Thinking in Terms of Weeks

Lately I’ve been thinking in terms of weeks, rather than days or months. A while back I gave up using monthly spreads in my bullet journal in favor of weekly logs, but for a number of reasons I’m slowly switching back. I’m still planning things in weekly segments, though, and I’ll get to why in a moment.

One of the many, many differences between the United States and Finland is that numbered weeks are used more commonly here. For example, the week that I am writing this, ending 27 September 2020 , is week 39. There are 53 weeks in 2020, simply because of how the dates fall. In the US I only ever saw it in business, particularly on things that required ISO-8601 standards.

Here in Finland I see it used in ads to let you know how long a sale runs, or how long a coupon is good for. Restaurants advertise their specials based on the week number. And of course, businesses, schools, sports team, and club use the week number.

Weekly Thinking as a Minimalist Spoonie Writer

Here’s where it’s working for me so far:

As a writer, I’ve stopped thinking of a deadline as being firmly fixed on Tuesday of Week 42. Now I think of Week 41 being the final week that I have to work on a particular manuscript, so plan accordingly. Not only does it allow me to better adjust my workload, it lessens the stress. I feel as if I have more time to get caught up and do the million things that always pop up when you’re in the home stretch.

As a minimalist, it means I only have 52 or 53 time units to worry about, not 365. It’s a lot easier to hold that concept in your head. That smaller number to work forces me to realize that my time is finite. It prevents me from over-booking myself. I need to prioritize better, and only spend my time on the things that matter the most to me or will have the greatest impact.

As a spoonie, thinking in weeks rather than days gives me space to breathe. If I’m not feeling well or can’t be especially productive one day, I don’t feel as guilty about it. There are few things in my life that absolutely, positively need to be done on a specific day. A week is still short enough for me to have a sense of urgency, so that I don’t put things off. But it’s a large enough space that if I have to take a moment it’s not going to completely wreck my workflows.