60 Seconds

By Daneen James 

Longer than you think.
Though it doesn’t sound like it, 60 seconds is a lot of time. Ever been on hold. Struggled to finish a challenging workout. Waited with anticipation for news about a friend or loved one. A minute is longer than we think. If we pool minutes together, what we accomplish might surprise us.

The mind goes where we lead.
The brain instinctively acts to create the result we desire. Literally giving everything, it’s got, to give us what we want. Ever notice, when you’re looking for something you've lost, your mind creates several very realistic and viable scenarios of what happened and where you might find your lost item.
 
Tool of focus. 
The brain uses time is much the same way. Time becomes a tool of focus. Setting a start and end time for tasks helps direct our energy and makes our effort more effective. Not only that, consciously choosing how you spend your time is empowering. You feel like you are making progress, it’s satisfying. Seeing results breeds hope and excitement about the possibilities of other ways you could positively impact your life.
 
Try it. See what happens. 

1.  Pick a task and a matching time block. Make sure the task and time are a good match. Give yourself the best chance for progress.
2. Set your watch or phone timer for 10, 20 or 30 minutes. If that seems like too much. Try 1-minute or 5-minute increments, just to get going. You can always do more, when you’re ready.
3. Commit to whatever time you select, without exception.
4. When the time elapses. Decide if you want to do more. If yes, repeat. If no, it’s ok. Take a break, regroup and refresh.
5. Celebrate what you did, no matter how big or small. Play your favorite song, pat yourself on the back, give yourself a high-five, do a dance… it may seem silly. But it actually wires your brain to connect your effort with feeling good. We always gravitate toward doing what feels good.  

 
Next time you feel overwhelmed, unsure how you’ll get it all done or aren't particularly excited about doing what you know you need to do. Try this technique. When we use small increments of time to tackle tasks, we are more productive and feel better in the process. 


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Daneen James is an inspirational author, speaker and develops uplifting
products and media through her company, SPARKSAFLAME. 

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