Hey :)
Every Friday I do a simple weekly review I call the 3-1-3.
Three things that look and feel like progress this week.
One single objective for next week.
Three tasks that will move the needle on that one thing.
It takes about 15-20 minutes, and it's one of the most important things I do all week.
I'll explain why in a moment.
---
This week when I sat down to do my 3-1-3, I found a couple of things genuinely difficult.
The first was that I was telling myself a story — that we hadn't really made much progress. It felt like a 'bitty' week. Lots of little things ticked off, but nothing actually shipped. Nothing visible. Nothing you could point to and say, "there it is."
But here's what fixed that pretty quickly: I just stopped and asked myself, what are the three things that actually look and feel like progress this week? And I could write more than three. Turns out, there was plenty of progress — it just wasn't the tangible, obvious kind.
That's exactly why this weekly review matters so much. Left unchecked, your brain will tell you you're not moving. You have to stop, sit down, and write it out. Progress is often invisible until you look for it.
But honestly, that wasn't the hardest part of my week.
The hardest part was figuring out my one most important objective for next week.
It's the end of the month. We started with total clarity — clear goals, clear priorities. But somewhere along the way, things got murky. Some stuff moved faster, some slower. Projects have piled up. And I sat there with this heavy feeling of, "everything is pressing right now."
So here's what I did. I wrote it all down — every project, every thing on my mind. David Allen calls this a full capture. Just get it all out of your head and onto paper. Then I walked away. It was Friday, so I left it completely and came back to it Sunday morning with a coffee.
And I asked myself one simple question that cut through all of it:
"If I had to choose just one project to focus on next week — one thing — what would it be, and why?"
The answer came quickly. Almost immediately. And the project I chose has a knock-on effect on almost everything else I'm working on right now, which tells me it's the right call.
From there, everything else followed naturally. I arranged my calendar around that one thing. Some stuff I had planned for next week got pushed back — one thing by a full month, which even surprised me. But it's not important right now. It'll get done. Just not this week.
Do less. Do it better. One thing at a time, done properly, then move to the next. Sequential, not simultaneous.
I know that's obvious when you say it out loud. But it's easy to forget when everything feels urgent.
---
So before the week begins, grab a coffee, find a quiet spot, and work through your own 3-1-3:
Every Friday I do a simple weekly review I call the 3-1-3.
Three things that look and feel like progress this week.
One single objective for next week.
Three tasks that will move the needle on that one thing.
It takes about 15-20 minutes, and it's one of the most important things I do all week.
I'll explain why in a moment.
---
This week when I sat down to do my 3-1-3, I found a couple of things genuinely difficult.
The first was that I was telling myself a story — that we hadn't really made much progress. It felt like a 'bitty' week. Lots of little things ticked off, but nothing actually shipped. Nothing visible. Nothing you could point to and say, "there it is."
But here's what fixed that pretty quickly: I just stopped and asked myself, what are the three things that actually look and feel like progress this week? And I could write more than three. Turns out, there was plenty of progress — it just wasn't the tangible, obvious kind.
That's exactly why this weekly review matters so much. Left unchecked, your brain will tell you you're not moving. You have to stop, sit down, and write it out. Progress is often invisible until you look for it.
But honestly, that wasn't the hardest part of my week.
The hardest part was figuring out my one most important objective for next week.
It's the end of the month. We started with total clarity — clear goals, clear priorities. But somewhere along the way, things got murky. Some stuff moved faster, some slower. Projects have piled up. And I sat there with this heavy feeling of, "everything is pressing right now."
So here's what I did. I wrote it all down — every project, every thing on my mind. David Allen calls this a full capture. Just get it all out of your head and onto paper. Then I walked away. It was Friday, so I left it completely and came back to it Sunday morning with a coffee.
And I asked myself one simple question that cut through all of it:
"If I had to choose just one project to focus on next week — one thing — what would it be, and why?"
The answer came quickly. Almost immediately. And the project I chose has a knock-on effect on almost everything else I'm working on right now, which tells me it's the right call.
From there, everything else followed naturally. I arranged my calendar around that one thing. Some stuff I had planned for next week got pushed back — one thing by a full month, which even surprised me. But it's not important right now. It'll get done. Just not this week.
Do less. Do it better. One thing at a time, done properly, then move to the next. Sequential, not simultaneous.
I know that's obvious when you say it out loud. But it's easy to forget when everything feels urgent.
---
So before the week begins, grab a coffee, find a quiet spot, and work through your own 3-1-3:
- Three wins — what are three things that look and feel like progress this week?
- One objective — what's your single most important priority for next week? If you're stuck, ask yourself: if I could only focus on one thing next week, what would it be and why? The answer usually comes faster than you'd expect.
- Three tasks — what are the three things that need to happen next week to move the needle on that one priority?
I do this every week with my team and my clients. I've done it for years. And it's honestly one of the best parts of my week — you can probably see why.
If you want to play along, just reply to this email with your 3-1-3.
I read every reply, and I'll get back to you.
No group, no channel, no faff — just hit reply. That's it.
And if you do it every week, that's where the accountability really kicks in.
🗣️ 👀
Chris
chris@chrismarr.co.uk