Ask four diagnostic questions during weekly review…
During weekly reviews, ask four metacognitive questions—what did I capture well, what did I almost lose, where did I over-capture noise, and what am I avoiding—to monitor system health rather than just processing lists.
When This Fires
- During every weekly review, after processing the inbox and before planning next week
- When your capture system feels like it's working but you're not sure it's catching what matters
- After changing capture tools, habits, or workflows — to evaluate whether the change helped
- Quarterly, as a deeper system health assessment
Common Failure Mode
Answering the questions superficially: "I captured things well. I didn't almost lose anything. No over-capture. Not avoiding anything." This is your comfort zone talking. The "almost lost" and "avoiding" questions require genuine self-honesty. If you can't identify at least one near-miss and one avoidance pattern per week, you're not looking hard enough.
The Protocol
During weekly review, after processing your inbox: (1) Write one answer for each question. Be specific — names, topics, timestamps. (2) For "almost lost": what saved it? How could you prevent the near-miss next time? (3) For "over-captured": what signal criteria would have filtered this out? (4) For "avoiding": what would it mean if you captured this? (Usually the answer reveals a commitment you're dodging.) (5) Adjust your capture system based on the answers. The review is diagnostic; the adjustments are treatment.