Back in 2010, I penned something I called The Midweek Manifesto.
I didn’t dive into what it meant all that much back then. I simply wrote it and posted it. But as the conventional work week comes to a close here, I felt it was time to revisit its origin and meaning. Not just for you…but for me.
Here’s The Midweek Manifesto as I wrote it for WorkAwesome several years ago:
My mission is to reflect on the beginning of the week, see what I’ve not done and reboot it and see what I’ve done and celebrate it. Looking forward, I will take what’s left to be done and do it. With the rest of my plans I will stand firm. I’ll add tasks as I need and make sure that I heed my own voice. The voice that tells me, “I must get to complete.”
I still do this every week. Perhaps it’s because it is the middle of the week. Perhaps it’s because my work week really begins on Thursday because of the way my Daddy Duty days fall during the seven day week. Perhaps it’s because it’s just a good thing to do, regardless of when the middle of the week falls. No matter what, it’s become something I do consistently – and have for over four years.
There is something about doing a triage in the middle of the week that helps the rest of the week seem more…doable. Sure, journalling every night helps with the celebration of success and acknowledgement of failures, but this midweek cleanup really gets me back to a place where I can move forward with more intention and attention than if I’d simply let the plan for the week lie as initially set. I also trust The Midweek Manifesto as an accountability exercise – much more so than using something like Lift or a similar app or service – because this exercise allows me to see the whole rather than just a part of my tasks and obligations. The Midweek Manifesto somehow makes “Hump Day” just another day.
I’m not suggesting that this replace any form of weekly review. The Midweek Manifesto acts as a reality check more than a systems check. I still conduct my GTD-based Weekly Review every week on Sunday (although I’m beginning to look at Saturday morning as the best time for me to do this because of how my week is structured – more on that in a future blog post). This regular routine of taking stock in the middle of the week has actually made that review process more effective and efficient, just as journaling every night before bed has done.
So if you aren’t conducting a regular review and can’t seem to figure out how to build one into your workflow, start by taking The Midweek Manifesto and applying it to your own work and life. From there you will be better equipped to take on a full-fledged Weekly Review, which is critical to your success over the long term.
I’ve taken the liberty of creating a simple PDF of The Midweek Manifesto that you can print off and keep visible in your workspace (or post it wherever you’d like). You can download that PDF here. If you decide to modify it and make it look even better (which shouldn’t be too difficult, please let me know and I’ll share it with the Productivityist community.
