Earlier this year I switched to a 6 week work cycle. Here’s what it is: 6 weeks of concentrated work on a handful of goals/projects, then 2 weeks of buffer time to tie up loose ends, rest, and plan the next cycle.

When I finished the cycle, I realized something had fundamentally shifted in my approach to goals and projects. Before, my units of time were days, weeks, and years. But I had practically no middle ground between weeks and years. So often the clutter of daily life crowded out my yearly and lifetime goals.

Now, I am much more focused on what is truly important. I wrote about my initial experience here. Having done it several times now, I’ve realized I might just use this model the rest of my life. Here are 7 reasons why:

What I Love About a 6 Week Work Cycle

1. It Fits Your Actual Life

It fits real life cycles already in place because it’s built from weeks and not months (which don’t align neatly to weeks). And the 6 regular week and 2 buffer weeks of the cycle can slightly stretch/shrink to accommodate things like holidays, vacations, and major deadlines.

For example, I planned my last cycle to end with a vacation. Then this fall, I counted the weeks until the end of the year and divided the weeks into two different cycles. They aren’t as long as my usual cycle (5 weeks and 6 weeks, with one buffer week included in each), but that’s what serves me right now.

2. It Makes Your Priorities Very Clear

When something off-plan comes up (and it always does), you have a clear sighted short-term priorities list to work from. It is much easier to prioritize in this cycle than it is to toggle between weekly and yearly/lifetime goals.

3. No really: It Makes Priorities Very Clear

When I planned activities for my current cycle, I realized: I would do something in this cycle, the next cycle, OR it wouldn’t happen in 2018. That’s totally fine—I don’t need to do every single thing in 2018. But having that hard “it happens or it doesn’t” perspective really focuses your energies on the stuff that matters.

4. It Keeps Administrative Tasks in Their Rightful Place

Because this cycle so clearly focuses your attention on what matters to your life, it puts administrative tasks into their rightful place: Do enough admin to create effective systems and keep them running. Don’t spend a second more on it.

Administrative tasks can easily get too much attention because they often have deadlines. And doing an administrative task may give you the pleasure of checking something off your list and feeling like you accomplished something measurable.

But most of the time, admin is not the important work. (Huge caveat: obviously, I don’t do administration for a living! I create for a living, and in managing what I create and the teams I lead, I have necessary admin but it is not the be-all-end-all of my job.)

5. Flex Is Built Into the System

This cycle relies on a split between the main work weeks and the “buffer” weeks at the end. The difference is crucial. The flexible weeks at the end provide a clear denouement to the activity of your cycle. This time is for tying up loose strings, planning your next cycle, and rest.

6. You Have a Firm Deadline for the Tedious Stuff

By having a firm break between cycles, you give yourself a deadline for the stuff you don’t want to carry into the next cycle. Every cycle I have tedious tasks that need to be done eventually but not at a particular time. The end of the cycle gives me the kick in the pants I need to do the boring tasks. No more carrying their weight indefinitely!

7. You Have a Placeholder for Future Tasks

Not all important tasks needs to be done right now. This system makes intentional postponment easy.

As I write this post in early November, I have a running list of personal “get ready for Christmas” tasks. But I’m not going to do a single one of them until my next cycle. That’s the appropriate place for them right now—and not my current mental space!

What the 6 Week Work Cycle Does For Creatives and Other People with Lots of Flexibility in Their Jobs

I had an incredibly flexible job. I have a few activities that recur weekly like leading music for a Sunday morning church service. And I have a few activities that recur yearly—Christmas, we meet again!

But overall, the shape of my job is up to me. And if I want to plan long-term, multi-step projects (hello book manuscript!), that’s entirely up to me.

I love it! But much as I love my creative freedom, I also need to structure my time so that I focus on what’s important, not just on what’s pressing.

The 6 week work cycle does that for me. If you are a creative or otherwise create your own schedule and projects, I think this cycle could work well for you too. Let me know if you try it!

If you’d like to learn more about the 6 week work cycle, here’s my earlier post on it. I’ve also enjoyed my friend Nicole Roccas’s how-to guide and worksheet. I learned about the system from this excellent podcast.

How do you approach planning in the space between weeks and years?