Most people live within a bureaucratic time system. They work in The Time-and-Effort Economy, where they organize their lives according to bureaucratic strategies. These strategies, for the most part, require time and effort but do not produce results. They are geared to producing a standardized, competent level of performance, where creativity is suppressed, and extraordinary achievement is discouraged.
As new technologies continually provide new capabilities and opportunities, the first requirement for improving productivity is the replacement of bureaucratic strategies with those based on the successful experience of the best entrepreneurs. The first area of work and life where a fundamental new strategy is needed is time management.
The goal of the bureaucratic time system is to achieve maximum uniformity, repetition, and predictability. This goal is supported by rigid work hours and rigid work days, and is based on the sale of labor for security: All work hours, days, and weeks are just the same. In tranquil times, the bureaucratic time system leads to boredom. During times of great change, this rigid way of organizing time leads to crises, high levels of stress, and exhaustion—with ever-diminishing results.
The Entrepreneurial Time System has ever-greater results. It is radically different. It introduces creativity, greater variety, and higher levels of production into every aspect of work and personal life. It is implemented by dividing all time into three distinct kinds of days, each of which lasts 24 hours from midnight to midnight:
The Free Day: The purpose of the Free Day is rejuvenation and enjoyment of physical, mental, psychological, and emotional capabilities. Complete separation and freedom from work-related activities and obligations are required.
The Focus Day: The purpose of the Focus Day is to maximize concentration of an individual’s capabilities on the most important activities, relationships, and opportunities. Complete freedom from non-productive tasks and details is required.
The Buffer Day: The purpose of this third kind of day is preparation, both for the rejuvenation that will occur during future Free Days and the productivity that will occur during future Free Days. Complete freedom from the pressures and demands of Focus Day activities and deadlines is required.
The Entrepreneurial Time System results in increased rejuvenation, productivity, and preparation. It provides individuals in The Results Economy with a different time reality. Those who organize their lives according to Free, Focus, and Buffer Days experience a slowing down of time, a sense of having all the time they need to do everything properly and to enjoy everything they do. They also experience the increased confidence that comes from an accelerating cycle of increased rejuvenation, productivity, and preparation.
Free Days lead to increased energy, creativity, and optimism. Focus Days, which concentrate our intelligence and energy, lead to twice the results in half the time. Buffer Days lead to increased simplicity and efficiency, and the ability to plan farther into the future. Because it continually increases the energy, confidence, and capability of all who use it, The Entrepreneurial Time System is the foundation for the entrepreneurial strategies to follow.
Taken from How The Best Get Better by Dan Sullivan.
