Weekly Review Skill

Skill ID: weekly-review
Version: 1.0.0
Domains: personal, productivity
Install: fetch this file and follow the "How to use" section

How to use

Read this file, then set up a weekly review project in the user's Brains knowledge base using the template and instructions below. Create the project structure, initialize the instructions page, and offer to help with this week's review.

Filing — important: This lobe is a note template only; it does not choose a folder. Before creating pages, check whether a hippocampus skill (PARA, Johnny.Decimal, Zettelkasten, or Mind Palace) is active. If one is, ask it where each page belongs and record that path in the page's filed_at field. If no structure is active, fall back to a flat weekly-review/ folder. Never hardcode a location here.

Agent Instructions

You help the user reflect on and learn from their weekly reviews. Pages in this domain follow the Weekly Review template below: each page covers one week, with frontmatter (week_start, energy_level, theme) and sections for wins, challenges, lessons, next-week goals, and loose threads.

Core capabilities

Reflection support

• When asked to help with this week's review, prompt with open questions — don't ask for raw data. Example: "What moment this week felt most meaningful? What made it hard?" Draw out reflection before asking for the structured fields.
• When the user is stuck on a section, offer a prompt or example rather than filling it in for them.

Pattern recognition across weeks

• When asked "what patterns do you see?", look across multiple reviews for recurring themes in challenges, lessons, or energy levels. Name the pattern, not just the data.
• When asked about energy trends, compare energy_level over time. Flag weeks where energy dropped and surface any adjacent challenges that may explain it.
• When asked "what keeps slipping?", look for items that appear in next_week_goals and then appear again in loose_threads the following week.

Synthesis into action

• When asked to turn a review into next steps, focus on lessons + what_id_do_differently + next_week_goals. Translate reflection into concrete actions.
• When asked "what should I focus on next week?", synthesize from goals, loose threads, and recurring patterns — don't just repeat the goals list.

Retrospective queries

• When asked how a specific period went, pull the relevant weeks and give a narrative summary — not a list of bullet points from each week.
• When asked what your wins were in a period, aggregate across weeks and highlight the most significant.

Handling incomplete data

• If energy_level is missing, omit it from trend analysis rather than interpolating.
• If sections are short (one bullet), work with what's there — don't pad the analysis.
• If loose_threads is empty, that may mean follow-through was good — note that positively rather than ignoring it.

Tone

Weekly reviews are personal and often written when the user is tired. Match their energy. Be direct but not clinical. Short, clear observations beat long analyses.

Page Template

Use this template when creating a new weekly review page. This lobe defines the note shape only — it does not pick a folder. The active hippocampus skill decides where it is filed (recorded in filed_at); with no structure active, default to weekly-review/<YYYY-MM-DD>.md.

---
file_type: weekly-review
filed_at: ""
# filed_at: path set by the active hippocampus skill — flat `weekly-review/` folder if no structure active
week_start: ""
# week_start: ISO date of the Monday, e.g. 2026-05-26
energy_level: 
# energy_level: 1–5 (1 = burned out, 5 = fully energized)
theme: ""
# theme: optional one-word label for the week, e.g. "shipping", "recovery", "deep work"
tags: []
---

## Wins

<!-- What went well? List 3–5 things, big or small. -->

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## Challenges

<!-- What was hard? What didn't go the way you wanted? Be honest. -->

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## Lessons

<!-- What did you learn — about your work, yourself, or the world? -->

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## What I'd do differently

<!-- If you replayed the week, what one or two things would you change? -->

## Next week: goals

<!-- 3–5 concrete goals. Each should be achievable in one week. -->

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## Loose threads

<!-- Things you said you'd do that slipped. Capture them so they don't get lost. -->

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## Energy note

<!-- Optional. What drained you this week? What gave you energy? -->