In early 2016, I committed to working on my writing for a minimum of 15 minutes per day.
I meant it. I knew it was time to finally create a habit around being a writer, and more specifically, being an author.
I chose 15 minutes because that’s about how long I’m able to focus on something, undistracted, until my mind starts to wander and I need a quick break. Fifteen minutes didn’t feel like a lot of time, but I just chose to believe it would be enough to build a habit and maybe even get me somewhere in my writing life.
Since then, I’ve written and published 13 books (fiction and nonfiction). I’ve added hundreds of thousands of words to my blog. And I’ve written a handful of first drafts that are a revision away from being publishable.
All by committing to 15 minutes a day of writing time.
Yes, some days I write for longer. Sometimes 15 minutes turns into three hours (most of which is broken up throughout my day).
And other days, 15 minutes is all I do. It’s all I can squeeze in. It’s all I’m capable of that day.
But I know I can always do 15 minutes.
It’s a very doable amount of time. And because it’s such a small amount of time, you can find a way to fit it into your day every day.
Everyone has 15 minutes available somewhere in their day. Especially if they cut back on time-wasters like scrolling endlessly on social media or watching hours of TV.
Fifteen minutes is doable.
It’s enough time to build momentum in the direction of your dreams. It’s enough time for you to do the things you dream of doing.
You may have to take a bigger dream/desire/project and chunk it down into smaller bits, just like you would do with writing a book, but it’s still enough time.
I’m the OG 15-minute writer (I even wrote a book with that title—> get it on Amazon).
I speak from a lot of experience in this one. I’ve built my entire writing career on 15-minute pockets of time.
Even today, my day was super busy with appointments and calls and things that needed to get done. And I have more stuff going on shortly.
But still I just spent the previous 15 minutes working on the revisions for my next novella. And now I’m writing this post.
Fifteen minutes is enough time to do the things that will change your life. The only question is—are you willing to commit to it for real?
