The concept of Think Week evolved out of Bill Gates’ Reading Weeks, two weeks per year he would take alone to only read- away from any tech, food delivered to him in a remote cabin.
I encourage you to think about how you could adapt this idea to your current season of life. Any time you take to be free of distraction, sinking into reading, thinking, focus is beneficial.
I have been doing these types of weeks for several years, long before I hear the term, Think Week, or Reading Week. I have tried being off alone somewhere four times and it didn’t suit me. I personally love solitude and silence, but I like to be able to see others, to have others nearby. Being isolated, despite several tries, got in the way of me settling down to focus.
Because of this, my first rule is to experiment and find the right setting for yourself. Two places have emerged for me that work where I can move around people and be silent and focus. First, a yoga retreat center where I can take part in classes and activities if I want to, but where there are plenty of places to tuck into- inside and out.
The other place is a local inn- less than 10 minutes from my house. I used to drive away from home, sometimes over 3 hours, but realized that going to somewhere closely gave me more time to get settled and focused. I did like the long drive home, though, which gave me time to integrate my thoughts as I kept the car quiet. The Inn has many inspiring indoor and outdoor spots to think, read, write.
If you are only able to do a half day or a day then find a local co-working space to go to where people are all creating and capitalize on that energy. Have an hour or two? Go to a great coffee shop or cafe, or coffee shop hop!
What will you do during your Think Week? During the week the constant for me is reading, most of the time. I will spend a day working on life questions and thinking and one on my business. A big emphasis for me is on creating and refining what I want to do with my time in my life.
Simple questions like:
What is important right now? In my life, in my business? I love to make checklists, so I start with that.
Next, I like to take a current inventory.
What resources and good things do I have in my life?
What resources and good things do I have in my business?
When answering these questions I think of everything– make a big list- resources are even skills, knowledge, experiences, opportunities, connections, etc- think expansively. Things, places, people.
When I was at the Reinvention Summit in April I got to meet some cool people Kes Sampanthar and Scott Wulfson being two of them. The created a Think Week Primer full of possible questions you can ask yourself and ways to get you thinking prior to your Think Week- 15 of us were early adopters and got a copy. (It’s not available to the public yet, but when it is I will share the link in my newsletter.)
I like these this week:
What questions are seeking answering?
What are my current challenges?
And lots of reading. Start with this.
From my experience, count on a day to unwind and let go of media, screens, etc. It takes a bit to get settled. Not having tech in your life during your think, read, reflect, etc time is essential to true success.