Do you ever find yourself thinking or saying things like “well, I just don’t have time to write today” when what you really mean is something like “I don’t have three hours for writing, so I’m just going to give up and not write at all.”
Sure, it would be nice to have an hour to spend sitting in a cozy chair and reading a new novel. But if you don’t have an hour to spend relaxing, does that mean you don’t deserve to relax and read at all?
Writing, exercising, household chores, and reading for pleasure are the activities that high-achieving people tell me over and over again that they just don’t have enough time for. But often we think we don’t have enough time for these things because we’ve set a very high standard for ourselves: a good workout has to be 75 minutes long, or the house isn’t really clean unless it took all Saturday afternoon to do.
Or you might really enjoy the way your writing flows when you have the whole afternoon stretching out in front of you, or a three-hour hike in the woods. But for many of us, it can be difficult to preserve those large blocks of time on a regular basis. If you’ve defined writing, exercise, decluttering, or relaxing as necessarily requiring long periods of time, then you’ll likely feel frustrated when your schedule doesn’t allow you to pursue them in that way.
Each time you say to yourself “I really want to do X” but then don’t do it, you’re letting yourself down. If these activities are truly a priority, then it’s to your benefit to do even just a little bit. That’s where this mantra comes in:
Some is Better Than None
I’ve got this phrase written on an index card taped to my desk, and also inside my daily notebook. It’s a good reminder that just doing a little bit will help me keep my promises to myself. Just doing a little bit will also help me build momentum and make it easier to come back to the activity the next day.
Every little bit counts: even if I can’t go do a long workout, 15 minutes of pushups and squats is better than just sitting at my desk all afternoon.
How much is “some”? Anything.
It might be 5 minutes of clearing off the table where everyone in the household dumps mail, keys, and miscellaneous things; it might be a 15-minute bath with a good book; it might be a 30-minute workout. Get creative, use a timer, and figure out how to squeeze in something to get away from the dreary negativity of doing nothing towards the goals that are important to you.