One Week On, One Week Off (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

One Week On, One Week Off

[ericabiz]

I like this idea! I haven't heard of this specifically before.

What really struck me is the idea that off time should be mindfully used. Too many people (me included) use off time for brainless activities like web surfing or watching videos/TV. Maybe I need some more invigorating activities to do in my off time!

Thanks for the perspective!

-Erica

[Holistic Star]

Steve do you exercise during your work weeks, or is that personal time?

Also, do you think it is best to jump straight into this cycle, or build up a few days at a time?


It's a great article, because it's brought the heebie-jeebies out in me! Daft, because my brother and my dad both work(ed) these cycles because they both worked at sea.

[Liz Caitlin]

Absolutely loved this post. It's so true! I've noticed that I tend to cycle this way naturally – one week I'll be out almost every day with friends, enjoying life, living in the moment – and then the next week I'll catch up on all the schoolwork I had put off the week before.

I also noticed when I worked in commissioned sales that, unlike the hourly workers in the rest of the store, the people in my department tended to work very long, hard weeks, but they made up for it with weeks off every now and then, usually timed to match a down period in sales.

And I agree hourly wages are a joke. Once you've worked on commission, the idea of accepting the same wage per hour no matter how hard you work is a horrifying proposition. First step commission, next step entrepreneurship I suppose...

[stevo75]

I'm also curious about exercise and meditation during the work cycle. These are two activites I try to do on a daily basis because their effects are much stronger when done regularly versus a "week on, week off" type approach...

[moonrambler]

Weirdly, I was just today thinking about working a schedule where I work every other day.

I can't stand that 40-hr 5-day-per-week thing, it makes me insane. I'm not sure I could do what I'm doing now (writing web content) for a week full-tilt the way you describe, though. I've tried doing it 12 hours a day with the idea that I could work 3 days on, 4 days off, but I never manage it for more than a day or two.

One of my cousins and his wife are registered nurses and they work 6 days on/8 days off, and they absolutely love that.

[impaul99]

What about just working "ON" when you're passionate about working "ON" and turning things "OFF" whenever you're passionate about that.

Why put limits or time-schedules on things? Why not just follow your passion/intuition where it takes you?

[Zach M]

Love it! I'm working on a new schedule for the rest of the week. You won't hear from me for a while, except maybe if I post a blog update.

[Manomanman]

Steve,

I wrote a similar blog post last week (for a blog I'm launching soon). We've still got a nice vibrational alignment going from the workshop

My intuition has always been that work is a "draining" activity by its very nature, and as a result it requires healing time. This is one of the main reasons why working a job is such a soul-crushing endeavor.

-Jesse

[HCDorset]

this is a cool post - thanks Steve!

I have set working hours dictated by when I have childcare, but as a writer I often have days where I sit in front of the screen but don't produce much. Doing chunks on non-work activity during this time definitely helps to refresh the mind so work comes effortlessly during a productive slot - then I'm on a roll and there aren't enough hours in the day.

I wonder if I can find a one week on one week off childcare provider ..!

and I am also curious about daily routines like exercise, meditation etc. I would be tempted to keep those going even during a non-work period.

[flipside]

Originally Posted by impaul99

What about just working "ON" when you're passionate about working "ON" and turning things "OFF" whenever you're passionate about that.

Why put limits or time-schedules on things? Why not just follow your passion/intuition where it takes you?

Well I agree with you Paul ... Sometimes our passions overtake us. I know it happens to me often. Taking one week off (or more) will allow time for recharging the batteries so I can pour that much more energy into whatever I am passionate about when I return.

I know for myself if I do not put up those boundaries, or define some rule, I will burn out. Not burn out because I am lacking passion in what I am doing, but simply burning out because, well, I have burned all my energy.

[bluelighth]

I'll probably try it, with a work week starting today... It sounds like an interesting concept, and I want to give it a shot. I'll just have to figure out how music fits in, since I need to practice at least a minimum of an hour or so per day - but I guess that's still fine for work weeks.
@stevo - I think "daily routine" is something you would keep, since it helps you with both. I actually feel its more likely to lose that during the off-weeks, especially if you're into travel

[James Fletcher]

I was just very recently imagining what this would be like!

I was doing a little visualization, trying to imagine my ideal career,
and I imagined that something like this would be very much ideal!

Awesome post!

[cacheborn]

Very interesting idea. Would love to try it out.

Makes a lot of sense. A full week instead of the measly two day weekend? Yeah Baby. And after a week like that your productivity and focus are bound to improve.

[Zach M]

Hmm. I think this is the first time Steve has called Rachelle his girlfriend, and the Facebook link reveals that she is Canadian.

♪♪♪ I wish you could meet my girlfriend, my girlfriend who lives in Canada... ♪♪♪



(I suppose the song is obscure enough that I should mention it's from Avenue Q, and no, I'm not using the song in its original context.)

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Zach Matley

Hmm. I think this is the first time Steve has called Rachelle his girlfriend, and the Facebook link reveals that she is Canadian.

♪♪♪ I wish you could meet my girlfriend, my girlfriend who lives in Canada... ♪♪♪



(I suppose the song is obscure enough that I should mention it's from Avenue Q, and no, I'm not using the song in its original context.)

She's from Winnipeg but is staying in Hollywood this month. I know the long-distance thing is a bit weird (you didn't expect I'd go the normal route, did you?), but it makes it easier to do the one week on, one week off thing with each other.

Besides, this give me a great reason to explore Canada, which I've never been to before even though I have many friends there. I might wait until the country thaws a bit though.

She also speaks French, which has been causing me to rebuild some of my French vocab which has been languishing since high school.

[theknightwhosaysni-NI]

I love this concept of one week off, one week on. I'll definitely try this, since I have a flexible schedule. Does anyone have actual examples of famous people working this way for a long time ? I'd love to hear about them if you do.

There's an excellent book about Tony Schwartz and Jim Loerr "The Power of full engagement", where the authors explains that the key to sustained productivity is to manage energy, not time. To do that, going through cycles of time on and time off is an important element. Constantly being "on" is totally counter productive.
Cycles don't need to be exactly one week long though, it can be more flexible than that.

Also during "on" times, it is still usefull to take micro breaks, like 20 mn or so between each intense concentration cycle.

[MrLollige]

I like the idea too, but I as well would like to ask you how you handle excersizing..

I have an active sport hobby life, but I really do see it as hobby. Training hard for one week (the personal week) and training not for the other would be inefficient.

Also, about giving your power away:

I know you are against having jobs, but most people still have 'm. And with an hour rate it just does not work so well as with a productivity rate. And hardly anyone gets a productivity rate as it is hard to measure..

Do you have any tips for getting paid per productivity on 'traditional' jobs? Not the whole world can become self employed!
(this question especially goes for the article about boosting your productivity by working less....)

Daniel

[Andrew Brunelle]

If your work is really fulfilling, then the one week on, one week off approach is fantastic because once you are done your week off, you'll be so motivated to get back to work that you'll just go, go, go for a whole week and then get another week off where you can repeat the cycle again. Brilliant idea and can work in almost any field without bosses/corporate interests.

[Holistic Star]

Would you recommend this one week on, one week off approach for someone starting a new business? Or does it work better, once the business is established?

I think most new start ups are fairly intensive to get the momentum going - I'm not entirely sure how the on / off approach would work there when you are building new relationships with clients.

Maybe it's just a limiting belief of mine that you need to be intensive at start up and maybe the on / off approach would work better!

[Matt Willard]

Originally Posted by Holistic Star

Would you recommend this one week on, one week off approach for someone starting a new business? Or does it work better, once the business is established?

I think most new start ups are fairly intensive to get the momentum going - I'm not entirely sure how the on / off approach would work there when you are building new relationships with clients.

Maybe it's just a limiting belief of mine that you need to be intensive at start up and maybe the on / off approach would work better!

I'm actually going to be trying this method very soon and see how it affects my own business ventures. As always, I'll be chronicling about this in my journal thread, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it influences my efforts.

[Savage]

Physical exercise is best done daily or close to it. You want to maintain your body for both work and play since you'll surely use it on both sides.

However, you can include more physical recreation in the personal weeks like playing sports or skiing or sex.

[Zach M]

After setting up a schedule for an on-week, I didn't follow through and instead decided to take a longer off-period after years of being on at my job.

By the way, for the benefit of others, I wonder if filing taxes goes under an on week or off week?

[lasti]

Originally Posted by Zach Matley

By the way, for the benefit of others, I wonder if filing taxes goes under an on week or off week?

I would put it on "on" week because it's work/business related. But then again I guess everybody would put different things in their on/off lists. For me playing the guitar would be on the "on weeks" because I want to make it in the music business. Other people would probably put that on their "off week" lists like they would do it with a hobby.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Zach Matley

After setting up a schedule for an on-week, I didn't follow through and instead decided to take a longer off-period after years of being on at my job.

By the way, for the benefit of others, I wonder if filing taxes goes under an on week or off week?

On week for sure. Doing taxes is hardly what I'd classify as "having a life."

[NewSimon]

I had an on-week in April followed by some off-months... I'm still on an off-week now.

[roxyruby]

Actually this idea was sorttt of on my mind. I love going on holidays and would like to regularly go on holidays with my BF. ^ ^ Thanks SP

[MonergyTheBook]

I applaud this post-if only because it opens up people's minds to what is possible.

When I was writing my recent book- "Monergy-Discover the Ultimate Energy of Money," I used a similar system, except it was one day work, next day fun. It really worked well for me, and I found tremendous inspiritation for my writing on my days off from some of the beautiful places I went.

It would be great if American society would embrace the value of fun, and experiences not geared to making money or "getting ahead." Hopefully that is coming soon.

[Brenden Cameron]

I'm definitely going to give this a try soon; sounds like a perfect way to commit fully to ones' passion and interests without picking favourites.

But if we all switch to this system, we might need to synchronize our on/off weeks lest we never meet again! (Wait... are you all 'on' or 'off' right now?! )

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

I might wait until the country thaws a bit though.

Heh... it's actually been pretty mild in most areas lately, but I won't blame you if you wait for temperatures to be consistently above zero (celsius of course ).

[PatriciaS]

Originally Posted by bluelighth

I'll just have to figure out how music fits in, since I need to practice at least a minimum of an hour or so per day - but I guess that's still fine for work weeks.

My drums teacher told me 2 years ago that one very famous drummer (now I can't remember if it was Tony Williams...) studied one week on - one week off and he said that he got the best results, because during the week he didn't study, he kind of internalized what he had learned in the previous week.

You could give it a try for a 3-week period and check results.

Good luck,

Patricia