Introduction

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Microsoft founder Bill Gates began an annual tradition he called The Think Week. In Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll's darker sequel to Alice in Wonderland, the Red Queen says that we must run just to stay in place. This simple interaction gave a name to an important phenomenon with continued relevance in our lives. It takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.

In the 1980s, Microsoft founder Bill Gates began an annual tradition he called the Think Week. Gates would seclude himself in a remote location, shut off all of his communication, and spend an entire week dedicated to reading, learning, and thinking.

While I knew I didn't have an entire week to dedicate to it (due to early career demands, family priorities, etc.), I figured I could adapt something with a similar core ethos and vision. The Think Day was my creation—and I want to share its value with all of you today...

Pick one day each month (or quarter) to step back from all of your day-to-day professional demands. Seclude yourself (mentally or physically), shut off all of your notifications on your devices, and put up an out-of-office response. The goal is to spend the entire day reading, learning, journaling, and THINKING.