Can you really get anything productive done in 15 minutes? You’d be surprised what you can accomplish when you apply yourself within the constraints of a focused time limit.
For example, have you ever had an entire day ahead of you with nothing to do and nothing planned? Okay, me neither, but let’s just say hypothetically. J
Suddenly, before you know it, the day is over and you did exactly what you planned to do: nothing!
On the other hand, Parkinson’s Law states that any task will expand to fill the time you have to do it. And I’ve found this to be true. If I set aside an hour to do something, you can bet it will take an hour or even longer.
I can easily waste the first 45 minutes or so (“Oh, let me just answer this email first” and “Wow, did you see Nordstrom is having a sale?”) and then do a rush job in the last 15 minutes in order to get it done.
But let’s say that instead of a 60-minute chunk of time, you’ve got a few 15-minute blocks of time scheduled throughout your day.
Suddenly you’ve got a handful of small, laser focused “islands of productivity” that leave less room for procrastination and distraction!
Not only that, are you someone who tends to get overwhelmed? I know I do sometimes. Well, with this system you can divide a larger project into smaller, more manageable pieces.
Get started on the first bit, then move to something else for a while, come back (with fresher eyes, by the way) and reevaluate what is needed next and so forth.
And even better — there have been studies that indicate a variety of mental stimulation throughout the day actually triggers chemicals in your brain that make you feel happier. Go figure!
So why not give it a try.
Here are some resources to help you:
If you work at computer it can be easy to lose track of time. That’s why I use a little free program called Time Out (MAC). Time Out reminds me to take a break at any interval I set it for. I’m sure there are tons of Windows programs that do the same thing. Another one of my favorite apps is focusatwill.com. This app plays personalized focus music to help me get stuff done by reducing distractions with music! Highly recommend.
It is so much less time-consuming and stressful to have someone help me simplify my choices, deconstruct the task into understandable pieces or steps, and allow me to learn from their trial and error so I can see results much faster.
Not only that, I know that all the time I have spent being mentored and taught has made me a better mentor myself!
