Before Week 1 · Rhythm and time commitment

Steady weekly pace, not intensive bursts

The course is built for a steady weekly rhythm rather than intensive bursts. Each week expects between four and six hours of focused work, plus reading time.

Per week
4 to 6

hours of focused work, plus reading time

Across fourteen weeks
80 to 100

total hours commitment

Participants who treat the course as ad hoc may struggle. Not because the work is hard. Because the work compounds. Week 5's Operating Conditions Analysis references Week 1's Domain Audit Map and Week 2's scope work. Week 8's Personalisation Decision Map reads from Week 6's Transparency Plan and Week 7's recut templates. A week skipped or hurried is a reference missed, which makes subsequent weeks harder rather than easier.

Block the time before Week 1 opens. The same window each week if possible. Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning is a pattern that works for many practitioners. Two early-morning blocks is another. The shape matters less than the consistency.

A typical week breaks down like this

~ 90 min

Required reading and viewing (more in Weeks 1, 3, and 13)

~ 60 min

Core lesson and supporting materials

3 to 4 hr

The week's practices and deliverable (five practices in most weeks, three in Week 14)

~ 30 min

Reflection, and review of the previous week's work as new artefacts reference it

The work compounds

Week 5 references Week 1 and Week 2. Week 8 references Week 6 and Week 7. A week skipped is a reference missed, which makes the following weeks harder, not easier. The single best predictor of finishing well is calendar discipline early.