Five Minutes a Day
By Mark Inboden
Mark Inboden
I know a lot of business people struggle with finding “time." We often say we don’t have time to just “think” or “plan" because our schedules are too full.
I did a bit of math the other day, and found this of interest:
5 minutes a day x 250 work days = 1,250 minutes / 60 = 20.833 hours.
But what can be done in five minutes? Here are a couple of the things I can do in five minutes: update my “to do list”; star emails to follow-up on tomorrow; prioritize my inbox; send a meeting invite; text my golf buddy. You get the picture.
Since most of us work on computers, eye doctors have suggested taking five-minute breaks for every 25 minutes of computer time. Using math, let’s say you utilize just four of those five-minute breaks each day to organize, prioritize and think about your business. Congratulations! You have just dedicated 83 hours, or two weeks, to making yourself more organized, focused and creative about your work.
Start tomorrow. You will find that five minutes makes a huge difference.
ProTip: You can use your email system calendar or smartphone to set alarms to remind you to take those five minutes.
Mark is President and CEO of UCEC.