Think Week
© Pete Longworth
When was the last time you just sat around and . . . thought? No interruptions. No distractions. Just quality thinking time?
The end of the year is my favorite. It’s when I reflect on my wins, my losses, my lessons learned, and it’s when I set my big goals and intentions for the year ahead. I disconnect from my team, my work, and even my family for a few days, and I take time to read and reconnect with myself. I always gain so much clarity when I allow myself to truly stop and let my mind explore—so much so that I’m challenging myself to do it more often, thanks to some inspiration from the new Bill Gates documentary on Netflix.
If you’ve seen it, you’re probably familiar with what he calls “Think Week:” While he was running Microsoft, Bill would escape to a cabin in the woods twice a year to read as much as possible and think. No one else came to the cabin except for the person who delivered his meals. While extreme, Bill’s alone time proved to be really valuable for him and the company: Many of his best ideas, including Internet Explorer, came from those Think Weeks.
Bill’s ritual is incredibly inspiring to me. In addition to the reflection I already do at the end of the year, I’m making it a goal to have an official Think Week in 2020. And while I understand that going away for a week might be tough for some, I think we could all have our own versions of Think Week that work for us.
What if you had a Think Weekend? Or Day? Or Hour? What if it wasn’t a cabin in the woods, but a coffee shop? Or a hotel? Heck, when Bill started his tradition he would go to his grandmother’s house! There are so many places you can escape to, even if only for a short while.
I invite you to take on this thinking challenge with me, especially as we head into a new year and decade. If you’d like some starting points, here are some activities that get my wheels spinning when I’m spending time alone:
Grab some books you’ve been meaning to read and lots of sticky notes. As you read, jot down ideas that come to mind, no matter how crazy they may seem. No idea is too big or too small. Don’t stop until you cover a wall in stickies. Your next big idea is somewhere on that wall!
Create a “start, stop, keep” list. What should you start doing that you aren’t already doing? What should you stop doing that isn’t the best use of time and resources? What should you keep doing because it’s working?
Write your own eulogy. I know, this one’s weird, but man does it get you thinking. I wrote a whole post about it here. After you’ve written it, ask yourself what you need to be doing now in order to fulfill the legacy you wish to have and set some goals.
Write down your top five most recent failures. What went wrong? What did you learn from them? What will you do differently next time?
Imagine yourself in the near future—six months down the road, maybe a year. What does your life look like? What are you working on? What does success mean to you?
Hope this gets you thinking . . . literally!
Big hugs,
