The last week of November 1996 was my first Strategic Coach workshop in Toronto.
The beginning of a 30-year journey of learning from Dan Sullivan.
One of the first ideas I was introduced to was the Entrepreneurial Time System:
Focus Days, Buffer Days, and Free Days.
Focus Days are when you create value and generate income.
Free Days are complete days away from work—24 hours to recharge and enjoy life.
But over the years, I’ve come to believe the most important day is the one hardly anyone talks about:
The Buffer Day.
At first, I treated buffer days like catch-up days. Answer email. Clear my desk. Handle loose ends.
Now I see them very differently.
A buffer day is when you think about your thinking.
A buffer day is when you think about your thinking.
It’s when I spend time in my journal. It’s when I plan my next Focus Day so I can show up fully prepared.
And it’s when I design what I call Super Happy Fun Days…a Free Day filled with things I genuinely enjoy.
Those days don’t happen by accident.
They happen because I invested a little Buffer Day time planning them.
One thing I’ve learned is not to start with this week.
The next few days are already committed.
Instead, look three weeks out and block a Buffer Day. Protect it.
Then use it to create a great Focus Day—and an even better Free Day.
Everyone wants more productive Focus Days.
Everyone wants more enjoyable Free Days.
But the quality of both is determined by what you do on your Buffer Days.
They may be the most underrated days on your calendar.