The Phenomenon of the 12 Week Year

Book review

The 12 Week Year is an execution system designed by consultants Brian Moran and Michael Lennington that has taken the world by storm. It challenges the common practice of annualised thinking, claiming that the psychology of this ubiquitous concept, and how it governs our lives, holds us back from achieving our goals.

What do you mean by “annualised thinking”?

Well, for example, if you decided on January 1st that this is the year that you will look for a new job, when would you hope to have started your search in order to meet that target?

By March?

March. Okay — so it’s March 25th, you remember the goal you set, and you haven’t done anything yet. Is that a problem?

No — it’s fine. There’s a whole nine months of the year left. I’ve got plenty of time. Relax.

Okay, so I call in on you in mid-June. How’s that goal coming along?

What goal?

You decided back on New Year’s Day that you were going to find a new job this year?

Oh — yes. Yes — I did start updating my resume and I posted it online… I think.

And are you actively looking and applying for jobs?

Not right now — It’s summer. I want to enjoy the season, and it’s the wrong time of year to look in my industry. I’m going to restart in September for sure.

Okay. Now it’s October. Do you have a new job yet?

No.

Why not? Did things at your current work suddenly turn round and you love it there?

No way — I hate it. And my salary hasn’t moved.

So get another job! That was what you were definitely going to do this year!

No — you’re right — I must. But it’s nearly the end of the year. I may as well wait for the Christmas bonus and start properly in the New Year.

Do you see the problem here? That is annualised thinking and it lends itself to chronic procrastination.

Hmm — Yes, it does, yes. Why is that?

Because a year is so long. It’s very difficult to maintain a sense of urgency throughout such a vast time-frame. If we can even remember what goals we set way back on January 1st, there’s little chance we’re still working towards them in say, April, especially when we’re likely to have set highly ambitious goals, because after all, you had a whole year to achieve them.

So what’s the solution?

The 12 Week Year, obviously. By shortening the time-frame in which you seek to achieve things you’ll be able to maintain a sense of tension because it’s so much easier to keep perspective of twelve weeks, and you’re also likely to set more achievable goals because you can almost see how many days make up the overall period. You can judge where you are much better and break down your journey into weekly tasks.

So I decide where I want to be in 12 weeks’ time, instead of in one year’s time, and go from there. Okay — Is that it?

That’s the concept, but Moran and Lennington give you a whole framework to make it work. There’s a multitude of tools and cognitive techniques in their book to help you along and keep you on track, such as looking out for “administrivia”, working with “discomfort productive tension”, and accepting accountability.

Does the strategy really work?

Yes.

How do you know? Have you tried it?

I have, actually. I wouldn’t review the technique without trying it myself.

And did it work for you?

Totally. I’ve done two “years” now, and I achieved the goals I set myself — some of them in much less than twelve weeks in fact. And I have to be honest — it is a life-changing strategy.

Any downsides?

I put a lot of pressure on myself. The elements of life that involve relaxation and kicking back are squeezed out of your schedule, and by the end of twelve weeks, that can take its toll. You can end up sacrificing anything that doesn’t help towards your goal, so your social life and hobbies will suffer. But that’s what you sign up for and that’s the price you sometimes have to pay. Yes, this is a serious strategy that actually works. At the end of two “years”, I felt I needed a year off.

How do I give this a go?

tim.kilmartin@Blackwells.co.uk

Related posts:

The ever increasing online content volume and velocity shows the ongoing demand for CDN-like services. I have fully embraced the challenging idea of making such service decentralized. As a content…

Each one of us knows an urban legend or two, right? Just think back to your childhood, I am sure there are bound to be some. They often talk about evil people, monsters or simply supernatural things…

The clocks have turned back, the weather is getting colder and soon it will be dark by 4pm. All of this means you will be spending more time indoors with your kids over the next few months… But don’t…