Is it a challenge for you to get things done? What if I told you that you can accomplish pretty much anything in an hour a day?
I learned this by accident when I inadvertently drafted my first novel that way. There was a lot going on – Thanksgiving, my birthday, out of town company, an extended road trip. Didn’t matter. Writing one hour a day for thirty days, I completed the draft, to my astonishment and delight.
Now, let me give credit where credit is due. It never would have occurred to me to attempt to draft a novel in a month. But my friend Rebecca alerted me that November is ‘National Novel Writing Month’. At this nonprofit website you can commit to write a novel between November 1st and 30th – just for fun. Basically, this is a wonderful excuse to draft a novel without getting all caught up in being ‘precious’ or ‘perfect’ – you just get the thing down on paper.
“What a great opportunity,” I thought and signed up on the spot. Never mind that I’d never written a novel before. That was no excuse.
Given everything that was going during that particular November, however, I wondered if I had set myself up for failure. How could I draft a novel AND manage my normal workload AND keep my volunteer commitments AND manage my household AND host overnight company for a week AND go on an extended road trip AND manage Thanksgiving and birthday activities? Nevertheless I resolved to try. For fun I kept track of the amount of time I spent on the novel-drafting task, as well as my daily word count. What emerged was a clear pattern: by spending at least an hour a day on the task at hand, I got it done.
“Hmmm,” I mused. “If I can draft a novel in an hour a day, what else could I accomplish using the same premise?”
A lot, it turns out. Using the ‘hour a day’ technique, I’ve launched a website, written two books, honed my dance skills, automated my jewelry production, become more fit, upped my weekly reading quota, deepened my spiritual practices, fostered my dogs’ obedience skills, decluttered my entire house, organized my photos and crossed dozens of random items off my ‘To Do Someday’ list. My coaching clients have accomplished even more using this technique.
I’d wager that you can accomplish ANYTHING in an hour a day: yes, you can find that agent. Yes, you can compose that opera. Yes, you can create an entirely new portfolio. What’s your biggest dream? You can probably accomplish it in an hour a day.
How is that possible? Well, for one thing, ‘An Hour a Day’ means you’re actually spending time on your dream project. If you can consistently spend at least sixty daily minutes on the task, you will make slow and steady progress towards your goal, whatever it is.
Second, it’s only an hour a day. If the project is important enough to you, you will find at least an hour a day to spend on it. If you’d like some tips on how to free up time, here are some.
There’s something freeing and soothing about knowing you only have to devote sixty minutes to the task. An hour a day? I can do that. I waste MUCH more than time that each day doing things that don’t really matter – watching TV or surfing the ‘net or [insert your own biggest time waster here]. Surely I can commit to replacing sixty of those minutes with something that’s actually important to me.
“An Hour a Day” also helps you focus. “Yikes! I only have an hour to do this thing I really want to do!” Poof! go typical distractions, excuses and procrastination.
Hey, it’s only An Hour a Day. Why not give it a try and see if it works for you?
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Activity: Try the ‘Hour a Day’ technique for yourself.
- Select a project. Take a moment to brainstorm ten things you’d really love to do. Review your list. Circle your top three. Does one jump out at you as something you’d love to do right now? Then that’s your project. If more than one are in the running, write each one done on separate pieces of paper. Fold up the papers and mix them up. Pick one. That’s your project. Does your gut concur? Are you excited? Excellent, proceed to step 2. If you find yourself mildly disappointed, then pick a different piece of paper. Feel better? If so, proceed to step 2. If not, try again until your gut does somersaults of joy letting you know that yes! You got your number one choice.
- Begin today. Yes, really. What’s the first thing you need to do to accomplish this task? Just start doing it. Work at least an hour on it. By this I mean quality, focused work. NO interruptions. No answering the phone. If it helps, set a timer to 30 minute increments to keep you on task and focused – get as much as you can get done before the buzzer goes. Then reset the timer and repeat.
- Keep track. When you complete today’s session, take a paper or electronic calendar and put on today’s date a star, a checkmark or some other sign that you put in at least one hour of quality, focused work. (You can spend more time if you wish – just be sure to keep track of every day that you complete at least an hour on your chosen project).
- Reward yourself. Do something pleasant and healthy. Even five minutes outside can be a little boost. Make a list of suitable treats you’d like: for example, a phone call with a friend; a little pleasure reading; meditation; a walk; a cuddle with your pet; a nap; etc.
- Tomorrow, repeat steps 2 – 4.
- Keep going:
Option A: Repeat each day, 7 days/week, keeping an unbroken chain as long as you can. Jerry Seinfeld writes a joke a day, no exceptions. He marks his calendar with a big ‘X’ after he completes his daily task, with the intention of never breaking the chain of X’s.
Option B: Select a day off/week.
Option C: Select two days off/week.
You know what’s reasonable and doable, given your unique life. Do what makes sense for you.
7. When you complete this project, repeat step #1. Select your next priority and apply your “Hour a Day” technique.
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Please use the comment box below to tell us about your ‘hour a day’ project — we’d love to hear about your ‘hour a day’ success story and any additional tips that were helpful along the way.
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