The Bunker Week

Next week I have 5 days working ON my business, rather than IN my business.

A week in which there are no client meetings, either face to face or virtual.

No travel - 5 days in my home office (I know Monday is a Bank Holiday - I'll be off to a cousin's birthday party in the afternoon).

I target myself to 1 Bunker Week in every 12 weeks - 4 per year.

For clarity's sake - it's called a Bunker Week because my home office has been in the basement since 2011.

Later this year we move house and my newly designed home office will be on the ground floor - new name required and all polite suggestions welcome to replace "The Barrow Bunker".

I recommend the equivalent of Bunker Weeks to all of my clients.

We need the time and space to think, and to plan our future strategy rather than focus on our current tactics.

In The Eisenhower Matrix, a Bunker Week is pure Quadrant 2 time - important but not urgent.

In reality, a Bunker Day or Week is an 80/20 exercise, as 80% of each day will be working ON the business and 20% will be available to answer client emails and cover any other Quadrant 1 (important and urgent) tasks.

I keep a "Bunker Week" project in Todoist and populate that list as I go along between the weeks.

It's already a busy list and I'll need to get a shift on to get through the tasks I've set.

I look forward to Bunker Weeks almost as much as vacations - even though I'll be full on every day, the fact that I'm largely in solitary confinement gives me a real sense of freedom, as well as the knowledge that, by Friday 1st September, I'll have planned for a bigger future.

Big suggestion from me - plan a Bunker Week every quarter.

Photo by Wim van 't Einde on Unsplash