The Power of Fifteen Minutes

Fifteen minutes doesn’t sound like any all powerful number. But I think it is. I live in fifteen minutes.

Near me most all the time is a timer. It’s your standard everyday digital timer. My workouts are done by the timer and even when I return to the plates from the kettlebell, I’m still going to bring that timer with me to my workout. My timer tells me when to start and stop doing things.

When I leave this post, I’ll hit start on my timer. In that fifteen minutes I’ll be cleaning my toilets. I do my toilets every week by the fifteen minute rule and it doesn’t take me that long. So I’ll wash the mirrors and sinks in the bathroom, too. My timer will beep when I should stop. If I’m not done all the way, well, it can wait till next week when the bathroom is on the list for a fifteen minute clean.

Then I’ll hit start again and for fifteen minutes I’ll tape in my daughters room to prep for painting. When it beeps, I’ll stop.

When I do homework, my timer is at my side. It beeps every fifteen minutes to let me know I need to take a minute for me. I do push ups and then reset my timer for another fifteen.

Fifteen minutes is also the length of time for one unit of therapy. My work day is broken down into fifteen minutes. I’ll walk with a patient and do walking activities for fifteen minutes, then do exercises for fifteen, and finish with balance tasks for fifteen minutes as an example.

Fifteen minutes is not a huge length of time, but if you keep hitting start on that timer, you’ll be amazed at what you get done. In a day we have a great deal of down time that happens in small intervals between other things. We get home then we have down time till supper. Well, if that down time was filled with fifteen minutes at a time, much more would get done.

I love my timer and it is my constant companion in the house. I like it so much, I might start to take it to work with me.

And no, I’m not nuts! Just busy :).

Thanks for reading, and I’m off to clean some toilets!