Hi

I've been reviewing how I review since using the lovely hardback Design Notes every day since it was published. I'm on week 22 in case anyone else started at a similar time.

The daily(ish) minimal practice is to set an intention at the start of a day and capture a line about MP (meaningful progress) at the end of the day. It’s an excellent go-to metric, but like any practice, it can fade into background noise if we get too used to it.. Evidence shows a danger with similar practices, such as a gratitude diary, if used for too long.

Shake up your review practice

To avoid this and to add variety, in addition to the MP of meaningful progress, I've been experimenting in my Design Notes with 10 alternatives, such as L for learning or G for gratitude. Any practice worth keeping will eventually need variety.

If you're a regular user of Design Notes, you don't need to buy a fresh copy; you can get the updated page with the 10 alternatives to MP via this download button. (There's a short reel about this, too.) 

Download the Review Updates



I'm really enjoying using these 10 alternatives to add some variety to the review stage. All in all, this fast review takes seconds but gives me an overall sense of satisfaction and a stronger identity as the Architect.

Making time for two types of review 

The fast review: doesn't invest much time or energy between review, preparation and action. It is responsive and pragmatic; it’s how you tweak, optimise, iterate and move on. Perfect if you already know roughly what you’re aiming for and just want to refine and course correct. But it can become shallow because you can easily miss the deeper texture of what the experience meant.

The deep review: is slower, more about presence and insight. It is reflective, and it’s where learning deepens and where you notice hidden patterns or feelings that don’t show up in the fast version. The Insight tool in the Introductory Workbook has some prompts. But if you stay there forever, you risk never moving things forward and the learning stalls. 

Fast reviews keep you moving, deep reviews develop wisdom. The skill is knowing when you need the quick-fire, fast review and when you need the grounding, deep review. Any review at all is better than none. The craft is in knowing which review you need today. Quick fire or deep dive, both count. What matters is keeping the habit going – the Design Notes practice is where you hold the conversation about making today your good life.

Yours,

Bruce

PS. There are still places available on the next Day Crafting Foundation.

And, if you're a regular Design Notes user and you have your own adaptations, let me know.

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