We all have long lists of tasks, projects, and activities we need or want to complete. Some of these take hours, but what about the moments when you only have 15 minutes? Do you let those small windows slip by, or do you use them to move closer to your goals? Think about what you can accomplish in 15 minutes.
Let me ask you, does this sound familiar?
- “On Tuesday after work, I’m going to sit down for an hour to write a new blog post.”
- “I’m planning to read a book for 30 minutes every day.”
- “I’ll go to the gym and work out for 45 minutes.”
We all make these plans, but life has a way of interrupting them. Something comes up, or we don’t feel like it, or maybe we run out of time. And when that happens, we often ditch the plan altogether.
But here’s the thing: you don’t need a full hour to make progress. Imagine what you can accomplish in just 15 or 30 minutes.
The Problem With the All-or-Nothing Mentality
The majority of us have this all or nothing mentality. If we can’t complete a task exactly as planned, we give up entirely. For example:
- You plan to work out for 45 minutes, but you only have 30 minutes now. Instead of going for a shorter workout, you skip the workout entirely as you think “Na, that’s not enough time” or “it’s not really worth going for only 30 min”.
- You schedule an hour for content creation, but a last-minute meeting leaves you with just 15 minutes. So, you decide not to sit down at all to write that blog post. You decide not even to make a start.
I know it’s not ideal to have your time cut short when you have mentally prepared yourself for a certain task. However, this all-or-northing mentality leads to missed opportunities and pushes your tasks and also goals further away. Instead of doing what you can with the time you do have available, you postpone —and we all know how easy it is for postponed tasks to pile up.
Imagine What You Can Do in 15 Minutes
The truth is, you can accomplish so much in even a small amount of time. Those shorter time slots can add up and have a huge impact on your progress. Here are just a few examples:
- Use 15 minutes to brainstorm content ideas
- Do a quick yoga flow
- Tidy up a small area of your home or workspace
- Read a few pages of a book or listen to a short podcast episode
Only working 15 or 30 minutes on a task, although you’d prefer to dedicate more time to it, may not seem ideal or even satisfying in the moment. It even may feel like a waster of time. However, working on small tasks moves you forward and ensures you’re working toward your goals.
Stop Wasting Time and Start Using It
Imagine what you can do in 30 or 15 minutes. How great would it feel to make use of your time wisely. Imagine yourself working on your task instead of scrolling through social media yet again. I bet you’d feel proud of yourself at the end of the day for choosing what’s right and not what’s easy.
And remember, even if you can’t complete a task during that time, you can make progress. And progress, no matter how small, is better than staying stuck. Small actions add up.
For example, if you only have 15 minutes to brainstorm content ideas, you’ll be prepared to dive straight into writing the next time.
There’s always a good excuse why to postpone something. But if you just work on it for a few minutes here and there, imagine what that can add up to? Imagine what you can achieve over a week, a month, or a year by simply making the most of the time you already have.
It’s time to ditch the all-or-nothing mentality and make use of the time you have available to you intentionally.
What’s it going to be? 15 minutes of progress, or nothing at all?
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