Weekly Reflection Questions for Busy Moms
Do you find yourself on a hamster wheel week after week? Setting goals but not reaching them? Making to-do lists but never getting around to the things that matter most to you? A weekly review provides a framework for you to assess what’s working and what needs to change. Here is a list of weekly reflection questions to help you evaluate your systems, your state of mind, and your relationships.
Read on to download a free printable list of these reflection questions to use for yourself in a weekly review.
Why You Should Use Weekly Reflection Questions
Weekly reflection questions are a great way to look back at your week and consider what went well, as well as make note of problems or things that need to change.
By reflecting back, you give yourself helpful information as you plan your upcoming week.
In addition, using the same questions on a weekly basis offers the added benefit of giving you a sort of trend line. If you see that you’re running into the same problem multiple weeks in a row, you become aware of areas that need focused attention or solutions. You may notice that it’s been several weeks since you connected with a friend or spent time doing something that you love. Having a time of weekly reflection gives you that insight in order to make a change before you become resentful or overwhelmed.
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5 Reasons to Have a Weekly Reflection Time
- personal accountability to help you stay on track with goals
- maintain and renew focus on priorities
- reminders of positive moments and accomplishments boost personal satisfaction
- discover areas that need improvement
- gain clarity about what needs to change
When Should You Do a Weekly Reflection
Although the “when” may vary from person to person, typically you want to institute a weekly reflection time at the end of your week.
Personally, I’m a fan of Friday afternoon, but many people also choose Sunday afternoon or evening to do a weekly reflection.
Whenever you typically sit down to plan for the upcoming week is the best time. By adding a short time of personal reflection to your regular planning time, you’re essentially habit stacking. It will be much easier to make your weekly reflection time a habit if you do it along with something that is already a habit in your life.
30 Weekly Reflection Questions
Here are 30 weekly reflection questions to consider including in a weekly review or planning time. These reflection questions are especially helpful for busy moms who are juggling work, family, and homeschool, along with trying to take care of themselves.
1. What did I accomplish this week?
Make sure to acknowledge the things you actually got done. It’s easy to focus on how far you are from your goals, or what you didn’t get done, but it’s important to recognize the work you are getting done to stay motivated.
2. What systems or routines are working well?
Which systems or routines are helping you be productive? Meal planning? Time blocking? Chores? Make a note of what is working and why you think that is the case.
3. What do I need to work on?
What is not working right now? Is the laundry piling up? Are the kids never remembering to unload the dishwasher? Are you distracted by too many email notifications?
Take notice of what’s bugging you, slowing you down, or causing you to feel frustrated.
4. Am I making progress on my goals?
Consider personal goals, health goals, business goals, and any other area in which you have specific benchmarks you want to achieve. Did you do anything this week to move yourself toward achieving that goal? If not, what can you do next week?
5. How are my mornings?
Are your mornings chaotic or calm? Is there something you want to incorporate into a morning routine?
Read: 7 Best Tips for a Good Morning
6. How are my evenings?
Have you developed an evening routine? Are you staying up too late, binge watching mindless TV, or scrolling social media? Is there something you could do in the evenings to make your mornings run more smoothly?
Read: Evening Routine Ideas
7. How’s my spiritual life?
Am I regularly reading my Bible and spending time in prayer? Have I moved toward Jesus or away from him this week?
Read: 30 Days of Praying Scripture
8. Did I offer encouragement to someone this week?
This is a reminder to speak kindness and encouragement into the lives of those around you—family, friends, and strangers. Our kids are likely to hear many corrections from us, and need to be told of the ways we notice and appreciate their positive character traits and behaviors.
Read: 250 Positive Personality Traits to Describe Your Child
9. Did I make time to do something I enjoyed week?
Don’t forget to make time for fun! If too many weeks go by without doing something for yourself, you may begin feeling resentful and bitter toward your family or work responsibilities.
10. What did I learn this week?
This is a great place to reflect on what is inspiring or motivating you. You may also consider what you learned about yourself this week.
11. Did I make time for friendships this week?
Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, relationships are important. Even a quick text or email can help you stay connected to friends you don’t see often. Some seasons of life (hello kids!) allow less opportunity for regular outings with friends, but the effort required to maintain those friendships is worth it.
12. How is my marriage doing?
Has it been a while since you had a date night? Have you connected with your spouse about something besides logistics in the past week? Is there something you can implement to improve your relationship: sincere compliments, a hug before leaving the house, taking over a task your spouse hates to do?
13. What do I want to remember about this week?
This question can help you focus on the moment and serve as a great lookback to memorable events, funny things your kids say, or feedback that boosted your confidence.
14. What am I looking forward to?
Take note of something you can anticipate in the next week. Big or small, give yourself something to look forward to.
15. What are my biggest obstacles right now?
Name your problems. You may find surprising solutions once you can articulate exactly what is preventing you from accomplishing what you set out to do.
16. Is there anything I can do to make life easier for myself next week?
Can you delegate something, delete a task from your to-do list, adjust your calendar, or ask for help?
17. Is there anything I’ve been avoiding or putting off that I should take care of?
Perhaps you can schedule a half hour into your week to make the phone calls, send the emails, or look for the lost item. Those little tasks that you know need to be done and keep getting pushed off may take less time than you think, and imagine how great it will feel to cross them off the list!
18. Do I have any unrealistic expectations of myself or others in my life?
Take a moment to consider whether you need to adjust your expectations. Be realistic about what you expect of yourself, your spouse, your kids, your friends, your parents, your boss, co-workers, or anyone else you interact with frequently.
19. What should be my biggest priority for next week?
Get clear on where your focus should be in the next week. Work-life balance is somewhat of a myth. The scales are almost always tipped slightly in one direction or another. If you check in with yourself weekly about your highest priorities, you’ll have a record to look back and see whether you’ve been prioritizing work tasks over family life or allowing your family responsibilities to overwhelm your ability to get work projects completed.
20. What am I grateful for this week?
You will find that the process of answering these weekly reflection questions naturally results in gratitude as you consider what went well and what you’re looking forward to, but a specific focus on gratitude has far-reaching ripple effects on your attitude and perspective.
Blank Journals to Use for Weekly Reflection
Reflection Questions for Busy Homeschool Moms
Many of you reading this are homeschool moms, so I’d like to offer a few additional questions that may be relevant for your weekly reflection.
1. How is my relationship with my child/children right now?
It’s easy to get caught up in teacher mode and focus on getting assignments done, but maintaining a good relationship with your kids also takes effort. This questions is a good reminder to keep family relationships front of mind.
2. Is there anything that needs to change in our homeschool?
Consider routines, curriculum, timing of work, types of assignments, free time, structure.
3. Are there any areas my child/children need specific help or focus?
This is an opportunity to take note of specific areas in which your child needs assistance.
Weekly Reflection Questions to Improve Weekly Planning
The small time investment it takes to think through these weekly reflection questions is well worth the return you will gain in improvements to your weekly planning.
By thoughtfully considering what went well and what needs to be changed, you will make better decisions about how to manage your time effectively and how to improve your relationships with the people you care about.
Try it for one month and honestly evaluate whether including a weekly reflection time at the end of your week boosts your productivity and results in feeling less overwhelmed.
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Weekly Reflection Questions for Busy Moms
