I Tested the 5,000 Hour Plan in 2024 and the Results Are In

Last year on this exact date I published an article and framework called the 5,000 Hour Plan. Well, I put it to the test this entire year and the results are in.

Some of you may remember the following post from last year:

Creating a 5,000 Hour Plan for 2024

December 22, 2023

5,000 hours. That’s all you’re getting in 2024.

Read full story

I actually tried using it for a full year and the results are in.

I never like to post theories and recommend them until I actually see them work. In this case, it’s no longer just a theory as I used the framework to track 4,100 hours of my time and every area of my life was overall more effective and meaningful.

It really helped me prioritize my time throughout the year and I'm using it again for 2025 planning. DM me if you want the template.

In a nutshell here's the 5 Step 5,000 Hour Plan process:

1. Define Life Mission and Vision
2. Top 5 Objectives
3. 5,000 Hour Allocation
4. Define Key Results
5. Track

How it Started

It’s probably worth scanning my original post on this (see above) from last year, where I first published the 5,000 Hour Plan framework to understand the concepts behind the framework and how it’s structured.

As I started on this journey, it took my several plan iterations and I printed out the plan, put it on my desk and early in the year I reprinted it a bunch of times. You won’t get it perfect, it’s constantly being updated. So give yourself a pass if you feel overwhelmed at first, that’s totally normal.

After I landed on my Mission, Vision, and Top 5 Objectives, everything became easier and fell under that umbrella. I was able to prioritize my time, and at first I updated my tracker every weekday. This was challenging but it helped me get into an operational rhythm that went beyond just tracking tasks for my day job. It looked at every area of life, which is unusual.

Usually we go straight to work, turn on the machine, and start tackling our work priorities. Yet what about the rest of our lives? What about the areas that you really find important, and things outside of work? That’s what this plan does — it gets me to think “outside the box”.

Key Observations and Lessons Learned

1. Ok, 5,000 Hours is a Stretch. I tracked 4,100 hours of activity using Google Sheets, all allocated based on my priorities. This was a forcing function for me to think through every action. While I tried doing this daily, as the year went on I realized that weekly updates were totally fine, even monthly works. And through this discipline my mentality changed from, "what am I going to do with my time?" to, "I am 100% sure this is the top priority today."
2. Quicker course corrections: I also saw red flags in meeting my objectives throughout the year, which allowed me to course correct and reallocate time in certain areas, to better feed areas that were in need. This happens in phases. For example there was a point in time where I went on an adventure to Alaska, exploring the 8 National Parks there, so that took me away from nearly every other priority. After that trip, I had to rebalance and slow down on the adventure side of my plan. The point is that your time won’t be cookie cutter and the same each week or month.
3. 5,000 Hours is an aspiration. Considering that I only accounted for 4,100 hours, I didn't accurately predict my available time. The truth is, 5,000 hours is an aspiration. It's not totally unrealistic, but it's very, very challenging. Next year, I hope to increase this to 4,250 hours of time tracking.
4. Reduced # of Key Results in future planning. As I enter 2025, my new 2025 5,000 Hour Plan is much more refined. I kept 5 buckets, but I reduced the number of Key Results in each bucket by about 50%. For example in one bucket I only list 2 Key Results to keep things simple. I realized that in 2024 I had too much KR's to track, and ended up reducing this in half because it helps me focus more.
5. More distributed % allocations in future planning. My overall objectives are still a total of five. However, my distribution of time across those five is much more even. This means that I will enter the year with a more integrated mindset and I'm challenging myself to enter into new terrain by altering my previous priorities.
6. Mission and Vision is a living and breathing statement. Another realization is that our Life Mission and Vision constantly needs evaluation. I updated my Mission and Vision statements several times to be more in line with what I "live for", getting closer to my purpose and living a more fulfilled life overall. We aren't robots - we need to be more integrated across the key areas of life.

Closing

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want a free template to use, or want to talk through your plan. I genuinely think this can help anyone who is trying to balance work/life, and be more integrated. I also know that for Cyber PMMs especially, work can be overwhelming yet we have so much that we want to do outside of work because many of us are creative, curious and adventurous. Time is ticking - what’s your plan?

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