The Six-Week Sprint

Create Space for Work That Matters

"The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do." — Michael Porter

I take at least two weeks off every year at Christmas-time.

Complete disconnect. Let my mind wander and see what bubbles up.

Here's the truth that emerged from the quiet:

Your brain doesn't multitask. It multi-leaks.

That product idea I sketched out but never launched... the automation that's half-built in Zapier... the course outline I abandoned mid-draft. Each was still one drifting through my mind, taking up space.

Running a web design agency, writing Focus Fuel content, creating products, building Scale with AI alongside Emma Brooks — each one takes up mental real estate. Even when I'm not actively working on them. Each business is full of ideas and opportunities. But this creates what I call attention residue.

Creative and innovative minds are a double-edged sword.

We're wired to spot possibilities everywhere — like a heat-seeking missile for improvement. But this superpower comes with a cost: we're never quite content. There's always one more tweak, one more idea, one more "what if" pulling at our attention.

Every project you keep alive occupies part of your subconscious.

The Zeigarnik Effect is a phenomenon which shows that unfinished tasks create active loops in your brain. These loops continuously run in the background, subtly draining your mental energy — even when you're not consciously thinking about them.

Imagine trying to read while several TVs play different shows in the background.

You're not actively watching any of them, but your brain keeps catching snippets. Each one pulls a little bit of your attention, even when you're trying to focus on your book.

The Power of Scarcity

Think about your best work. It probably happened under constraints — a deadline, a limited budget, a specific deliverable.

Your brain is wired to respond to scarcity. Research shows that artificial constraints can increase creative problem-solving by up to 40%. Our brains love a clearly defined challenge.

When something becomes limited (time, resources, or attention) your mind sharpens its focus. It gets creative. It finds ways.

The Six-Week Sprint creates intentional scarcity.

By limiting your focus to one significant project, we trigger this same psychological advantage. Suddenly, your brain isn't juggling possibilities. It's solving one clear challenge.

Finding Flow in the Chaos

Traditional productivity advice says to just manage your tasks better.

Create better systems. Set better boundaries.

But that misses the point entirely.

What if instead of trying to juggle everything at once, we created bursts of focus? Periods where one project gets to take center stage, and the noise from the rest is muted.

That's why I designed the Six-Week Sprint.

The Sprint Breakdown

Week 1: Clear the Decks

Before anything meaningful can happen, you need a clear runway.

Think of Week 1 as meal prep for your brain. You're doing the groundwork so that during the sprint, you won't need to cook up new ideas or get distracted by other mental recipes. Everything you need is ready.

This week is about creating buffers and closing loops:

• Schedule recurring tasks (like bill payments and team check-ins) in advance

• Set up automated email responses and Slack status updates

• Create content buffers if you publish regularly

• Archive non-urgent emails and set up "while I'm away" workflows in Notion

Example: I’ll write 5-6 Focus Fuel articles. I’ll schedule a month of social posts (using Warren Tweety custom GPT I created for Scale with AI), and hit pause on any other Focus Modes projects. People pay for Focus Fuel and I am not going to neglect those members. Batching the articles in advance keeps the quality high but gives me some headspace during the next phase.

Weeks 2-5: The Deep Dive

This is where magic happens. Four weeks of undistracted creation.

Week 2: Off-road Mode

This week is about laying foundations. Capture everything in two simple lists:

• What you already know/have to complete this project

• What questions remain unanswered

This clarity helps focus your learning on exactly what you need, nothing more.

Those unanswered questions become your learning compass for the week. Instead of consuming content randomly, you're hunting for specific answers to specific gaps.

Weeks 3-5: Sports Mode

Pure execution.

Use what you know. No new ideas. No distractions.

By the end of these three weeks, you'll have something concrete. Whether that's a new product ready for beta testing, a complete course outline, or a polished manuscript ready for feedback.

Week 6: The Reset

Time to emerge, reflect, and prepare for the next deep dive.

Review what worked, document your progress, and start thinking about your next sprint (but don't start planning it yet - give your brain time to truly reset). Part of my goal is this phase is to inoculate issues in my next 6-week sprint.

Sprint Rules: What to eliminate

A sprint isn't just about what you do. It's about what you consciously eliminate:

• No new project ideas (write them down for later, but don't explore them)

• No peeking at paused projects (they'll be there when you finish)

• No scope creep (stick to your sprint goal)

This isn't your new normal

The Six-Week Sprint isn't how I work all year.

It's for when you need to create something substantial. When you need to move mountains. When regular day-to-day work patterns won't cut it. When you see sustained focus.

Think of it like a runner's training calendar. You don't run marathons every month. You pick your races. Train intentionally. Peak at the right time.

I use these sprints a few times per year when I need to:

• Launch something new

• Make a significant pivot

• Create foundational work that will pay dividends later

The rest of the time? Regular rhythms. Normal workdays. Standard operations.

Start sprinting

Try this yourself:

1. List every project currently living in your head. That automated email sequence you've been meaning to set up, the website redesign you've been postponing, the ebook that's still in draft form

2. Choose one that deserves a focused sprint. Something that could meaningfully move your business forward

3. Mark your calendar. Six weeks, starting next Monday

4. Block Week 1 for clearing the decks

5. Consider optimising your environment for each sprint phase for maximum impact

Your brain can do amazing things. Just not everything at once.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Until next time,
Dave