Mini-Projects: Turning 10 Minutes Into Productive Time.
I easily can spend hours on social media websites and Reddit. It’s easy to scroll, to look for bargains and deals on RedFlagDeals or Facebook Marketplace. There’s always something that I could look at for a few minutes that snowballs into 30-45 minutes of wasted time.
Sometimes, unless I know I have 30+ minutes of time, it becomes a struggle to start working on a project.
After all, it can be quite jarring to start working and after 15-20 minutes be told you have to stop or put it away.
If I have 5-15 minutes of time, my default is to doomscroll, to check Facebook marketplace, or to check Reddit.
Starting a bigger or longer project can be daunting and overwhelming to start, particularly if it takes a lot of energy to start a project, it can be easy to have doubts and ask ourselves “why bother?”. I should just allow myself a little break.
The problem is a little break can quickly turn into a long break and then morph into not a break but simply not doing work.
Once again, that’s not a problem if you’re not trying to work, but I’m talking about wanting to do more stuff and wanting to accomplish more.
The way I’ve decided to tackle this problem of creeping procrastination is the idea of mini-projects.
By having go-to mini-projects that I can quickly start and I know are only 5-15 minutes in length, I can better make use of my time, especially to combat the initial onset threshold resistance. After all, can’t argue against starting a 5-15 minute project.
Some mini-projects I’ve started:
Reading - having a book or audiobook to read/listen can be great for your attention span and a better alternative for your phone. I’ve actually also recently enjoyed listening to some fiction books and I’ve felt more energized and enjoyed my audiobooks a little more. Typically I steer towards non-fiction but I’ve felt joy in listening to my fiction audiobooks that I haven’t had in a while.
Flashcards - 5-15 minutes can be a perfect amount of time to practice with flashcards. Whether that is learning a new word, remembering a concept, or anything else you are studying, 5-15 minutes of flashcard review can be a wonderfully productive use of time.
Budgeting - For me, I personally track all my expenses using YNAB, a personal budgeting app. 5-15 minutes is a perfect amount of time to keep my purchasing records up to date so I am well aware of how much money I’m spending, what I am spending it on, and evaluating whether I ned to reconsider some of my expenses. Not only is budgeting an invaluably universal skill to develop, but it is always beneficial to be aware of where your hard-earned money goes.
These mini-projects can also have a boosting effect on your working mentality. So, if you end up having 30 minutes or an hour of time, you are in the mindset to work because you already accomplished a 5-minute mini-project.
Mini-projects are also effective because before you even have the time to rationalize to yourself why you don’t need to accomplish it, you may already be done the task. Sometimes, something quick that you can simply throw yourself at is just perfect. No hesitancy, no logical rationalization of all the potential excuses. Just do it.
So, I challenge you.
Spend 1-2 hours today. Create a list of 5- to 15-minute mini-projects.
They can be home projects like: washing the dishes, throwing out the garbage, dusting one room.
They can be dragging projects like: call your bank, deposit your cash to an ATM, write a letter, book an eye exam, dry clean your suit.
They can be personal projects like: watch the 5-minute YouTube video to learn a new skill, 10 minutes practicing your penmanship, watering your plants.
