What kind of experiment is this?
This is a practice suggestion, not a promise to transform your life in seven days. Aim to leave with a picture of your current days, one change to try, and a decision informed by a week of observations. You can complete the preparation in separate sittings or pause when needed.
This note and WayThread’s worksheet draw on Dan Koe’s letter, with our own questions and organization. His article has five steps; our practice has six modules. They are related but are not identical.
Before you start: describe what you want to improve
Write one sentence about a daily life you want to move toward, such as “I want less rush in the evening and some time to read.” Use it to choose an experiment, rather than treating it as another performance target.
WayThread’s current reset worksheet focuses on present routines and priorities. It does not have a separate desired-direction question. Write that sentence in your own notes before filling it in; this is one difference between our adaptation and the original.
1. Clear your thoughts: describe what is happening
List what keeps occupying your attention and what you actually do during a day. Describe the facts before turning every concern into a task.
“I checked messages for half an hour after work and delayed cooking” is easier to work with than “I have no discipline.” It points to a moment you might adjust.
2. Observe your energy: notice drain and recovery
Recall what left you tired and what helped you recover a little. Include your circumstances instead of assuming an activity is good or bad for everyone.
The same walk might be relaxing when you have time and exhausting when you are rushing an errand. Choose an experiment that fits the conditions in your own life.
3. Rearrange your days: keep, reduce, or move
Choose something to keep, something to reduce, and something that might work better at another time or in another form. Let the change serve your opening sentence rather than filling every gap in the day.
Start with one adjustment: put tomorrow’s materials by the door, for example, or check messages after cooking. Avoid adding six new habits to an already busy schedule.
4. Adjust your input: keep information you can use
Ask what you still need to know for this experiment. Keep information that helps the next action; you do not need to master an entire method first.
For a reading experiment, choose a book already within reach. To improve a workflow, identify the actual sticking point before deciding what to learn.
5. Choose an output: make the action startable
Write a concrete action with a starting cue and a completion criterion. Choose the time and difficulty yourself, leaving room to begin on a busy day.
“Use my phone less” is hard to act on. “After dinner, leave my phone charging and read two pages” gives you an entry point. Two pages belongs to this example; it is not a universal target.
6. Try a week: record, then decide
Record whether the action happened, what got in the way, and whether it helped you move toward the daily life you wanted. A missed day can teach you something. Do not invent a completion to fill the gap.
At the end of the week, keep, shrink, replace, or stop the experiment. Its value lies in finding something that fits, not in collecting seven consecutive checkmarks.
- When was starting easiest?
- Where did the action get interrupted, and why?
- What actually changed afterward?
- What will you keep or adjust next week?
A complete example: a few minutes after dinner
This is an invented practice example, not customer outcome data. Lin wants a less rushed evening and a return to reading. He notices that repeated message checking delays dinner rather than leaving him with no free time at all.
He tries one action: clear the table, leave his phone charging, and read two pages. When it does not happen, he records the reason without adding a penalty or backfilling a completion. A week later, those notes can help him adjust the starting cue or amount of reading.
What did we borrow, and what did we change?
Dan Koe’s letter covers recording activities and feelings, clarifying a desired direction, changing priorities and routines, learning and creating, and planning a week. Our modules retain those practice themes and separate input from output.
WayThread adds its own questions, saved records, and ways to express a small action. This is neither the author’s official six-step method nor a complete reproduction. Read the linked original for his own account.
Leave yourself a next step in WayThread
WayThread turns vague goals into small tasks you can begin. You can write one experimental action as a task, keep a record of what you actually completed, and use it to adjust your next step.
One action you want to try is enough to start. A worksheet, notebook, or task tool helps you organize; the decision about how to continue is yours.
Two questions before starting
Do I need to do all six modules every day?
No. The preparation helps you choose an experiment. During the week, focus on trying the selected action and recording what happens. Fill in the worksheet at your own pace or pause.
Is a week with missed days a failure?
You do not have to label it a failure. Not starting, getting interrupted, or finding the action unhelpful all provide material for review. You might shrink it, change the cue, or stop an experiment that does not fit.