LYBFL: Change the World (at Least for Your Family) in Just 15 Minutes

ByChristie Burnett

I was fortunate to attend the Problogger conference in Melbourne last week. In his keynote address, Darren Rowse encouraged us all to dedicate  just 15 minutes a day to a project that we have been meaning to get to.

Just fifteen minutes a day.

Darren wrote his first eBook for Digital Photography School in daily 15 minute snippets.

Just fifteen minutes a day.

Which got me thinking about my commitment to living our best family life and my intention to make the most of the time we have available as a family. There’s a lot I could accomplish in just fifteen minutes that would have a positive impact toward accomplishing the goals I set recently.

For example;

Family

  • Set up a creative activity or invitation to play for Immy
  • Reach out to others by ringing a friend or family member
  • Make enquiries about local family, farm stay holiday locations

Home

  • Clean out a cupboard – linen cupboard, laundry cupboard, master wardrobe and both bathroom cupboards are on the list
  • Start sorting garage
  • Reorganise art materials
  • Reorganise pantry

Work

  • Email inbox clean out
  • Continue development of new product

How to Find Your 15 Minutes

I believe the key to making the most of a fifteen minute a day commitment is to;

1. Focus on one key task,

2. Mark out a regular time in the day to make it happen each day,and

3. Then to just do it. No excuses. No interruptions.

If you are working around kids, it might take a bit more organisation to get your fifteen minutes but I still believe it is possible. Try using their nap time or TV time, or set up a simple activity for them (you can find simple activity ideas here, here and here).

What project could you tackle in fifteen minutes TODAY?

Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

10 Comments

  1. With my 15 minutes I am going to start setting up an email list to help promote my blog and also start to plan my Blog newsletter….hmmm, maybe I need more than 15 minutes.

    1. Fifteen minutes a day, Sam 🙂 It might take more than one day to finish but a little each day will get you that little bit closer each day. Good luck with the newsletter planning!

  2. Oh – so many things I could do with 15 minutes – I might just start with researching some new topics for my blog that I’ve been dying to get my teeth into
    Farm stays in WA? I thoroughly recommend Pump Hill in Pemberton – have told everyone I know, now I’m telling people I don’t really know!! Enjoy the holiday planning – I find it’s almost as much fun as the actual holiday itself!

    1. Thanks for the farm stay tip, Emily, I will look into it 🙂 New topics can be a lot of fun to explore, I find them really refreshing as a blogger so I will wish you well with it 🙂

  3. What a thought provoking post Christie! I love the goals you have set and you have inspired me to set aside 15 mins tomorrow….now to decide what to do…and where to put the twins and teen…hehehe
    Seriously…thanks for the inspiration and reflection!

  4. I use a similar ’15 mins’ tool aswell, but I call it ‘snacking’ on a task. For instance, I love to sew but never get those magical blocks of hours to finish cutting or stitching something, so I ‘snack’ on it. Lay out a pattern on the fabric in one block, cut it out while my husband is reading a story to my daughter, pin the next seam when I have a spare minute, sew a seam with my 3 year old on my lap when she wake up from her nap. I’m doing the same with my tax return – it seems like a big daunting task to find and sort through the paperwork in one hit, but finding one piece of paper I need each time I have a spare minute breaks it down beautifully. This technique relies on having space to leave things out while they’re completed, but I find it works well and I get the satisfaction of working towards completing a bigger task.

    1. Love the concept of ‘snacking,’ Mel…one that I totally need to put to use with MY tax return! 🙂

  5. This is a wonderful idea… Changing my world… 15 minutes at a time. I often let little housecleaning chores pile up over the week, but I guess breaking it up 15 minutes at a time doesn’t sound so bad. And 15 minutes to give some comment love to the myriads of blogs I follow… or 15 minutes to just sit down with my child for dedicated uninterrupted play… this idea could just change my life! Thanks so much!

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