Write this week's priorities on a blank page without last week's list — compare afterward to detect drift

Why This Is a Rule

Consulting last week's priority list before writing this week's produces anchoring: you'll reproduce last week's priorities with minor modifications, even if this week's genuine priorities have shifted significantly. The blank-page method forces fresh assessment — what's actually most important this week, assessed from scratch without the anchor of what was important last week.

The compare-after step converts the exercise from simple planning into a drift detection system. When fresh priorities and last-week priorities match → stability. Priorities are consistent across weeks, which is normal for long-term objectives. When they diverge → drift is occurring. Either the environment changed (legitimate shift) or your priorities are being displaced by urgency, social pressure, or novelty (illegitimate drift). The comparison reveals which.

This is Review decisions in three steps: re-read reasoning blind, predict outcome, then compare — this sequence defeats hindsight bias's blind-before-reveal pattern (for decision journal reviews) applied to weekly planning: assess independently first, compare to prior assessment second, and diagnose the gap third.

When This Fires

• At the start of each week during planning
• When weekly priorities feel like recycled versions of previous weeks without fresh assessment
• When you suspect priority drift but can't detect it — the comparison reveals it
• Complements Before email each morning, write your ONE thing: 'What can I do today that makes everything else easier or unnecessary?' (daily ONE thing question) with the weekly-scale fresh assessment

Common Failure Mode

Copying last week's list with minor edits: "Same priorities, just update the percentages." This is anchoring, not assessment. The priorities may genuinely be the same — but you won't know until you've assessed fresh and then compared. The blank-page method ensures that this week's priorities reflect this week's reality, not last week's inertia.

The Protocol

(1) At the start of each week, open a blank page. Do NOT look at last week's priority list. (2) Write your top 3-5 priorities for this week from scratch: "What are the most important things I could accomplish this week?" (3) Only after the fresh list is complete → compare to last week's list. (4) Match: both lists align → priorities are stable. Proceed with confidence. Shift: lists differ significantly → investigate. Is the shift due to genuine environmental change? Or urgency/social pressure displacing important work? (5) If the shift is legitimate → update and proceed. If it's drift → correct back toward the genuine priorities that the fresh assessment captured.