27 Weekly Reflection Questions for Work & Life

Looking for some weekly reflection questions to help you end your week off on a positive note? 

Whether you want to do a weekly review for work or your personal life, using the same reflection questions on a weekly basis is a great way to learn from the past week and make adjustments for the upcoming week.

You’ll also be able to see how far you’ve come when looking back on past entries.

So, let’s get into it. Today I’m covering:

• The meaning of weekly reflection
• Why weekly reflection is so important
• The ideal time for reflection
• Weekly reflection questions for your personal life
• Weekly review questions for work and career

What is Weekly Reflection?

Weekly reflection is the practice of reviewing the past week from a personal and work perspective.

It gives you the opportunity to see what’s gone well and what can be improved for the week ahead.

The best way to do a weekly review is in your journal or planner.

I recommend doing two separate weekly reflections – one for your personal life and one for your work/career. Of course – you can also choose to just do one of these but if you want to review both it’s best to keep them separate.

Weekly reflection for work is about reviewing past week’s projects, to-do lists, meetings, and overall interactions to see how things went.

For your personal life reflection, the idea would be to review things such as family, relationships, personal goals, schedule, self-care, etc.

Whether you do both types of reviews or one, the goal is to learn how to improve for the week ahead. This makes it easier to improve your overall work/life balance, be productive, and focus on your personal development.

Why is Weekly Reflection Important?

Weekly reflection is an effective way to help you see where you started and where you finished, within a given week.

It’s a powerful tool anyone can use to give you a deeper understanding of ways to enhance your weekly routine so you can support yourself physically, emotionally, and professionally.

Weekly reflection helps to:

• Prioritize tasks more efficiently
• Reach your weekly goals more easily by adjusting your strategies
• Support your professional and personal growth
• Find new ways to approach similar situations from the past
• Start each new week with more intention

Weekly reflection for work is ideal to help you see what you accomplished the previous week and see what you have left to do.

For your personal life, weekly reflection can help you practice gratitude for the things that went well during the week, but also take notice of things you’d like to improve.

Ultimately, weekly reflection empowers us to create a better week ahead, leading to more balanced, intentional lives.

Weekly Reflection Questions for Your Personal Life

Use these important questions as weekly reflection journal prompts to help you do a review of the past week.

2. How did your overall work/life balance feel?

Did you manage to maintain a healthy work-life balance this past week? Consider how this balance affected your overall well-being and state of mind. 

3. How do you feel first thing in the morning and last thing at night?

Determine whether there’s anything you can do to improve your morning or evening routines.

4. Did you set aside any downtime for yourself?

Reflect on whether you dedicated time for relaxation and things you enjoy doing. 

5. Did you create time for your relationships this week?

This includes your spouse, kids, friends, and family. 

You may need more time for your relationships or less. 

6. How did you generally feel at the end of your work day?

Ready to spend time with friends/family, exhausted and in need of sleep, stressed?

Take note of any recurring emotions, and consider what aspects of your work contribute to these feelings. Recognizing these patterns can help you identify areas for improvement.

8. What small things made you smile?

This is a great weekly reflection question as it will remind you to seek out little moments of joy throughout your week.

Whether it’s the birds chirping in the morning, a funny story someone shared, or the taste of your morning coffee, acknowledging these little things can be a simple mood booster throughout the week.

9. How did you practice self-care this week?

Did you do anything specific to look after yourself this week? Self-care can be anything small or big that helps you recharge, relax, or enjoy yourself.

10. How did you motivate yourself this week?

Did you do anything to help you stay focused, try something new, or remain on task this week? 

Doing little things to motivate yourself such as small rewards, reading motivational quotes, finding an accountability partner, or using positive affirmations is a great way to keep going.

11. What steps did you take to work on a personal goal this week?

Detail any action steps you took toward achieving a personal goal, highlighting your progress. This could be anything from working out to saving money.

12. Did you avoid anything this week? If yes, what’s the first step you can take to make it easier to complete next week?

Identify tasks you avoided and formulate a plan to make it easier to start next week. 

For example: Let’s say you wanted to call your accountant and book your car for an oil change. 

To make it easier next week, allocate time on your calendar with the phone number for each task. This way you have created the time and you have the details to move forward with the task at hand.

13. What did you learn from the past week?

Consider what lessons you learned about yourself over the past week.

Reflect on any challenges you faced as well as things that went well. 

14. What can you do differently for next week?

Look at what you learned this past week and think about where you‘d like to put more attention next week. 

You might want to set new goals, reduce procrastination, take more time for self-care, or look after your physical health more.

Whatever it might be, use this to help you create a great week ahead.  

Weekly Review Questions for Work & Career

Use this helpful list of reflection questions at the end of your work week, so you can make adjustments for the week ahead.

15. Did you complete any major projects or accomplish any big goals?

Think about all of your big wins and highlight them here.

16. How productive were you this week?

Look back on your to-do list for this past week and see how much you accomplished.

Reflect on your time management and any obstacles you may have come across.

Make sure to acknowledge your achievements and identify areas for growth to help you approach the upcoming week with a clear plan and renewed focus.

18. Did you face any obstacles this week, and if yes how did you work through them?

For example: Obstacles with a problematic client or colleague, lack of time on a deliverable or letting your perfectionism take over., 

It’s important to acknowledge these obstacles and proactively think about how to improve them for the upcoming week.

19. How were your interactions this week with your boss and colleagues?

Relationships are so important in your career – in fact, I would argue they are one of the most important factors. Think about how your relationships are going and if there is anything you’d like to improve

20. What went well this week?

Give yourself a pat on the back for everything that went well this week. 

Whether it’s receiving positive feedback or having a number of important conversations, take a moment to appreciate and celebrate these small wins.

21. Is there anything from this week that you can take off your list?

Is there anything on your to-do list that doesn’t directly align with your goals or your department’s goals?

If so, you could ask your boss to help you reprioritize things or if you’re more senior you can do this yourself. You might even be able to offload the task altogether.

Also, identify any tasks you may have on your list that are ‘make work’ projects or things another department should be doing.

22. Are there any tasks from this week that you didn’t complete, and you need to move to next week?

Creating a plan to tackle these tasks will help you stay organized and focused on your goals for the next week. 

23. Did you receive any feedback from clients, colleagues, or your boss in the past week? How did these make you feel?

Feedback, whether positive or not, is so important to receive with open arms.

Constructive criticism helps you grow in your career, even if it feels uncomfortable, so embrace people who want to provide you with honest feedback.

24. How will you use the above feedback to make changes for next week?

Think about how you can use this feedback to tailor your approach to different situations and tasks. Make a plan to try out this new approach in the upcoming week.

25. Did you learn any new skills this week? If not, are there new skills you want/need to learn next week?

These skills could be anything from:

• Learning new software
• Trying a new time management approach (like the Pomodoro technique) 
• Networking at an event
• Mastering Google Forms
• A new type of brainstorming
• Better interpersonal skills

26. What can you improve for next week?

Based on your review of the past week, consider specific areas for improvement that you can try out in the upcoming week.

27. What are your top 3 priorities for next week?

Define your top 3 business goals (plus essential tasks for each goal) to work on in the upcoming week.

Weekly Reflection: What’s Next?

Great – you’ve used these weekly questions to review the past week – now what?

The ideal situation is to learn from the previous week so you can take some new action steps for the week ahead.

Some things to consider, to make next week easier…

Weekly Planning

Can you pre-plan some tasks to reduce the time spent thinking about them? Some examples would be:

• Meal planning
• Writing a to-do list for personal stuff – call the Doctor, book car for maintenance, etc
• Write a work to-do list for the entire week of must-finish items
• End each work day with your top 3 tasks for the following day – helping you stay on track 

Time Management/Productivity

Think about ways to improve your time management so there is less of a roadblock to completing your tasks and working on your long-term goals.

Perhaps you’re most productive in the morning, so this would be the best time to take on that big project. Or, you might need to take an afternoon walk to reset before getting back to work.

Mid-Week Check-in

Whether it’s for work or your personal life, doing a mid-week check-in helps make sure you’re staying on track.

👉 On Wednesday morning, look at how your week is going and determine if there are any little (or big) tweaks you’d like to make to keep you motivated.

Next Steps and Final Thoughts

This reflection process might seem tough to get into, especially with a busy schedule.

To get started, I recommend:

• Giving it a try for one week and see how it goes. 
• Using the specific weekly reflection prompts that relate most to you, there is no need to use them all unless you want to.

I hope you found this list of reflection questions helpful so you can have a fresh start each week, whether at work or in life. 

Using a reflection exercise like this is a great way to help you end the week off on the right foot so you can reduce stress and feel more accomplished for the week ahead.

So I encourage you to grab a journal or notebook and start this simple yet amazing reflection practice.

Enjoy!

Related Reflection Resources:

• 21 Ways To Set Daily Intentions
• 60 Self-Reflection Questions & Journal Prompts
• How To Do a Monthly Reset: 7 Easy Steps
• 15 End of Year Reflection Questions