Days Off

For the last several months I have been totally focused on using and building the system, every day, 7 days per week. Last week I was getting the feeling that I needed a break and was wondering how that would work in the checklist. It got me to thinking about a question that a couple of users had asked about how the system would work on weekends/holidays/vacation, etc.

I subscribe the the Strategic Coach principle that there are 3 kinds of days in the entrepreneur world:

1. Focus Days - where you are totally engaged in doing the stuff you do best
2. Buffer Days - where you prepare for your Focus Days
3. Free Days - where you are Not Doing either of the above (vacation, days off, Not Business)

In the Double M. System (the checklist), we are tracking only type 1 and 2 days, not Free Days. When you are taking the day off, you shouldn't be thinking about business at all. So how do you show that in the checklist?

Take a look at how I do it:
First of all, don't do anything!  Let the day go by without using the system, and it will automatically be put into the History tab.  Then, when you're in the History tab, do this:
1. Click on the top of Column D.  (Highlight all columns that are(were) Free Days.)
2. Click the paint bucket.
3. Select the color Gray, and hit enter. The entire column will become Gray. Don't bother entering anything in any of the cells.   It's a FREE DAY.
4. Go Play...  :)

It's really quite gratifying to Not use the system, guilt free.
You earned it!

This principle of 3 kinds of days was first brought to my attention by Strategic Coach.  Here's a further definition of this principle:

In Strategic Coach’s Entrepreneurial Time System,
Free Days are for rejuvenation
… & Focus Days are for productivity.

But the success of Free & Focus Days
depends on a third kind of day:
The Buffer Day

Just as athletes
& entertainers
rehearse & practice …

… as an entrepreneur, you also benefit from having
time to prepare, to learn, & to hone your skills
… & time to plan for the future you want to create.

The preparation you do
on a Buffer Day
raises your confidence.

… & you get to clear the decks
of distracting stuff & demands
on your attention.

So when it’s a Focus Day,
you can put on your
best show.

… & take
Free Days with a
clear mind.

Illustration by Hamish MacDonald.