You are busy. I am busy. We are all busy. That is why thinking of life in a zone structure can be helpful. It creates some boundaries. David Allen often refers to creating "edges" in your work.
Within each zone there are additional 5, 10, 15 minute opportunities. Over the course of a week, month or a year these moments can add up and lead to significant progress in an areas that are important to you.
This week I was driving back from Boston and had a phone conversation with Charles Fred. Charles is an accomplished businessman, entrepreneur and thought leader. I am also privileged to call him a friend and mentor.
During our conversation I mentioned this blog and a couple other projects on my GTD Projects list. He shared with me that he wrote his book, Breakaway, by writing for 15 minutes a day.
15 minutes a dayDuring the time he wrote this book he was serving as a turn-around CEO. This is very busy and demanding job to say the least.
The highway from Boston to Burlington, Vermont is a long lonely highway. All I heard in my mind for the rest of the trip was...
15 minutes per day...
15 minutes per day...
15 minutes per day...
What can I move forward with just 15 minutes per day?
I made some quick notes:
- Write a blogDo you have 15 minutes per day you are leaving to chance? If you claimed that time for a purpose, what would that be? How could it help you get to a positive outcome?
- Brainstorm ideas
- Conduct a GTD mind sweep
- Write a book
- Listen to something inspirational
- Write a long overdue thank you note
- Wrestle with my kids
- the list goes on and on...
PS: Here is a link to the book that I referenced above. I highly recommended it for anyone who manages a team or is responsible for getting a workforce to proficiency so you can delivery on your promise to your customers.
Breakaway: Deliver Value to Your Customers--Fast!
1 comments:
From my friend Charles Fred, "By the way, 15 minutes a day will net 92 hours a year. Given an 8 hour day, almost 12 full days of non-stop writing…"
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