My strategies for Bill Gates’ Think Weeks since 2012: A distraction-free method for comprehension, evaluation and synthesis

A Think Week is a method for creating a focused time limited 7-day retreat for oneself to be able to read, learn and develop new insights as well as solve problems and evaluate one's progress throughout the year. In this article I'll explain what a Think Week is, how Bill Gates have done them for the last 30 years and my own experience and strategies while doing them since 2012.

What is a Think Week?

A Think Week is a method for creating a focused time limited 7-day retreat for oneself to be able to read, learn and develop new insights as well as solve problems and evaluate one's progress throughout the year. 

I already wrote an article about the Think Week method by Bill Gates on xuemeirhodin.com in my article How to do a Think Week by Bill Gates, a method for yearly reflection and innovation. Read that first to learn the basic structure of doing a Think Week before reading this article if you are unfamiliar with the method.

It is usually done 1-2 times a year to create continuous development and evaluation. 

It is usually done alone or possible with a business partner or collaboration partner or maybe a spouse if they have the same motivation to work on their development as well.

If you are familiar with my Goal Plan Session (my method I have developed over the last 19 years for setting goals based on neuroscience, data and testing), and have been to my previous workshops learning the Goal Plan Session method, this is a perfect time to do your yearly start session for your Goal Plan. Immersing yourself in the process fully during a Think Week creates a very strong mental and emotional bond to your goals and your evaluation process and will give you even deeper insights into how to progress in the 12 chapters of life. SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER HERE

My experience and strategies doing Think Weeks since 2012

My Favorite Think Week Locations, Villages Close To A City

Personally, my favorite thing to book for a Think Week is an apartment or house in one of the villages along Côte D'Azur (the French coast) close to Nice and Cannes. I chose a village nearby a city instead of being directly in the city because it gives less distraction, less noise and more views of nature.

I specifically like the villages around Nice and Cannes because they are mostly inhabited by retired French elderly. Making them slow-paced and tranquil. The beaches in these small villages are mostly inhabited by grandparents taking care of their grandchildren for the summer and drinking coffee from the coffee-boat that lands on each beach to sell espresso and café au lait. They are void of status-signaling, partying and noise-pollution.

But by being close to a city, I can easily take a rental car and stock up on groceries at one of the larger grocery stores in the city for my Think Week on my way to the village. As well as get to my perfume manufacturer that I go to each time i visit to create new perfumes for my perfume project. Doing a creative and fun activity to break up your Think Week is a great way to infuse your process when some novel experiences to spark more creative thinking.

My other regular spot was my summer house (which is now sold) in the Swedish archipelago on an island outside of Stockholm with a protected biotope in an old oak forest on the island. I’d mix up my Think Week process with taking my sailing boat out in the archipelago as well as taking lunch canoe rides with my french bulldog Alaska around the island and taking walks in the biotope forest.

Don’t book it to impress, book it to decompress.

You don’t have to go to an exotic place to do a Think Week. You can literally just book a simple hotel outside your city or borrow a friend's cabin or house. Remember, it’s better that you have the space and finances to do Think Weeks twice or once a year in a cheap and simple place instead of an expensive and exotic place that makes it financially straining. 

Also remember that if it's complicated to get to, complicated to set up and filled with distractions around you, it's not gonna be a good place to do a Think Week. Therefore a very busy hotel in a cool destination will probably be filled with people and distracting itinerary items that will be tempting to fill your calendar with. Keep it simple.

A reason I go often to Côte D'Azur is because I'm very familiar with the area and gone many times before. I know which flights to take. It's only 2,5 h with flight for me and easy access to rental car that takes me straight from the airport to my village in less than 30 min. By car I can get my groceries, get around quick and easy.

Do Think Weeks in places you visit often and are familiar with, or chose a place you decide you will come back to each year. Book the same house or cabin. Use the same car rental place. Make it about the content of your Think Week, not about the administration around it.

The more ritualized you make it, the easier it will be to come back to that flow state and sense of immersion each year.

Forest Or Ocean, A Must For Think Weeks

Taking forest walks och beach walks are an important part of Think Weeks. Research has shown that taking forest walks has a positive impact in physiological markers for stress in the body. Including improving our gut-bacteria which affect our immune system and mental health and boosting out serotonin production (the feel-good hormone in your body).

Ocean air and forest air has similar effects. You might have experienced the invigorating experience of breathing in ocean air or taking a deep breath in a pinewood forest.

Personally I grew up with two adventurers for parents who took me and my sibling on 3-month long sailing trips and hiking in the Swedish mountains with our Siberian Husky dogs. I think it's so ingrained in me to crave ocean and forest air that I feel suffocated if I stay away too long from oceans or forests. My whole family base their moves completely on the nearness of water and forest trails. I actually can't imagine living in a city that is not connected to some kind of ocean. So I know the effect of this well and practice it often. And it's also part of my Think Week process.

It is also proven with research that act of watching an ocean horizon or watching a wide landscape in nature has a calming effect on our brain. When we are stressed our field of vision narrows to make us focus on the threat and research has proven that when we widen our gaze our nervous system calms down. And this is probably part of our evolutionary survival instinct.

Therefore beach walks or forest walks are an important part of the Think Week to both create physical activity, boost mood and give you new energy to solve problems. When you calm your nervous system you can think more strategically and clearly. So don't underestimate this part of the process.

Book your Think Weeks in the Off Seasons

As the main point of doing think weeks is to have tranquility and calmness I only book Think Weeks before or after tourist season in places I go. When doing Think Weeks in France, I would prefer to go in September, when most countries tourist have ended their vacation time and the temperature has cooled down.

I also experienced that in September, the staff at all the restaurants and cafés also have calmed down as their busy season is over and they get to rest and relax with the locals more.

Preparing for Think Weeks

I usually would gather books, audio books and articles that I added to a checklist and folder on my computer earmarked for Think Weeks throughout the year. Whenever I found an industry report or insightful article that I didn’t have time to really delve into, I’d archive it in my Think Week folder. 

When I was a week or two away from my Think Week I'd choose 10-15 combined articles, books, audio books and company data I wanted to focus on. I’d discord anything that was no longer relevant and save the rest for the next Think Week. 

If you want to get ideas on what books that are suitable to bring and study on a Think Week, scroll down to the section with my book recommendations. You’ll find direct links to the original books on Amazon where you’ll find kindle, audio book and hardcover versions of each book.

You can also view my long book, audio book, equipment and gadget list on my website for recommendations on journals, pens and other things that might be useful for your Think Week. You’ll find that list on xuemeirhodin.com, it's called Ultimate List 2024: Books, Smart Gadgets, Productivity Tools and Studio Equipment tested by Xue Mei Rhodin

Types of materials you can bring on your Think Week

Whenever I came across articles of rare and data-driven trends that few talked about that I wanted to take time to deep dive into. I'd also gather data on the result for my company for that year and bring that to my thinks weeks

• Industry Trend Reports, Insight Reports on your industries or your specific role (business owner, leadership, specialist etc)

• Articles on personal or professional growth that you would want to try out or implement

  • see my articles on:

• Books and audio books for personal growth. See my full list of book recommendations on Ultimate List 2024: Books, Smart Gadgets, Productivity Tools and Studio Equipment tested by Xue Mei Rhodin

• Books and audio books for industry knowledge and professional skill development.

• Company reports, review tools, employee assessments.

• Data and statistics on my companies products, social media, sales, marketing etc. Things that can be improved on by analyzing the data.

• Laptop for writing.

• Headphones to listen to audiobooks and canceling out distracting noise. I use the Sony WH-1000XM4 Noise Canceling Wireless Headphones. I can wear them literally for 12 hours straight and not be sore. 

• Amazon US https://amzn.to/3IrS5r3

• Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3Tw2Cb4 

• Notebook for writing and sketching out models or processes or ideas. My favorite, and the only notebooks I’ve used the last 5 years, is the official Bullet Journal Edition 2 from Leuchtturm 1917 that you can find here: 

• Amazon US https://amzn.to/4aPjobo 

• Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3Pf7L4O 

• Amazon Sweden https://amzn.to/3wM0anV

• Pens for notes and sketching. I only use archive-permanent black ink Micron Fineliner Pens from Sakura Pigma in size 0.3,0.5 and 0.8 mm the last 10 years:

• Amazon US https://amzn.to/3TdMUA1 

• Amazon UK https://amzn.to/4a3xZPy 

• Color pens for sketching out storyboards, marketing ideas, content ideas, or brand material ideas. I use the very flexible My Tombow Felt Tip Professional Markers with water-soluble ink the last 5 years: 

• Amazon US https://amzn.to/3IwTJYo 

• Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3v3pR2I

Xue Mei Rhodin’s Recommendations for Books To Bring To Think Weeks

I’ve done my fair share of Think Weeks since I started in 2012. I also have had a habit from I was about 19 years old studying at Stockholm University to do “Saturday Business Brunch” where I made brunch every Saturday morning and sat down with business books, leadership books, psychology books and articles on leadership, mindset and strategy to read for about 2-4 hours every Saturday morning for years. So I have read quite a few books that are useful to bring on Think Weeks.

I’ve included a big variety of topics from business, leadership, wealth, mindset, self-reliance, resilience, psychology, sales research, marketing research and more. But I choose the books that no matter what career you're in or what stage you’re in, everyone will benefit from these. These are some of the universally thought-provoking books that are often recommended to my clients and workshop participants who are looking to expand their strategic and reflective thinking.  

Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne 

Blue Ocean Strategy is a marketing book that introduces the concept of "blue oceans" - untapped new market spaces ripe for growth and free from competition. It provides a systematic approach for companies to create uncontested market spaces and make the competition irrelevant.

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks US https://amzn.to/49KhKpX 

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks UK https://amzn.to/3xGm7F9 

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene is a book that presents philosophical guidelines for how people gain and maintain power and influence over others. It analyzes tactics employed by historical figures and modern leaders to help readers understand how to handle situations when people are trying to manipulate them by control and power mechanism. It helps the reader understand how power is used around them and can therefore react more appropriately and not be used as easily in power-struggles. 

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks US https://amzn.to/3U88kPl 

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks UK https://amzn.to/3UrUDw2 

Go for No! Yes is the Destination, No is How You Get There by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz 

I got this book from one of my many mentors early in my career. I can’t remember anymore who of them gave it to me but it was impactful enough that I recommend it to anyone. This book is only 82 pages long. But a very important read for anyone who wants to learn what promoting or selling a product is really about. It contains important lessons about the difference between failing and being a failure, how successful sales people outperform 92% of their competitors with this reversed methodology and how to mentally get past failures more quickly. Even if you do not work in sales or marketing or run a company, this is a book that can teach you important lessons on how to be resilient and stop fearing being told no or failing. 

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks US https://amzn.to/3W92U9x

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks UK https://amzn.to/3U5E2g6 

The Millionaire Master Plan: Your Personalized Path to Financial Success by Roger James Hamilton

Roger has actually been a personal mentor and coach to me earlier in my career. I learned a lot about how to recognize and evaluate different levels of mastery and mindsets among entrepreneurs and business leaders from him. 

Roger James Hamilton, himself a highly successful entrepreneur and successful investor, has designed nine steps - from barely surviving - all the way to the highest level of ultimate wealth for life - and he lays out his nine steps in an easy-to-understand color-coded manner that ranges from red (barely living paycheck-to-paycheck) all the way to ultra-violet (where generating income is simply no longer a worry). Why this book is important is because it explains the real mental pitfalls you will go through when trying to build a company or acquiring wealth and what mistakes you will make on each step of the ladder. Most millionaires don’t keep their millions more than 3 years before it starts to decline again and many “gurus” that sit on podcasts talking boastfully about their wealth never speak of the real psychological shifts one has to go through to advance up the wealth ladder. A dynamic and interesting read for anyone. 

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks US https://amzn.to/3JAlAap 

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks UK https://amzn.to/4aMbS0S 

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

An anti-coddling self-help book that argues for the benefits of caring less about unimportant things and focusing energy on what truly matters. It uses blunt and humorous philosophical advice to encourage readers to find values and lead a more grounded, happier life. In a world that is more and more focused on anxiety over things that doesn’t really matter for one's long term happiness but takes a lot of energy out of people's lives, this is a thought-provoking book for anyone. 

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks US https://amzn.to/4daxJAO, https://amzn.to/3JsBuUj  

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks UK https://amzn.to/44ahCyM 

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin outlines leadership principles based on the authors' experiences in the U.S. Navy's SEAL teams. The book advocates taking complete responsibility for everything in one's personal and professional lives to help overcome obstacles and achieve victory in any situation. I recommend this book to anyone who is a parent, a leader or business owner and anyone who want to build true self-reliance and confidence.

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks US https://amzn.to/3Qf2KJI 

• Amazon Books and Audiobooks UK https://amzn.to/3WchGfB 

Want more book tips and gadget tips? See my full list of books, pens, gadgets, photography equipment, computer specs and more that I use for work, personal development and goal setting at xuemeirhodin.com, I have a full list that I regularly fill in with links here on my website.

Xue Mei Rhodin Important Notes:

You've read an article written by Xue Mei Rhodin, international speaker and entrepreneur from Sweden, with more than 19 years in developing methods for personal development, leadership and business.

Xue Mei means "Plum flower in Snow" so for every article published on xuemeirhodin.com I add an image representing my name generated by a AI engine. Just for fun to see what it comes up with.

You'll find my finishing notes and further reading recommendations below.

If you wanna see my full list of work tools, equipment and what type of professional markers and archive-resistant pens I use, I have a full list that I regularly fill in with links here on my website.

What I think most people get wrong about Think Weeks

I think a lot of people minimize and underestimate the learning, reading and gaining insights part of Think Weeks. Many just say they do Think Weeks but what they really are doing is having yearly planning meeting somewhere with a view.

Think Weeks are not about planning your year and making a calendar. 

It’s about breaking from that and going into a discovery, creation and insight mindset. 

Half of your Think Week should be spent reading and listening to new knowledge, insights and trends to expand your possibility for new insights, ideas and a more innovative perspective. 

Half of it should be spent synthesizing your insights into possible new innovations, processes and development for yourself and your professional role. As well as using the data and results from the last 6-12 months to critically evaluate your progress and choices and use that to form new insights. 

It’s a Think Week. Not a Scheduling Week. 

So if you are a manager who now got very excited about the idea of doing a Think Week for your team and think it's a great idea to "rename" your conference with the same planning meetings and corporate presentations into a "Think Week". Don't.

If you really wanna reap the benefit of a proper Think Week for your team, hire someone who knows how to do proper Think Weeks to help you plan them so that your team truly benefits from it.

Your Think Week is your space to really devour new knowledge and dive deep into articles, reports and books that you didn’t have time to contemplate fully during your normal work days. 

Think Weeks are supposed to produce better ideas, insights about the future of your business and industry and ideas for how to innovate and improve to meet those future needs. 

You are not only supposed to go away for a week and just listen to audiobooks passively, but actively take notes, write down your insights and thoughts and expand upon what you are learning. 

Have you done Think Weeks before? What was your experience and do you have any tips you'd like to add?

Send me a message on Instagram, LinkedIn or comment under my videos on YouTube and I'll include your tips below!

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Sources:

http://thescienceexplorer.com/brain-and-body/scientists-reveal-why-forest-bathing-or-going-beach-boosts-our-well-being

https://youtu.be/dqCEOJSvgwA?si=2dYpLUhqYOZoCTjA