Module 5, expanded
What to do the week you fall behind
This page walks through the reasoning behind the gap protocol taught in Module 5 of the course. It explains why gaps happen, and outlines the general shape of the recovery steps without replacing the full lesson content.
Two kinds of gaps, two different responses
Not every missed week has the same cause, and treating them the same way is part of why recovery often fails. We separate gaps into two broad categories, each with a different recommended response.
Planned interruptions
Known in advance: a holiday, a busy launch week, travel. These can be scheduled around ahead of time by adjusting the calendar before the gap arrives, rather than reacting after it happens.
Unplanned disruptions
Illness, a sudden priority shift, an unexpected personal matter. These cannot be scheduled around. The protocol for these focuses on how you re-enter afterward, not on preventing them.
The general shape of recovery
Four steps, applied in order
The full framework, including worksheets, is covered in Module 5 of the course. The outline below describes the shape of it.
Acknowledge the gap without a grading scale
The first step is simply naming what happened, without treating the gap as a measure of failure. A calendar that survives gaps starts from a neutral description of what occurred.
Decide: reschedule, skip, or shorten
Each missed item gets one of three treatments: moved to a later date, dropped from the plan entirely, or replaced with a shorter version. Trying to publish everything that was missed, all at once, is what usually causes a second, larger gap.
Choose a low-friction re-entry piece
The first thing published after a gap should be pulled from the topic bank, not created from scratch. Starting again with a demanding new idea raises the odds of another stall.
Note the cause for the next review
The monthly review from Module 6 is where recurring causes get addressed at the workflow level, rather than being solved individually every time they appear.
Gaps look different for teams
When more than one person depends on a shared calendar, a gap can come from a single person's schedule rather than a shared decision. The course covers how to build a protocol that does not require every team member to know the full history behind a missed item, only what to do next.
Common questions about gaps
A few things people ask before enrolling
No. The protocol is designed to structure what happens after a miss, not to prevent misses from occurring. Interruptions are treated as expected, not as something a good enough plan would eliminate.
There is no fixed limit. The course discusses signs that suggest a rebuild is more appropriate than a recovery, such as the underlying workflow no longer matching your current situation at all.
Yes. The framework focuses on the decision logic around missed items rather than a specific platform, so it applies whether the calendar covers one channel or several at once.
No. This page summarizes the shape of the framework. Module 5 includes full lessons, examples and a worksheet used to write your own protocol.