Weeknotes: how to write one in 30 minutes
Weeknotes are writings about your week of work. This article will show you how to write a weeknote in 30 minutes. Yes, it is possible, and satisfying too!
What a weeknote is
Weeknotes are short reflections on your week of work.
They aren’t blogs. They are shorter and may include different subjects that don’t connect together, apart from being part of your week.
People often write them in Medium. This is a great tool. Get an account, open a new post and write directly into it. Don’t use a word doc and paste later. Medium saves drafts for you and shows you how they look as you write.
People often write a weeknote on a Friday afternoon. Or sometimes Thursday if they work a 4 day week.
3 ingredients for writing a weeknote in 30 minutes
To write a weeknote in 30 minutes you need to:
- Lower your expectations of how much you will write. Aim for 150 words (though most people end up writing more)
- Use a timer. This makes writing easier. Or join our sessions where we run the timer for you.
- Write about what you are interested in from your week. You have permission to be free. It doesn’t need to be of interest to others (but you might be surprised how much interest others take in what you write).
6 steps to write your weeknote
Then follow these 6 steps to do the writing.
- Have an idea
- Write a title
- Outline for 5 minutes
- Draft for 15 minutes
- Edit for 10 minutes
- Publish
Each step is short. Some will be similar to what you already do. The difference here is you use the timer for steps 3–5.
Here’s more advice on each step.
1. Have an idea (or not)
I often turn up without an idea of what parts of my week’s work I want to write about. That’s OK. But if you want an idea do this:
Notice what has felt useful, important or moving for you this week.
I often write about 3 things from my week. 3 is a magic number for writing. Start with 3 things and it’ll help you.
Sometimes I write my thoughts about 1 thing from my week.
Either way I always write about pieces of work I’m working on
Write what you want to write about.
2. Write a title
Set the timer for 1 minute.
Write a descriptive title first. It will help you focus.
Plain titles are good. Sexy titles are good too. Anything in between is also good.
The best titles are 6–8 words. But don’t stress if it’s more or less.
Here’s some titles you can copy and reuse, or tweak:
The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful
(swap ‘Beautiful’ for ‘Brilliant’, or ‘Very Interesting’, or ‘Unknown’)
3 stretching questions for this week
(then make up or choose 3 questions to answer in your weeknote)
3. Outline for 5 minutes
Outlining is the secret to easy writing. It helps you feel confident when it comes to drafting.
Set the timer for 5 minutes.
Write the word ‘Intro’ then 3 subheadings. Like this:
Intro
The Good
The Bad
The Very Interesting
Or you could use 3 questions like these:
What was a pain in the ass this week?
What was delicious this week?
What didn’t get done and why?
Highlight each subheading and, from the formatting menu that pops up, choose a heading style for your subheads. This styling is better than simply bolding your text.
Next write some bullets underneath each subhead. These are very short reminders of the things you might want to mention.
Here’s the bullets I wrote for this section (the subhead was ‘Outline for 5 minutes’):
- Secret to easy fast writing
- 3 subheads
- Format subheads
- Bullets under each
- No sentences
Don’t write full sentences for your bullets. Full sentences are for drafting (the next step!).
4. Draft for 15 minutes
This is where you just write.
Nothing else.
Set the timer for 15 minutes.
Hyperfocus.
Write as if you were drunk, or tobogganing down a hill, slightly out of control.
Let go. Suspend your editor (no editing allowed yet).
Suspend your grammar police person (they will be welcome back later).
Welcome the timer. It’s your best friend here.
Tip 1: ease the pressure by aiming to write less under each subheading. 150 words is good enough. You don’t need to write fast. 15 minutes is plenty of time.
Tip 2: If you finish your draft before the timer runs out you can start editing. But only then.
5. Edit for 10 minutes
Now you can go back and edit.
Set the timer for 10 minutes.
Don’t worry if your edit isn’t perfect. Grammar police are welcome if they are confident. Otherwise, tell them to chill.
Add a picture (Medium has an in editor feature that finds and adds images to your weeknote for you).
Add a link or two if you like but don’t spend too long finding them.
6. Hit publish
You’ve done it. Well done.
I didn’t hit ‘publish’, what should I do now?
Set the timer for another 5 or 10 minutes. Now is your best chance to finish your weeknote. You’re warmed up and more focused than you would be any other time.
You could complete it later. But I don’t recommend this. Because:
- It’ll probably get deprioritised and other work will feel more important. Then you might feel let down by yourself, or this method.
- If you do eventually publish it will feel out of date and less satisfying than publishing on a Thursday or Friday afternoon.
However, perhaps this is your only option.
Sign up for a workshop or join our 30-minute sessions
Work for or with non-profit organisations in the UK? Sign up for a 2023 writing workshop to boost your confidence and learn this method in a friendly setting with others.
Join one of our weekly 30 minute writing sessions in Spring 2023.
