I remember hearing Jack Canfield describe this system in an interview he gave during the groundswell of interest when The Secret first came out. In a recent post at The Style Statement's blog, the appropriate attribution to the originator of the system, as far as I am aware of, was mentioned - Dan Sullivan and Babs Smith. I'm so intrigued with this idea that I'm going to start working with it, even though my days are not technically my own. Yet.
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THREE: Types of Days
At its core, The Entrepreneurial Time System™ completely
alters an individual's relationship to time. It allows one's personal and
professional lives to receive an equal amount of attention – indeed, to be in
balance – and thus generate energy for each other. The program calls for
dividing days into three distinct types, which we call Free Days, Focus Days,
and Buffer Days, and attending differently during each.
* Free Days®
A Free Day is a 24-hour period, Midnight to Midnight, in which you, the entrepreneur, do not engage in any business-related thinking, communication,
or actions. It is an admittedly difficult concept for many company founders, who
might feel they are abandoning their child when they take time away from the
business. However, the opposite is true: You become a detriment to your
business when you don't. When you refuse to delegate tasks, you slow down your
team. When you run out of energy, you don't have the creativity to seize
opportunities. When you become reactive, you harm the organization you want to
build and protect. Your personal life suffers, too. One successful entrepreneur
I know says, "I was boring! I only had one thing I could talk about:
work."
The best Free Days are planned in advance—and are protected,
inviolate, and non-negotiable. When you learn to disconnect from the stream of
demands and information (much of which is soon irrelevant) and invest attention
and care in the other aspects of your life, you start making choices against a
broader backdrop. Your life becomes more integrated, and less a tug-of-war
between conflicting elements.
In 2003, Babs and I are taking 150 Free Days. We booked them
before the year began. Imagine the trust in our team that this demanded of us!
But until we made the commitment, we couldn't have a team equal to the
challenge. Now, our free time is devoted to rejuvenating ourselves physically,
mentally, and spiritually. When we return to work, we're able to be more
creative, confident, and productive, and the whole company benefits.
* Focus Days®
A Focus Day is a 24-hour period, again Midnight to Midnight, in which you spend 80 percent of your time on the activities that create results for your business. To use a sports analogy, these are "game days." On Focus Days, you concentrate
on your most important business-related activities, relationships, and
opportunities. If you've planned your Free Days strategically, you will be
rejuvenated and thus able to be fully "on" and "present"
for your performance on Focus Days.
By communicating to your team in advance that you'll be
"focusing" on a particular day, you will enable them to clear a path
for you, setting up whatever you need to help you be your most productive and
achieve results.
What should you be doing on your Focus Days? Think about
what you do personally that makes the greatest contribution to your company's
bottom line. Pick the three activities that create the best results for your
company. These are likely the activities that also energize you personally,
because you feel a sense of progress and accomplishment when engaging in them.
Imagine how productive you could be if you could spend a day attending to just
these tasks, without interruption, and with full preparation and support. This
is what Focus Days are for.
* Buffer Days®
If Focus Days are for performance, Buffer Days are for
rehearsals. On Buffer Days, you handle all of the details that would otherwise
distract your attention on a Focus Day. You use these days to catch up, clean
up messes, delegate, and learn new skills. You use them to maintain and restore
simplicity and order in your life – what could be more satisfying than clearing
a week's worth of phone calls to return from your to-do list? Most importantly,
you use them to do the necessary planning that will ensure that nothing
intrudes on your Free Days & Focus Days.
Living the Good Life
Consider the emphasis and breakdown -- Free Days first, then
Focus Days, and finally Buffer Days – in a ratio of roughly three, three, one.
Now imagine applying this system to your week, your month, your year – indeed,
your life. What would you have to change, physically and mentally, to make it
work for you? Is there anything you would lose as a result? What would you
gain?
Thousands of entrepreneurs have learned this system in The
Strategic Coach Program®. Many struggle initially with the seeming paradox of
working less yet getting better results. Time and again, though, I've seen
individuals surpass all their previous business achievements while finding new
satisfaction in their lives, because they now have more freedom than ever to do
what they feel passionate about, to be with the people they love, and to enjoy
a richer array of experiences.
