The speaker emphasizes that weekly planning should not take hours; instead, it should be a quick 30-40 minute session focused on the upcoming week. Many people confuse planning with reviewing past tasks, which is why their sessions take longer. To streamline planning, it's crucial to differentiate between reviewing and planning. The speaker suggests using a master projects list, which is a table summarizing all active projects with deadlines, next actions, and notes. This allows for quick reference without diving into each project individually. Deadlines should be managed on a calendar, not in a task manager, to avoid clutter and ensure quick access to important dates. The speaker also advises against treating every multi-step task as a project, which can lead to an overwhelming number of projects to review. Instead, projects should be significant undertakings that require collaboration and span several weeks. By focusing on the next seven days and using a structured system, weekly planning becomes efficient and less time-consuming.