A long, long time ago I read this book called The One Minute Manager. You might have heard of it. It was written by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. I didn’t take it seriously at first but when I got into it I discovered there was a lot of wisdom in that little book for a then aspiring manager. And many, many years later, as a manager of very different things, I still hold onto a couple of the lessons that stuck.
One being take one minute (probably less) to do something that will make you happy or in this instance, bring relief. I recall the lesson in the book being about one person’s dirty windshield and how it took less than a minute to wipe it clean with a paper towel. I often find myself sitting at a red light staring at bug guts on my windshield, so I put this into practice. Know what I found out? It truly does take less than a minute to bring great relief.
So, today I am going to challenge myself to take a minute, maybe even two, to do a little something that will make me happy. I might go and wash the yucky yellow pollen off of my car, or stop and have a cup of coffee at my favorite coffee shop, or maybe, just maybe I’ll vacuum (I can’t stand having a messy house and right now mine is making me crazy!) Okay, so these things take more than a minute, but you get my point. It doesn’t take much to make you happy, so why not get off your rear and just do it?
What if we applied this one minute principle to our writing? What if we took one minute each day to write one sentence in a minute? Could you do that? Would that sentence make sense? Could it lead you to writing another sentence tomorrow? What if we wrote one sentence today and perfected it? No, I mean really made it perfect. How long would it take us to finish a project? Good question, huh? Well, say that one perfect sentence each day inspired you to write an entire scene when you finally fell into the recliner after the dishes were clean, the kids bathed and in bed? What if that inspiration led you to stay up an hour longer to write? See, one minute can make all of the difference in the world.
How will you use your minute? What will you take a minute (more or less) to do today that will make you happy, bring you relief?
Until tomorrow, I remain Unstoppable.
Gretchen Rubin calls this the "one-minute rule" in "The Happiness Project." No procrastinating on any task that can be completed in one minute or less. Things like hanging up your coat, or putting a dirty cup in the dishwasher, or putting a book on the shelf. These small efforts really add up over time. Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteYou're so right... one minute can make all the difference in the world. I'm using it to check on your blog, and now I'm using another to write...
ReplyDeleteHope you are well and forging ahead. Saw a tweet that reminded me of you: "if not for physics or law enforcement, I'd be unstoppable!"