# Friday Weekly Review That Builds Next Week's Plan With Real Math

> Turn this week's done list and open loops into a capacity-checked plan for next week: triage every loose end, pick three outcomes, and block the time.

- **Author:** [Hugo Martin (@hugo_martin)](https://promptabide.com/hugo_martin)
- **Tested on:** Claude · Opus 5.5
- **You fill in:** `done_list`, `open_loops`, `next_week_calendar`
- **Published:** 2026-09-13
- **Updated:** 2026-09-24
- **Tags:** `productivity`, `business-strategy`, `decision-making`
- **Keywords:** weekly review prompt for freelancers, ai weekly planning template with time blocks, plan next week based on available hours, friday weekly review chatgpt prompt, turn open loops into a weekly plan
- **Views:** 1004
- **Likes:** 39

**Best for:** Freelancers, managers and anyone juggling several clients or projects who wants a weekly reset that respects the hours they actually have.

## Prompt

```
Run my weekly review and build next week's plan.

What I finished this week: {{done_list}}

Open loops (anything unfinished, owed or nagging me), with rough hour estimates: {{open_loops}}

Next week's availability and fixed commitments: {{next_week_calendar}}

Steps:
1. **Wins**: 2-3 bullets, one line each. No padding.
2. **Triage every open loop** into Do next week / Delegate or ask / Defer to a named date / Drop. Give a reason of under 12 words for each.
3. **Capacity check**: available hours minus 20% buffer = plannable hours. Sum the estimates for everything in "Do". If it doesn't fit, move items out until it does, and say what you moved.
4. **Top 3 outcomes** for next week, each phrased as a finished state ("proposal sent", not "work on proposal").
5. **Day-by-day blocks**, placing the hardest work early in the week.
6. **One decision** I've been postponing that this plan forces me to make.

Show the capacity math. If an estimate looks unrealistic, flag it instead of silently changing it.
```

## Variables

- `{{done_list}}` — What you completed this week. (e.g. Delivered Q4 content calendar to Brightloop; sent invoice...)
- `{{open_loops}}` — Everything unfinished or owed, each with a rough hour estimate. (e.g. 2 blog posts for Tern Coffee due Tue (6h); Halden proposal due Wed (6h)...)
- `{{next_week_calendar}}` — Working hours per day and any fixed meetings or time off. (e.g. Mon-Thu 9-5 with 1h lunch; Fri 9-12 only. Mon 10-11 client call...)

## Example input

```
done_list: Delivered Q4 content calendar to Brightloop; wrote 2 of 4 blog posts for Tern Coffee; sent Brightloop invoice; sales call with Halden Studio (they want a proposal by next Wednesday).

open_loops: 2 remaining Tern Coffee posts, due Tue (6h total); Halden proposal, due Wed (6h); feedback on Mosaic HR's newsletter draft, they've waited since Monday (1h); 3 LinkedIn posts Brightloop asked for by Fri (3h); add Brightloop case study to portfolio (3h); Mosaic invoice is 18 days overdue, chase it (15 min); reply to podcast guest invite (15 min); learn Claude Code to automate my monthly client reports (4h).

next_week_calendar: Mon-Thu 9:00-17:00 with 1h lunch; Friday 9:00-12:00 only (school event). Fixed: Mon 10-11 Brightloop call; Wed 14-15 Tern check-in; Thu 9:30-10:00 Mosaic call.
```

## Output

*Produced by Claude · Opus 5.5.*

```
**1. Wins**
- Brightloop's Q4 calendar was delivered and invoiced in the same week.
- Halden is a warm lead with a clear ask and deadline.
- Tern posts are half done, ahead of Tuesday.

**2. Triage**
- **Do:** Tern posts (6h). Due Tue, and paid work.
- **Do:** Halden proposal (6h). New revenue with a hard Wednesday deadline.
- **Do:** Mosaic feedback (1h). They've waited a week, which is on you.
- **Do:** Brightloop LinkedIn posts (3h). The client asked, due Friday.
- **Do:** chase the Mosaic invoice (15m). 18 days overdue; send it separately, not in the feedback email.
- **Do:** podcast reply (15m). Faster to answer than to carry.
- **Defer to Mon 5 Oct:** portfolio case study (3h). Useful, but nobody is waiting on it.
- **Defer to Mon 5 Oct, cut to 2h:** Claude Code reporting automation. It's an investment that pays off after the busy week.

**3. Capacity math**
Available: Mon 6h (7 minus the call), Tue 7h, Wed 6h, Thu 6.5h, Fri 3h = **28.5h**
Minus 20% buffer (5.7h) = **22.8h plannable**
All loops as listed: 23.5h, **0.7h over**.
After deferring the portfolio (3h) and the automation (4h): **16.5h in Do**, leaving 6.3h of slack. That slack will get eaten by client email; let it.

Flag: 6h for a first proposal to a new client is tight if they want pricing options. Decide early whether you're sending one price or three.

**4. Top 3 outcomes**
1. Tern posts delivered by Tue 12:00.
2. Halden proposal sent by Wed 12:00, a half-day early.
3. Mosaic feedback sent and invoice chased by Mon 17:00.

**5. Blocks**
- **Mon:** 9-10 Tern post 3; 11-12 Mosaic feedback + invoice chase; 13-16 Tern post 4 (draft); 16-17 podcast reply + admin.
- **Tue:** 9-11 finish Tern posts and send; 11-17 Halden proposal (4h), with gaps for email.
- **Wed:** 9-11 Halden final pass, send by 12; 14-15 Tern check-in; 15-17 LinkedIn post 1.
- **Thu:** 10-12 LinkedIn posts 2-3; afternoon is the buffer.
- **Fri:** 9-11 send LinkedIn posts; 11-12 next week's review.

**6. Decision this forces**
Whether Halden gets one fixed price or tiered options. Decide it Monday so Tuesday's 4h is writing, not deliberating.
```

## Why it works

Most weekly-review prompts produce a pleasant reflection and an overstuffed to-do list. This one has a **hard constraint in step 3**: available hours, minus a 20% buffer, compared with the summed estimates. The plan has to fit or something visibly moves out.

Forcing **every** open loop into Do/Delegate/Defer/Drop stops loose ends quietly rolling forward. "Defer to a named date" stops "later" from meaning "never". Outcomes phrased as **finished states** make Friday's review checkable. "Flag it instead of silently changing it" keeps your estimates yours. The final "one decision" line surfaces the thing the list has been hiding.

## When not to use it

It assumes you can estimate hours roughly. If your week is mostly reactive (support rotas, on-call, retail shifts), a capacity plan will be fiction, so review the week but skip the time-blocking. It also can't see your real calendar unless you paste it, and a plan built from a half-remembered calendar will collide with meetings you forgot.

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