Two weeks ago found me reading an article on writing. Though my efforts are not always shown here, due to my lack of posts and apparent inconsistency in posting, I spend a great deal of my week reading, writing, capturing photos, and planning for this here blog.
But this last week, my reading of how to better write was related to a different writing medium. My goal to someday publish a children’s book.
I know, I know. I’m all over the place. And whether I’m good at anyplace is still up for deliberation.
But there it is, my small yet large goal — maybe silly, even — said out in the open and published on the internet for all the world to see.
To write, and have published [in hard copy], a children’s book (maybe more than one??? Oh dear, I’m getting ahead of myself…).
Personal confession out in the open, my dream to someday publish a book designed for children is NOT actually the focus of this article.
Instead, this article is about accomplishing hard tasks. Specifically, this article is about setting goals and doing something hard — all in 15 minutes a day.
Which brings me back to the author of this idea — the author of the article I was reading regarding writing a children’s book.
(See link to the article here).
Now, I am unfamiliar with this author other than reading this article, but his self-experiment struck me. It has inspired me!
To change my life 15 minutes at a time.
Now, if you want to read the article yourself, the link is listed above. However, if you don’t have a nagging desire to read the full article, the short of it is as follows:
This gentlemen wanted to write and publish a children’s book (and do it all within a year!), but like all of us, found himself really limited on time due to work, family, and other obligations he already had with his time. He felt like he could only reasonably carve out 15 minutes of his day to focus on writing this children’s book. So that is what he did. And he found success. He was able to get his book published within a year, and he did so by focusing just 15 minutes of his time each day.
Pretty impressive, right?!
This article has left me reflecting on what I can accomplish in just 15 minutes. What can you accomplish in just 15 minutes?
Just think on that for a minute…
What can you do with 15 minutes?
Achieving Goals 15 minutes at a time
Fifteen minutes is really not that much time, but what if I were to carve out just 15 minutes each day and put that time toward something that would make me feel success?
- 15 minutes to exercise
- 15 minutes to study a new language
- 15 minutes to write – personal journal, internet blog (like this one!), a novel, or a children’s story.
- 15 minutes of reading just for love of reading
- If I were still in high school, I think 15 minutes of shooting baskets would probably be up there on my list.
- As an adult, 15 minutes of daily tidy-up of designated areas around the house is definitely going to get on my list.
- As a mom, 15 minutes of dedicated child focus – of just being present watching my kids without other distractions, without multitasking watching my kids while doing something else – would help me feel success as a parent because I am offering my children the gift of my time. My undivided attention.
Looking back at the title I chose for this article, it almost sounds overly dramatic. To think that one could change their life in 15 minutes.
Yet I think we experience dramatic life changes in less than 15 minutes every single day.
Or in the millions of small things we do every day, that make significant changes to our lives.
This approach took the same attitude, if you will, of James Clear’s famed book Atomic Habits (which, I must admit, I am still only part way through reading). That is, of making a significant difference from changing micro habits.
I claim to be an expert of nothing, just someone who tries hard at a lot of different things.
Writing this article on changing a life in 15 minutes of changed time structure is no different. I am not a life coach, and I am certainly not an expert at doing this.
I am one week into my own experimentation with this change of focus, but have every faith that the results can be extraordinary.
What does it look like?
Contrary to how it feels at times, we are all gifted with just 24 hours in our day, repeating 7 days a week for 52 weeks in the year.
It may feel like others have more time than we do, or that some seasons in our lives offer more time than others. But the simple truth is time is time. The number of hours never changes; only our use of them does.
For me, changing my life 15 minutes at a time has begun with shifting 15 minutes of time away from one thing to focus on another. I have shifted 15 minutes of my day away from sleep or project planning in the form of Pinterest (we strive for all honesty in this blog!) toward writing.
All in an effort to achieve that goal of publishing a children’s book.
Again, making a small change in my life – shifting the focus of just 15 minutes of my day – in order to accomplish something big and important to me.
Micro changes to bring about a macro change. At least in my personal life.
“The number of hours never changes, only our use of them.”
And really, out of the 1,440 minutes in a day, changing just 15 of those doesn’t sound like too strenuous a goal.
Growing 15 Minutes at a Time
As you read this article today, I hope you finish giving real thought to how incredibly life changing a 15-minute adjustment of your day can be.
That is certainly how I felt after reading my children’s book article the other week.
Whether you resolve to adjust your time to carve out 15 minutes to dedicated cleaning in order for your house to be more organized and refreshing; 15 minutes of exercise to improve overall health; 15 minutes of walking outdoors to clear your head or 15 minutes of meditation to find that balance — whatever it is we choose to change, I truly believe it can change our lives for the better.
As a homeschool mom, I am always looking for inspiration and motivation from other homeschool families. Tips to help my routine be a little less chaotic and grumbly. One suggestion I have read is the set your timer or 15 minutes just before bed, and tidy up your kitchen (or other homeschool space) – making sure all counter surfaces are clear, all study spaces are empty – so that when school time begins in the morning, you are ready to start school without first needing to clean the space.
A simple thing. Just 15 minutes. Yet it makes a world of difference.
Your Change is Different than My Change
Changing your life 15 minutes at a time will certainly look different than how I change my life.
Just as we all have different goals in life, we also are each at a different starting point.
My sister-in-law already does an evening kitchen cleanup in her routine, and I know other women who already have a solid daily exercise rhythm. But these are both areas I plan to more purposefully incorporate into my routine, each 15 minutes at a time (and likely over the coarse of several weeks.
For now, my 15 minutes life improvement goal is to bless myself with a little more dedication time in my day to accomplishing something worthwhile.
