A freelancer’s luna plan

5 things I learned from living a year in cycles

It was a mild night in September 2016, when I made a lunatic plan. I had just come back from an evening walk at the beach. The tide had been falling, and the water had withdrawn so far out, that I could take the long walk. Around the cliffs that, at high tide, separated the beaches leading up to Cap Fréhel. Now, I was sitting in the garden, behind the old stone Gîte I had rented. The blue, white and lilac hydrangeas were slowly turning gray. It was my last evening in Brittany before returning home.

One month ago I had quit my well-paid corporate job. And left a team that I loved. Why? I needed a break.
This post could go on explaining what had led to my decision to leave. I spare that for another time. The events that unfolded after that mild night in September are a story of their own right. That night in September I had a pressing question on my mind. What was waiting for me back home? The answer felt liberating and scary as hell: I did not know.

The beauty and the beast of any major transition in life are that — for a moment — we become aware that our future is unknown.

For me, this meant entering a time of high uncertainty. Other than drinking tea and walking the beach, I had not made plans after leaving my job and departing to France. Now that I was going back home, I felt lost. I needed a plan.

But how do you make a plan when the goal is unclear? Chewing on that question, I looked up at the sky. The moon was full, like the week I had arrived here. A full cycle. Then it struck me — the solution was simple. And I was well familiar with it from my years in software engineering. One of the most brilliant people I had worked with is Stefan. He had said time and time again: ‘’Eileen, when you face high uncertainty, you need to learn as you go. That’s why you work in cycles!’’

Agile software engineering has long utilized the power of cycles, often called sprints. It is a proven way of being flexible and resilient to sudden change. There are two critical elements: the cycle and the transition between cycles.

The trick is, that during a cycle the goal is stable. Once a new cycle has started there is no questioning of what has been agreed upon. You need to pull through. That’s why a cycle needs to be as long as needed to finish a significant task. But it also needs to be as short as possible to react to changes and re-think priorities for the next cycle.

The transition between cycles serves as a time for reflection and designing action. What do you want to leave behind? What learnings do you want to bring forward? What is the goal you work towards next? Which actions are of highest priority? It is this principle of ‘Inspect and Adapt’, that allows fast and profound learning.

In this sense: making a plan is simply defining a time frame for a cycle and rituals for transitioning between cycles. What you actually do in each cycle you decide each time anew.

But is this software engineering framework something that can be applied to live? I was intrigued enough to give it a try and wrote down a simple plan for one year:
1. be at home two months to work
2. travel one month to reflect and decide what’s up next
3. repeat.

What did I do during the months at home? What did traveling teach me? It was a fascinating journey. Let me tell you about it!

Here are five things I learned from living a year in cycles as a freelancer:

Timebox your projects! It drives the value you create.
When I came back home from France I started to work as a freelancer. Often times in my past career, when I was the person hiring freelancers, I was unclear on the goal of the assignment. This resulted in contracting people based on day rates, not deliverables. Now, I was negotiating with clients on hiring me as a consultant or coach. And I stated clearly in each entry conversation that I am available for the next two months. This timebox helped my clients and me with two things. Being clear and realistic on the goal of my assignment. And constantly checking in if what I am working on serves that goal.

Don’t plan ahead for more than three months! It opens space for opportunities.
What I did not consider when I designed my cycles, was that, by design, I could not plan ahead more than three months. Not knowing how I will earn my living six months from now, was a scary experience at first. But it also freed me up from pondering over clients which might contract me some months from now. So I engaged with those who were ready to work with me. Being less occupied with planning the maybes also gave me space to be open to opportunities. Surprisingly, they came from places I wasn’t actively looking into. Having space in my schedule allowed me to take some of these opportunities. This turned out to be a newfound luxury I had never dared to dream of in my corporate job.

Work less! The quality of your work will benefit big time.
I have always loved to work. And at times, I admit, I was a workaholic. In the last year, I have worked only eight months. At first, I thought to work less meant sacrificing the impact I could have. But what I discovered was quite the opposite. When working time became a scarcity for me, the nature of my work changed. Not only did I have more energy, which seems obvious. Beyond that I found, I was more present and concise in interacting with collaborators. This has leap-jumped my productivity and almost eliminated procrastination for me. Sitting down in the evening, with the feeling that my work is done for today, brings a feeling of deep gratitude.

Allow yourself some non-entertained time alone! It seems the best way to stay grounded, humble, and happy.
When I traveled I did not travel in the sense that I moved around a lot. I would not say I took four months off to travel. I rather say, I took four months off to be. When it was time to start the off-month, I chose a place to go and stayed there. I did not plan which sights to see, which hikes to do, which books to read and so on. I woke up in the morning and looked out of the window. My day was a blank sheet of paper. Sometimes the air was so fresh, that I felt like I needed to move, so my first choice was to go for a walk. Some days, my stomach sends a clear message, that breakfast was the first thing to do. After that? Napping, singing, lying on the grass, having a bath. Being able to engage in simple things, offered a new sensation to me. Joy. To me, a more sustainable source of happiness then hunting for once-in-a-lifetime excitement.

Take time to indulge in nature! It’s one of the simplest ways to spark your creativity.
I live and work in cities. And I love vibrant urban places. People-watching is one of my favorite past times. And I also enjoy the stimulation I get from being drawn out of my comfort zone by the more irritating elements of urban life. What I had lost over the years in my urban cocoons, was being in touch with nature. I noticed this on one of my first walks in a forest during a month off. My only concern was that my boots were getting muddy. I took quite some time for me to be able to indulge in nature again. In a way that I felt I was not just walking through a forest, but I was in the forest. What that offered me was a unique experience of the magnitude and diversity of existence. It was an experience of being truly awestruck. And it has significantly increased my ability to look at the world from a place of wonder. What a great place to look from, especially if you are engaged in any kind of innovative work.

The idea of living a year in cycles felt like a lunatic plan one year ago. Looking back, living in cycles feels as natural as the phases of the moon, the tides and the seasons. But by far less predictable.