Purpose
Plan your week forward with clear priorities tied to quarterly goals. Sets the foundation for effective daily planning and ensures strategic alignment.
Usage
/weekly-plan- Plan upcoming week (or current week if Monday)/weekly-plan next- Plan next week (when running on Friday)
Context Routing
Check these files first:
thoughts/shared/pm/frameworks/- Quarter OKRs, North Star, strategic pillarsthoughts/shared/pm/reports/- Last week's review (if exists)thoughts/shared/pm/prds/- Active PRDs and their stagesthoughts/shared/pm/launches/- Upcoming launchesthoughts/shared/pm/reports/- Previous weekly plans (for pattern analysis)
MCP Queries (if available):
- Calendar MCP - Next week's meetings
- Linear MCP - Backlog and upcoming tasks
- Analytics MCP - Metrics trends (inform priorities)
Fallback: File-based planning using strategy docs and PRD pipeline.
Workflow
Step 1: Determine Target Week
- Calculate target week:
- Default: Upcoming week (Monday-Friday)
- If run on Monday: Current week
- If user specified "next": Next week
- Check if week already planned:
- Look for
thoughts/shared/pm/reports/YYYY-WXX-weekly-plan.md - If exists: Ask "Week already planned. Update it or create new version?"
Step 2: Review Last Week (If Available)
Check for thoughts/shared/pm/reports/[last-week]-weekly-review.md:
If exists, extract:
- Carried over items - What didn't get done?
- Learnings - What worked/didn't work?
- Momentum - Which initiatives are advancing?
- Stalled items - What needs unblocking?
If doesn't exist:
- Note: "Last week wasn't reviewed. Proceeding with forward planning only."
- Suggest: "After this week, run
/weekly-reviewto build the habit."
Step 3: Strategic Context Gathering
A. Quarter Goals & North Star:
Read thoughts/shared/pm/frameworks/:
- Current quarter OKRs
- North Star metric and target
- Strategic pillars (usually 3-4 themes)
Extract:
- Which goals are on track / behind / ahead?
- Which pillar needs more attention this week?
- Any upcoming deadlines (end of quarter, board meeting, etc.)?
B. Active PRD Pipeline:
Scan thoughts/shared/pm/prds/:
For each active PRD:
- Current stage
- Next milestone
- Blockers (if any)
- Stakeholders involved
Group PRDs by stage:
- Team Kickoff - Need to plan/scope
- Planning Review - Need to prioritize
- XFN Kickoff - Need alignment
- Solution Review - Need detailed design
- Launch Readiness - Need to ship
- Impact Review - Need to analyze results
Identify: Which PRDs need to advance this week?
C. Upcoming Launches:
Check thoughts/shared/pm/launches/:
- Features launching this week
- Pre-launch checklists due
- Post-launch monitoring needed
D. Calendar Preview (If MCP Available):
Query Calendar MCP for next week:
Get all events for [week start] to [week end]Extract:
- Key meetings (stakeholder syncs, reviews, planning sessions)
- All-hands/team meetings (fixed commitments)
- Open time blocks (capacity for deep work)
Calculate:
- Meeting load (hours in meetings)
- Deep work capacity (hours available for focused work)
- Context switch frequency
If heavy meeting week (20+ hours):
- Limit priorities to 2 instead of 3
- Flag: "Light on execution capacity this week"
Step 4: Priority Setting
Framework: Top 3 Priorities
Use this prioritization logic:
- Priority 1 (Most Important):
- Directly advances a quarter goal that's behind
- OR: Critical blocker removal
- OR: Upcoming launch with deadline
- Priority 2 (High Impact):
- Advances quarter goal that's on track
- OR: Strategic initiative that supports North Star
- OR: Stakeholder commitment with firm deadline
- Priority 3 (Meaningful Progress):
- Supports strategic pillar
- OR: Advances PRD through pipeline
- OR: Foundation for future work
Constraints:
- Each priority should take 6-10 hours of work
- Priorities should span different strategic pillars (balance)
- At least one priority should be proactive (not reactive)
Validation Questions:
- If I only do these 3 things this week, will it be a successful week?
- Do these priorities advance our quarter goals?
- Am I over-committed given meeting load?
Step 5: Task Breakdown (Optional)
For each priority, identify 2-4 key tasks:
Priority 1: [Title]
- [ ] Task 1 (Est: X hours)
- [ ] Task 2 (Est: Y hours)
- [ ] Task 3 (Est: Z hours)
Total estimate: Should match priority weight (6-10 hours)
This helps with:
- Reality check on scope
- Daily planning (break priorities into daily chunks)
- Progress tracking
Step 6: Generate Weekly Plan
Create file: thoughts/shared/pm/reports/YYYY-WXX-weekly-plan.md
Template:
---
week: YYYY-WXX
week_start: YYYY-MM-DD
week_end: YYYY-MM-DD
quarter: Q[X] YYYY
---
# Weekly Plan - Week of [Month] [DD], [YYYY]
## TL;DR
- **Top 3:** [One-line summary of each priority]
- **Meeting load:** [X] hours ([Light/Medium/Heavy])
- **Key milestone:** [Most important thing to ship/decide/align this week]
---
## Strategic Context
**Quarter Goal:** [Primary goal for this quarter]
**North Star Progress:** [Current value] / [Target] ([%] to goal)
**This Week's Focus:**
[1-2 sentences explaining why these priorities matter now]
---
## Top 3 Priorities
### Priority 1: [Title] ⭐ Most Important
**Why this matters:**
- Advances: [Quarter Goal / Strategic Pillar]
- Impact: [What changes if we complete this]
- Risk if not done: [Consequence of deferring]
**Success looks like:**
- [Specific, measurable outcome]
**Key tasks:**
- [ ] [Task 1] (Est: X hours) - [Why/who]
- [ ] [Task 2] (Est: Y hours) - [Why/who]
- [ ] [Task 3] (Est: Z hours) - [Why/who]
**Dependencies:**
- Needs from: [Person/team] - [What]
- Blocks: [What this unblocks]
**Linked to:**
- PRD: [Link if applicable]
- Decision doc: [Link if applicable]
---
### Priority 2: [Title]
**Why this matters:**
- Advances: [Quarter Goal / Strategic Pillar]
- Impact: [What changes]
**Success looks like:**
- [Specific outcome]
**Key tasks:**
- [ ] [Task 1]
- [ ] [Task 2]
- [ ] [Task 3]
**Dependencies:**
- [List]
**Linked to:**
- [Relevant docs]
---
### Priority 3: [Title]
**Why this matters:**
- Advances: [Quarter Goal / Strategic Pillar]
- Impact: [What changes]
**Success looks like:**
- [Specific outcome]
**Key tasks:**
- [ ] [Task 1]
- [ ] [Task 2]
**Dependencies:**
- [List]
**Linked to:**
- [Relevant docs]
---
## PRD Pipeline This Week
| PRD | Current Stage | Target Stage by Friday | Action Needed |
| ------ | --------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| [Name] | Team Kickoff | Planning Review | Complete scoping, get estimates |
| [Name] | Solution Review | Launch Readiness | Final stakeholder sign-off |
---
## Key Meetings
| Day | Meeting | Purpose | Prep Needed |
| --- | ------- | ----------- | ------------------------ |
| Mon | [Title] | [Objective] | [Y/N - Link to prep doc] |
| Tue | [Title] | [Objective] | [Y/N] |
| Wed | [Title] | [Objective] | [Y/N] |
| Thu | [Title] | [Objective] | [Y/N] |
| Fri | [Title] | [Objective] | [Y/N] |
**Meeting load:** [X] hours / ~40 hour week = [Y%]
**Deep work capacity:** [Z] hours available
---
## Strategic Pillar Balance
[If your strategy has defined pillars, show allocation]
| Pillar | This Week's Time | Last Week | Trend |
| ---------- | ---------------- | --------- | ------------ |
| [Pillar 1] | 40% | 30% | ↑ Increasing |
| [Pillar 2] | 30% | 40% | ↓ Decreasing |
| [Pillar 3] | 30% | 30% | → Steady |
**Balance check:**
- [Commentary on whethe