Life is made up of
nothing more than a
series of moments. If
you can find some way
to pull 15 extra minutes
out of a hat, you’d
better at least use
them wisely. Where will
you find these
moments, and when
you find them, how will
you use them?
Just 15 extra minutes a
day will convert into a
powerful 91 hours a
year. That’s a massive
chunk of time that you
can use to acquire new
skills and get things
done. The benefit is
seen when we create a
daily habit and commit
those 15 minutes to
something worthwhile.
You can wake up 15
minutes earlier, steal 15
minutes from lunch,
after work, or right
before bed — the
choice is yours.
Once you’ve figured out
which sleeve those 15
minutes are hiding
under, you’re ready to
pick your target. You
can mix-and-match
from the list below, or
choose a specific item
to focus on over
weeks, months, or
even a year. The key is
your commitment to
cultivate a habit, from
which your life will
improve.
20 Useful Things
You Can
Accomplish In 15
Minutes
1. Stretch. If you
stretch for 15 minutes
every day you will
become very flexible. It
will be easier for you to
move around, exercise,
and it will facilitate the
flow of blood
throughout your body.
This extra flow will
improve your overall
health and improve your
mental focus.
2. Read. Pick a time
when you can read,
without interruptions,
for a solid 15 minutes
each day. You’ll find that
you’re able to get
through certain books in
a week or two, and
you’re increasing your
knowledge and mental
capacity with minimal
effort. You may
discover a new passion,
or master a subject
over the course of a
year through this small
time commitment.
3. Run. Do a series of
short sprints with
intervals between
running and resting.
This is the best way to
build up speed and
increase your body’s
capacity to utilize
oxygen. At the same
time you will be
powering up your body
with higher energy
levels throughout the
rest of your day.
4. Calisthenics. This
form of exercising
involves sit-ups, push-
ups, trunk twists,
squats, chin-ups, etc.,
which basically means
using your own body
weight as resistance.
It’s very effective to
build muscle tone and
get your exercise on,
and it hardly requires
any equipment (other
than perhaps a chin-up
bar).
5. Sleep. I just told you
to find 15 minutes, and
now I’m recommending
that you sleep them
away? This one is more
useful during the middle
of the day. If you have
a set schedule, and you
can conveniently fit a 15
minute nap, you can
catch a second wind
that will leave you
feeling energized for
the second half of your
day.
6. Cook. This might not
be enough time to
make an extensive
meal, but it is sufficient
enough to put
something together.
Make yourself a
sandwich, or get some
leftovers together, so
that you don’t have to
eat out for lunch. You’ll
save a lot of money
using this method.
7. Write. Depending on
your writing skill, you
may be able to take a
nice chunk out of
writing a 50,000 word
novel (it’s less than you
think), over the span of
a couple of years, if you
use your 15 minutes a
day wisely. If it takes
you longer, so be it, but
eventually you will have
the finished product in
your hand. This won’t
happen unless you sit
down and write.
8. Talk (aka Listen).
You can use your newly
found time to build solid
relationships with
several people, or an
even closer one with
one special person. You
can both look forward
to these 15 minutes,
whether in person or
over the phone, and
share your goals,
dreams, and
accomplishments with
each other. If 15
minutes is too little
time for you to talk
then just listen to them
for 15 minutes and
they’ll love you for it.
9. Draw. While 15
minutes a day, over the
course of a year, may
not be enough time to
build a professional
collection, it’s still
mighty useful. You can
use these 15 minutes
to create several nice
drawings, but more
importantly it will
sharpen your skill and
give you a creative
outlet.
10. Blog. I’ll admit that
it takes me longer than
15 minutes to write a
blog post, but you can
take the short and
sweet approach
yourself. In 15 minutes
you can craft and
publish some witty
commentary or useful
information about a
breaking topic that your
readers would truly
appreciate.
11. Journal. One of the
best gifts you can give
yourself is the ability to
reflect upon your life.
You can do this by
keeping a journal of the
biggest highlights within
your life. Taking just 15
minutes a day to write
down how you feel,
what you learned, and
what you want out of
life will help you track
where you’ve been and
where you want to go.
12. Visit nature. Bask
in the beauty and
serenity that nature
has selflessly provided
us with. Go to a forest,
park, or simply sit under
a tree, and do nothing,
read a book, or chat
with a friend. While out
walking I saw a kid
sitting under a tree
with his laptop; while
not the most effective
use of nature, it still
beats doing the required
homework inside the
house on a beautiful
day.
13. Meditate. The
research is in, and
there’s no doubt that
stress is a killer. I’ve
learned extensively in
my Masters program
about the physiological
damage that stress
causes within us.
Meditation is one of the
very best ways to
relieve stress, and it
has many other
benefits as well. Do
yourself a favor and try
this on.
14. Organize. In 15
minute bursts there is a
lot you can do to
organize your life. You
can clean a table top,
the desktop on your
computer, your
bookshelf, organize
your clothes, vacuum
your house, bathroom,
kitchen, etc. Just know
that your 15 minutes
are dedicated to some
form of cleaning, and
you’ll notice that your
environment and
eventually your mind
will be that much more
clutter free.
15. Plan. Spend 15
minutes planning out
your day, or week. By
spending time planning
every single day you’ll
end up saving hours by
remembering the right
supplies, making special
arrangements, and
cutting out unnecessary
steps. Planning makes a
difference.
16. Network. Whether
it’s for your job, or
some kind of
recreational endeavor,
you can use your 15
minutes to network
and make friends. You
can do this by using
twitter, or creating a
template e-mail and
searching out new
people to contact with
it. Even if you contact 5
people a day, that’s
1825 potential contacts
over the year. That’s
just the point, it adds
up.
17. Research. With
Google at your
fingertips you can find
out some very useful
information about your
health, hobby, career, or
some way to improve
your life. You can even
buy access into
scientific journals and
do some significant
medical research in your
spare time.
18. Play catch. You
won’t find too many
activities easier than
tossing the ball around
between two people.
It’s great exercise, it’s
relaxing yet invigorating,
and a great opportunity
to talk and bond.
19. Eat slowly. Do not
treat eating as one of
life’s little
inconveniences. Instead,
eat slowly and enjoy
each bite as if it were
your last, and if it were,
know that you got the
most out of it by using
an extra 15 minutes to
extract pleasure from
each morsel of food.
20. Self-
improvement. Take
15 minutes a day to
read some articles by
your favorite writers
who compress massive
amounts of information
into practical, easy to
read, and very
informative articles.
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