Like most working mums, I'm a very busy person. I work full time, commute an hour each day, do the grocery shopping, prepare dinner, look after our son, etc.. So I don't have the luxury of time in my life and if I want to learn something new or work on a side project, I have to be very organized about it. But what I've discovered mainly is that I don't always need large blocks of time to work on something. Trying to find large blocks of time can actually be stressful or even depressing and I've come to the conclusion that working on something in small doses but consistently over time is a much better approach.
The best example I have to share is about self development. Last year I discovered a daily motivation podcast, Morning Coach, that I listen to every morning. All episodes last between 15 and 18 minutes, addressing various topics. Of course in 15 minutes you can't cover a huge amount, but if you listen to them 5 days a week, Monday to Friday, you end up with a lot of ideas to contemplate, and there's always at least one good advice to take away from these podcasts. So I listen for 15 minutes daily, it doesn't take any of my time since I listen in my car while commuting to work, but I can assure you that the impact is massive. After a year of listening to the podcast, I feel like I have come a very long way in terms of self awareness and motivation, but what is more important is that because I don't feel like I spend a lot of time working on myself it never becomes a chore and I can keep going on the long run.
But enough talking about me, what I wanted to share is the simple fact that 15 minutes a day can bring a lot of improvements in your life.
What can you do in 15 minutes a day?
I could continue for a while, but you get the idea. You don't always need 3 hours to make an impact. In fact, after reading Zen Habits for so long now, I have slightly changed my view on reaching goals, and instead of considering goals, I prefer to think of habits, because building habits is what really makes me go forward.
What about you, is there something that you do on a daily basis?
The best example I have to share is about self development. Last year I discovered a daily motivation podcast, Morning Coach, that I listen to every morning. All episodes last between 15 and 18 minutes, addressing various topics. Of course in 15 minutes you can't cover a huge amount, but if you listen to them 5 days a week, Monday to Friday, you end up with a lot of ideas to contemplate, and there's always at least one good advice to take away from these podcasts. So I listen for 15 minutes daily, it doesn't take any of my time since I listen in my car while commuting to work, but I can assure you that the impact is massive. After a year of listening to the podcast, I feel like I have come a very long way in terms of self awareness and motivation, but what is more important is that because I don't feel like I spend a lot of time working on myself it never becomes a chore and I can keep going on the long run.
But enough talking about me, what I wanted to share is the simple fact that 15 minutes a day can bring a lot of improvements in your life.
What can you do in 15 minutes a day?
- Learn a new language: You can read a few pages of a book, listen to a podcast, do some grammar exercises or watch something on the web to practice the new language you want to learn.
- Learn how to play an instrument: With all the videos available on Youtube you can easily watch a tutorial and practice a few songs every day.
- Write a book: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So if you've always wanted to write a novel, a short book or even blog articles, all you have to do is write something every day.
- Read a book: You don't need to finish a chapter every day. Read for 15 minutes daily and before you know it, your book will be finished.
- Exercise: 15 minutes is not a lot, but if you build the habit of exercising 15 minutes every day it will become easier and easier, and over time you might want to increase the length of your session. The problem with exercising is often getting started, so if you start small but get in the habit of exercising daily, half of the battle is won.
- Remove clutter: Nobody looks at a messy garage and says "I'm so excited to clean it up, I'm going to spend the whole day reorganizing it". Instead, why not focus on 15 minutes a day, removing one thing at a time, cleaning one area after another? You can start with your desk, then your office, then move to other rooms.
I could continue for a while, but you get the idea. You don't always need 3 hours to make an impact. In fact, after reading Zen Habits for so long now, I have slightly changed my view on reaching goals, and instead of considering goals, I prefer to think of habits, because building habits is what really makes me go forward.
What about you, is there something that you do on a daily basis?
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