% of top 3 delivered; zero panic weekend catch-up work needed. --- ## Verification Checklist - [ ] Weekly review takes $\le 45$ minutes and occurs on a fixed calendar cadence. - [ ] Every active project has exactly one unambiguous, physical next action. - [ ] Top 3 outcomes for the coming week are explicitly scheduled on the calendar. - [ ] Monthly review includes killing or archiving at least one stagnant project. - [ ] Annual review includes explicit anti-goals to prevent commitment creep. --- ## Anti-Patterns - **The Bureaucratic Review**: Spending 4 hours writing elaborate retrospective essays instead of doing the actual work. - **Zombie Project Accumulation**: Keeping 30 projects on the "Active" list when you only have bandwidth for 3. - **Skipping during Crises**: Abandoning the review during high-stress weeks when the review is needed most.